Why do Odysseus and Penelope make a good match?

In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus is well-known for his bravery and cleverness. Most readers notice these qualities in Odysseus very easily because the epic poem focuses so frequently on the ways that he uses these two traits to make it home safely to Ithaca. For example, his bravery and cleverness are shown when he outsmarts the one-eyed Cyclops to escape from his cave and when Odysseus asks his crew to plug their ears and tie him to his ship to prevent him from crashing it into cliffs while being enticed by the Sirens.
What people don't often realize is that Odysseus's wife, Penelope, shares these same qualities of cleverness and bravery. Their similarities make them a very good match.
While Odysseus is away from Ithaca for twenty years fighting in the Trojan War and struggling to return home, Penelope bravely resists rude suitors and raises her son without the aid of her husband Odysseus. These suitors live in her castle in hopes of taking over Odysseus's kingdom through marriage to Penelope. She is clever in resisting their efforts to woo her—Penelope tells them she cannot marry another person while actively mourning the loss of her missing husband, Odysseus. She says that she will not consider marriage to another man until she is finished knitting a mourning shawl that women in ancient Greece traditionally made while grieving. Each day, she knits a part of the shawl in front of the suitors, and each night, she unravels the previous day's work when they aren't looking. This makes it appear that she is making little progress in her own grieving process. This simple act outsmarts the suitors and staves off remarriage to one of them for over a decade! It also helps her to maintain control of Ithaca while Odysseus is gone.Penelope and Odysseus's compatibility is perhaps most obvious at the end of the epic poem. When Odysseus arrives back to Ithaca, he disguises himself and tests the loyalty of his friends and family to make sure that it is safe to trust them after so much time away. He knows that it wouldn't be wise to reveal his true identity immediately after being gone for twenty years (a very clever move indeed). When he meets with Penelope, he maintains his disguise at first to test her loyalty, too. Once Odysseus is sure that Penelope has remained faithful to him, he reveals his identity. Penelope is wary of this man who claims to be her husband, and she has her own ways to test his true identity. Years before Odysseus left for Troy, he had carved the couple's bed out of a hidden tree that grew within the castle walls. Only Penelope and Odysseus know this secret and know that moving the bed is impossible. In front of Odysseus, Penelope tells her servant to move the couple's bed to change the sheets. Odysseus's shocked reaction to her request shows Penelope that he is truly Odysseus, as he claims to be. Once Odysseus and Penelope know that they can trust each other completely, they are able to live happily together again after two decades apart.
The couple are a good match because they share the same level of bravery and cleverness.