The women characters in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad are usually seen as minor characters with very little significance. The mortal characters are portrayed simply as property belonging to their male counterparts, and the immortal goddess figures are persuaded to leave the interactions with the conflict to the male figure. However, each of the conflicts and male exhibitions of power was focused around a female character in some way. The major conflicts between Agamemnon and Achilles, Menalaus and Paris, and Chryses quarrel with Agamemnon are all centered on a female character. Even though women had no real power in ancient Grecian society the women characters in Homer’s epic, both mortal and immortal, do have the power to greatly influence the …show more content…
She cries her regrets about joining Paris and wishes that she would have died instead of making the decision to follow him. Tatiana Tsakitopoulou -Summers questions the sincerity of Helen’s cries in her article “Helen of Troy: At the Crossroads Between Ancient Patriarchy and Modem Feminism” and suggests that her remorse is nothing more than a power move.
At the site of a beautiful woman who tearfully acknowledges her past errors, no man can remain angry and dismiss her… Therefore, the set-up of the whole scene along with the tremendous advantage Helen gains in the end by ascertaining Priam 's patronage suggests that her words are part of a carefully orchestrated plan to manipulate the Trojan elders, who are most instrumental in determining her fate. (Tsakitopoulou 38-39)
Summers proposes that Helen strategically gained Priam’s support during the duel in order to protect her own wellbeing. This theory suggests that Helen is fully aware of the power that she contains, and unlike Chryseis and Briseis who are unable to verbally display their power, Helen is able to actively use hers to her
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.
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.
Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600)." While this view may have been extreme even for the Greeks, they were convinced of the physical and intellectual inferiority of women. Thus, they believed that it was better for all--...
The women presented throughout The Odyssey provide a respectable representation of women in ancient Greece in general. There are several women introduced in The Odyssey, all of various backgrounds and social classes. The most notable women or type of women in this epic include goddesses, Penelope, and the housemaids and servants.
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The women in “The Odyssey” dictate the direction of the epic. Homer the blind creator may have contrived the story with the aim to depict a story of a male heroism; but the story if looked at from a different angles shows the power women have over men. The Sirens and women that posses the power of seduction when ever they are encountered take the men off their course, and lead many to their death. The power women in the Epic pose can be seen from the goddess all to the wives. From The nymph Calypso who enslaves Odysseus for many years posses all the way back to Penelope who many argue is of equal importance to
The Theme of Women in The Odyssey by Homer In the Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, there are many themes that serve to make a comment about the meanings of the story. The theme of women in the poem serves to make these comments but also establishes a point of view on women in the reader. From this point of view, a perspective is developed into the "best" and "worst" in women. Achievement of this is through the characterization of many women with single notable evil qualities.
...troy her “insides,” her spirit. At his continued indifference she lashes out against him and tells him she hates him and everything he is. This striking display of female power illustrates the resistance against sexist oppression that Delia and women throughout the ages engage in.
In the Iliad we saw women as items of exchange and as markers of status for the men who possessed them (Chryseis and
Klytaimestra has thought up an ingenious plan to uncover the outcome of the Trojan War as quickly as possible; however, when she tries to share the news, the Chorus castoffs her declaration. This constant stichomythia between the Chorus and Klytaimestra annoys her because of the persistent disbelief, “And you have proof?/That, or a phantom spirit sends you into raptures” (272-274). The Chorus, which consists of men, do not accept that a woman can have any sort of knowledge before they do. They dismiss her claims until they hear it from a male messenger, which makes Klytaimestra very angry: “I cried out long ago!/You made me seem deranged” (580-586). Further, when she explains how she discovered the outcome, the men automatically assume that because she is a woman, she got her information from gossiping. “Just like a woman/to fill with thanks before the truth is clear . . . So gullible. Their stories spread like wildfire,/they fly fast and die faster;/rumours voiced by women come to nothing.” To the Chorus, a woman to devise a plan as clever as Klytaimestra’s, is inconceivable. But even after Klytaimestra’s facts are proven, the Chorus will later undermine her abilities again.
...trates the life of Helen who according to the authors, describes the vicissitudes of a woman whose beauty sparked the Trojan War, or the exploits of a hero. Eleanor Antin shows both sides of the ambiguous character of Helen, revealing the complexity of a figure who, after three thousand years of fame, remains curiously silent, despite being the most beautiful and disastrous objectification of anxiety and male desire.
Women's roles in the Iliad and Odyssey the seem to differ from the roles of men. Women were depicted as possessions to the men. Athena seems to stand out the most when it comes to both of these books: Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. Not only was Athena the goddess of wisdom and war, she played the role of the protector. Athena is one of the main female characters that truly show up throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Through the epic poem of "Odyssey" you meet many different characters in it. In the story you end up meeting a lot of male characters in it, but there are also a few female characters that you meet through out the story. They all have different roles in the story. A few examples of them are Athena, Penelope, and Arete.
In The Iliad, the gods and goddesses have completely different roles. The females are usually the ones in the battle fighting, while the male gods are putting courage into hearts, but that isn’t to say that is all that they do. This is a completely different role than the mortals have. While the men are out in battle, the women are knitting and cooking. The women are also described so that it seems like they are property and not humans, and that they don’t have any feeling. Where the female gods act and are treated as if they are equal, if not ranked higher.
The poem “Iliad,” by Homer, is known for its violence between men during a war, but under that violence, is the different type of women who play a significant role in the poem (Homer 189). This poem’s narrative seems to show a male dominated world between the Greek commanders. This male dominated world cannot happen on its own, thus the different background roles of women are needed in order to make sense of all this rage. As the University of Michigan article How Do Women Make Their Way Into This Cycle states, “They are seen as the objects of both lust and domesticity, yet they are also used to excuse war, cause conflict, and display the power of men” (www.umich.edu). The focus in this poem steers towards the rage between the men, but this rage most of the time is inspired and initiated by a woman. The women of Iliad play a significant role in the poem such as war prizes, male hero partners, and women gods.
One does not need to go into deep, critical analysis to see that women are portrayed as very weak and servile in the Iliad. We have seen them being humiliated by their husbands, brothers, and even owners. They are often charged with tasks others would find demeaning if left to someone else. The chauvinism is everywhere and it is very clear that the role of women in the Iliad was that of a woman who needs a man to take care of her and keep her lying, twisted heart in check.