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

inferiority to men in ancient Greek society. Due to such myths and beliefs women’s roles were limited. They were treated as objects e.g. when it came to marriage. It was called ekdosis, means “giving forth”, and so marriage was a transaction between two men. While men were known for their strength and power, women were associated with deceit and trickery. Homer’s Odyssey contains many female figures who were seductresses and unfaithful.
The Temptress or Black Goddess archetype is depicted through a few female figures, which Odysseus encounters on his journey back to Ithaca. One dominant example of such a seductress is Calypso. She is a nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home after much torment at sea. She is a female figure and so; much of her force comes in the form of temptation. The goddess kept Odysseus occupied and temporarily restrained him from enduring his journey back home. Calypso held him prisoner there for seven years until finally the messenger god, Hermes, tells her that Zeus has given orders to let Odysseus go. When Calypso hears this she raises her voice saying, “ Oh you vile gods, in jealousy supernal! / You hate it when we choose to lie with men/ Immortal flesh by some dear mortal side…so now you grudge me, too, my mortal friend…I fed him, loved him, sang that he should not die/ Nor grow old, ever, in all the days to come”(V, 124-143). Calypso was very much angered by this, but regardless gave in to Zeus’s will after all. Another temptress that Odysseus encounters on his journey is Circe. She is a beautiful witch goddess who drugs a crew of Odysseus’s men and turns them into swine. When Odysseus plans to rescue them, Hermes approaches him and instructs him to eat an herb that would protect him from Circe’s drug. Then, he should thrust at her when she attempts to strike at him with her sword. Odysseus follows Hermes’ instructions, overpowers Circe and forces her to change his men back to their human forms. Odysseus becomes Circe’s lover and is lured into her bed, so once more; man has given in to the enticement of a woman. Her continued use of her feminine appeal occupies Odysseus and his men and for a year they live in luxury at her palace, forgetting their desire to return home. Although these women use their feminine charms to seduce men, they are ultimately overpowered. As independent and predominant as these women might emerge, hereafter they end up getting overpowered by men; god or mortal.
Another archetype used by Homer to distinguish between the gender roles is the Damsel in distress.

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

devices.net.