Final answer:
Penelope kept her suitors at bay by weaving a shroud every day and unraveling it at night, thus never completing it and delaying her need to choose a new husband.
Step-by-step explanation:
Penelope, the wife of Odysseus from Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, initially kept her numerous suitors at bay through a clever ruse. She promised to choose one of them when she finished weaving a funeral shroud for Odysseus' aged father.
Every day, she worked on the loom weaving the shroud, but each night, she undid part of that day's work, delaying the completion indefinitely. This subterfuge worked for three years allowing her to maintain her faithfulness to Odysseus, who was still trying to return home from the Trojan War.