Women, like foxes, display beauty on the outside yet work cunningly on the inside. The Odyssey incorporates many such beautiful, clever women as these. The Odyssey begins with Odysseus who loses himself getting home from the Trojan War. He must journey the seas to overcome many obstacles including angry Olympian gods and the one-eyed giant Cyclops. Along with these tribulations, a variety of Machiavellian women try to create havoc so as not to allow him the pleasures of home. In The Odyssey, Homer portrays women as sly, easily-wooed, and troublesome creatures.
A sly woman uses her tools in order to gain what she wants. Penelope exemplifies slyness by delaying her choice in suitors through trickery. She declares to her suitors that she would pick a husband, but only after she finishes weaving her web. Every night she “works away at the great web […] to unravel it by torch light” (Homer 18). Penelope uses her tool of wisdom and knowledge to remain faithful to Odysseus. Homer composes Penelope into a mischievous and cunning woman that has the ability to fool grown men for her benefit. By giving Penelope these qualities, he depicts the image of women as creatures who only use their insidious ideas to get out of situations they do not comply with. In addition to this, Homer portrays Circe as this deceiving goddess who turns men into animals. When Odysseus and his men reach Circe's island, she feeds Odysseus' men with food containing “dangerous drugs […] to make them forget” their beloved home (125). The men then turn into pigs, her pigs. Circe utilizes her divine tool of magic to use them for her own profit. She keeps all her animals, men, as her pets. Homer tells the readers that figuratively, women use wiles (the drugs) to
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..., Homer sees women as problematic and troublesome inhabitants of the earth.
Throughout the Odyssey, the author delineates the female characters as existents who have a sharpness of mind, fragility at heart, yet deviousness in soul. The world needs to know about this because Homer's interpertation of women holds some truth. Women need to see that they do have some of the flaws that he points out. This story should act as a reflection to every female on this earth. Though not every woman has a cunning mentality, every woman could have one of the characteristics identified by Homer. Precisely, this essay should be shared among all to reveal some of the flaws that women tend to have. Beyond revealing though, everyone needs to take action and become better.
Works Cited
Homer, W. H. D. Rouse, and Deborah Steiner.The Odyssey. New York: Signet Classics, 2007. Print.
Judged by modern Western standards, the treatment of women by men in Homer's Odyssey can be characterized as sexist. Women in Homer's Odyssey are judged mainly by their looks. If important men and gods consider a woman beautiful, or if her son or husband is a hero or has an important position such as king, the woman is successful. The way women in The Odyssey are treated is based on appearance, the things men want from them, and whether the woman has any power over men. During Odysseus' journey to the underworld he sees many different types of women. We hear about their beauty, their important sons, or their affairs with gods. We hear nothing about these women's accomplishments in their lifetime. Odysseus tells how Antiope could "boast a god for a lover,"(193) as could Tyro and many other women. Epikaste was called "that prize"(195) her own son unwittingly married.
Homer, The Odyssey, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, ed. Maynard Mack, Expanded Edition, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), pp. 219-503.
Heubeck, Alfred, Stephanie West, and J.B. Hainsworth. A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey. New York: Oxford UP, 1988.
Jones, Peter V. Introduction. The Odyssey. By Homer. Trans. E. V. Rieu. London: Penguin, 1991. xi-l.
For the Greeks, Homer's Odyssey was much more than just an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and men, it served as cultural paradigm from which every important role and relationship could be defined. This book, much more so than its counter part The Iliad, gives an eclectic view of the Achean's peacetime civilization. Through Odyssey, we gain an understanding of what is proper or improper in relationships between father and son, god and mortal, servant and master, guest and host, and--importantly--man and woman. Women play a vital role in the movement of this narrative. Unlike in The Iliad, where they are chiefly prizes to be won, bereft of identity, the women of Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and relationship towards men. Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each--through her vices or virtues-- helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks.
Although women in The Odyssey have a major role in their society they are still very susceptible to the double standard. This epic narrative is about th...
Nettie was wanted by Mister because she was beautiful, her father wanted to get rid of Celie because she was the ugly, spoiled one. Celie believes she is ugly until Shug forces her to face her beauty, her smile, and her strength but still the Mister wanted to get rid of her. The reason Shug can get away is through her voice, her talent, and her attractiveness. But in The Odyssey some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, and never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, what they do themselves. The only accomplishment women could achieve was being beautiful. Penelope, Odysseus ' queen, is paid attention to only because of her position. Because she has a kingdom, she has suitors crowding around her day and night. Being a woman, Penelope has no control over what the suitors do and cannot get rid of them. The suitors want her wealth and her kingdom. They do not respect her enough to stop feeding on Odysseus ' wealth; they feel she owes them something because she won 't marry one of them. One of the suitors, tells Telemachus "...but you should know the suitors are not to blame- it is your own incomparably cunning mother "(Homer 21). Even Telemachus doesn 't respect his mother as he should. When the song of a minstrel makes her sad and Penelope requests him to stop playing, Telemachus interrupts and
“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” (Ibsen). This saying also applied to the times of the Odyssey, an epic constructed by the blind, eight century B.C.E. poet, Homer. As one of the few representatives of ancient Greek social order, the blind, Homer witnessed women as substandard to men, regardless of their actions; many of them existed as seductresses, prostitutes, or slaves. He engraved into his poem women’s roles; the roles of women, as mothers, wives, seductresses, and goddesses are exemplified in this epic, when shown in comparison to the men of that era.
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they were faced with serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
Homer. “The Odyssey”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 475. Print.
Such a society obviously places severe restrictions on the position of women and what is considered to be acceptable behaviour for women”. (Whittaker 39) Penelope is forced to step out of the typical Homeric Greek woman role in order to make sure Odysseus has a success homecoming. She does this by proving to be clever, like her husband, when she tricks the suitors, claiming that she will choose one once she finishes a burial shroud for Laertes. Every night she undoes the weaving she has done for the day. This works until some of her house servants catch her. Another example of this trickery, is her promise to marry any suitor that can string and shoot Odysseus 's bow. Penelope knew no one but Odysseus could do this. There are many different interpretations of Penelope 's role as a woman in this moment of the epic. Homer has Penelope show a role that isn’t what you would normally see in a Homeric Greek woman. She depicts that she can be just as manipulative as a man can
The Odyssey: Portrayal of Women How does Homer portray women in the epic, The Odyssey? In order to answer this question you must look at woman and goddesses as two separate groups of people who are "people". This is because they are portrayed in two separate ways. You see, a regular woman like Penelope is looked at as beautiful but has.
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
The image of seductresses is a recurring motif in The Odyssey. These women are a temptation to Odysseus. They attempt to keep Odysseus from accomplishing his goal: his homecoming. Circe is a bewitching goddess. She entices Odysseus’ crew into her palace with her enchanting voice. However, after she feeds them, she promptly turns them into pigs. Circe also succeeds in enticing Odysseus; he stays with her one year as her lover. It is so long that his crew declares that it is “madness” (326). They say that it is “high time” that Odysseus thinks of his homeland (326). Later on, Odysseus and his crew encounter the sirens. Knowing the danger they pose, Odysseus has all his men’s ears stopped up with wax. However, Odysseus wishes to hear their song; so he asks his crew to tie him to the mast. The song of the sirens is so sweet and enticing. Their “ravishing voices” almost make Odysseus forget his desire to return home (349). His heart “throbbed” to listen longer; he signals for his men to let him go free. The grea...