Archetypes In The Odyssey

In the Odyssey, Homer uses archetypal characters and other literary devices to craft the distinctive theme of the women’s role. Archetypes are recurring configurations that appear in myth, religion, folklore, fantasy, and dreams, as well as in art and literature, as defined in A Handbook to Literature. According to the myth of Pandora’s box, Pandora, who was the first woman created, brought on trouble into men’s lives. She opened a box, which the gods forbade her from, releasing all the evils present in the world. Thus, she earned women the designation of being troublesome and much of an inconvenience. Her curiosity and indiscretion, which drove her to open the box, were forever viewed as typical attributes of women. Supposedly advocating their

The damsel in distress, who is a vulnerable woman in the need of rescued by some hero, is illustrated through Odyssey’s wife Penelope. Even though women serve as seductresses and a great hardship to Odysseus, Penelope symbolizes the role women were expected to follow. Basically, wait at home, take care of domestic issues while the men embarked on journeys to deal with situations outside the household. Penelope is a woman in distress waiting to be rescued by her husband and in the meantime she cries prior to his return. However being female, she does not defer completely from utilizing her cunning skills to her advantage. She successfully manages for some time to prolong a relationship with any of the suitors by telling them she will choose one of them to be her lawful husband once she finishes her weaving. One of the suitors, Antinoos, eventually realizes the trick and addresses her son, Telemachus saying, “…you want to shame us, and humiliate us, / But you know the suitors are not to blame/ It is your own dear, incomparably cunning mother. / For three years now—and it will soon be four/ She has been breaking the hearts of Achaeans, / Holding out hope to all, and sending promises/ To each man privately—but thinking otherwise…so every day she wove on the great loom/ But every night by torchlight she unwove it;/ For three years she deceived the Achaeans.” (II, 93-114). Homer uses another literary device to highlight the qualities of Penelope’s role with another character; he uses foil. In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character; as defines by literary