In book 2 of the Odyssey, Odysseus's son stands up to the suitors.
He gathers them all together, and he says, Enough is enough.
You mooches need to go.
But the suitors fire back.
Hey, your mom Penelope promised she'd marry one of us, and we're not leaving until she does.
Meanwhile, Penelope has been in her room working on a death shroud for Odysseus' aging father, Laertes.
This is a custom that she is rising up to meet, knitting this thing slowly.
But as she gets close to the end, she undoes her work, continuing the process.
And she's been working on it now for four years.
The symbol of the death shroud is important, because it represents that little bit of hope, that little kernel of faith, in physical form, or manifestation, that Penelope has that her husband is still out there, and that there's a chance he can come home.
