Circe threatens Penelope into explaining herself, which demonstrates how people in power use fear in order to control those who have less. Unlike Telemachus, Penelope does think that someone other than Odysseus is to blame for his death: Circe. Given that Circe didn’t actually have a hand in Odysseus’s death, it is possible that Penelope is simply blaming Circe because she is jealous of Circe’s relationship with her husband. Now, she seeks to punish Circe for the pain that Penelope undoubtedly felt over her husband’s infidelity. Penelope’s plan to come to Aiaia demonstrates her cleverness; because she has no power to fight a god, she exploits Circe’s power. Now that she has made Circe complicit in her defying of a god, Circe may feel obliged to continue keeping the god at bay, lest that god unleash their anger on Circe and Telegonus, too.