Women in the Iliad

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The role of women in the Iliad is a subject that remains open to debate. The Iliad is set during and tells the events of the Trojan War. For the war men belonged to the battlefield as warriors. Women on the other hand were not involved in the activities of war in anyway. While men were bravely at war, women were to stay home for years without seeing their loved ones. Homer portrayed female characters having no substance and were nothing more then property, while males were ideal in every sense of the word. Women were only accessories for male used for status. When it came down to it males dominated in work, lifestyles, and even love. Homer may have portrayed females as the inferior characters just so the plot could play out. But without women would there be an epic of the Iliad to tell? With Agamemnon capturing Chrysies the following events unravel into what becomes the Trojan War and the story of the Iliad. If you focus on mortals in the epic, females may seem like they have little to offer, but the Iliad contains strong female characters if you include the gods. All the gods are all portrayed, as powerful beings. Aphrodite, Athena and Hera, are not lacking of power with them being female characters. Helen should also be noted; for she is the reason that Troy was destroyed. So to say that women had little to no substance I would have to disagree, as they were crucial to the story. The Iliad takes place in a “male-dominated world” during a war zone. Women are objectified and portrayed as nothing more than possession of men. When Chrysies was kidnapped she was considered a war prize for Agamemnon, who was willing to trade her for Briseis, the war prize of Achilles. Women being objectified give them more of an insignificant role. H... ... middle of paper ... ...he Trojan War, as Agamemnon chose to help Menelaus but getting her back. But while she was represented as a victim, she was a bold character that spoke her mind, and no male stopped her. Helen has a direct relationship with the Trojan War, with out her there was none? Women in this epic had many different roles in this epic, from dominant kind with power like the goddess of the story, or in captive as a damsel in distress type as a human, women were explained in many ways. The difference between the two genders is very distinguishable but to scorn females is out of the equation. Men do have a commanding influence in the story serving for their land by going to war, and protecting the people. But it is the women who are essential with their role of civilizing the men providing the plot of the story with their roles unintentionally initiating the males to take action.

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