Nico Colón
Miss J. Jungferman
Pre-IB English I
-- May 2014
Dominance of Men in Marriage
Throughout history, men have been superior to women. All the way back to 429 BC, men live their lives to keep their wives happy. Sophocles was an ancient Greek writer who composed many plays, “but only seven of [his] plays have survived intact” (Corcoran et al. 429). He wrote the famous Oedipus Rex with a very tangled sense of marriage. Homer was a storyteller who came earlier in 1200 BC. “The Greeks for centuries used [his epics] in schools to teach Greek virtues” (Leeming 878). His stories were based on the common archetypes of heroes and faithful wives. The incestuous, insensible marriage between Oedipus and Jocasta was brought together when Oedipus killed his father. Odysseus’ marriage with Penelope was pre-established in the story and was interrupted with the Trojan War and the intervention of the ghastly suitors who wanted to marry her. The relationships established in the ancient literature revolve around different marital situations that involve the men being more fervent than the women.
The male spouses in the literary works have obligations in their particular marriages. The intelligence of the men leads them into making different choices that affect their relationships. When Oedipus kills Jocasta’s husband, his father, it leaves her inept of ridding the monstrous Sphinx. When Oedipus heard of the task to defeat the Sphinx, he abides the challenge and successfully conquered it. “The Sphinx flung herself to her death, and Oedipus was made king of Thebes with Jocasta as his wife” (Corcoran et al. 431). Penelope is left with their newborn son, Telemachus, when Odysseus is called into war. He pretended to be insane when Agamemnon and Men...
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...f their actions resulted from the strength of their manliness. The men in the marriages are stronger and more astute than their spouse. The wisdom given to them, from which they believe was the gods, helps them to make choices and fulfill the duties thar their wives cannot complete. The women influence the decisions that the men make but, however, they do need the men. This ultimately results in a need for a masculine role in marital relationships.
Works Cited
Homer. “The Odyssey.” Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. Elements in Literature. Ed. Kathleen Daniel et al. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2003. 888-949. Print.
Leeming, David Adams. “The Odyssey: An Introduction.” Ed. Kathleen Daniel et al. 878-886.
Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” Trans. David Grene. World Masterpieces. James Corcoran et al. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2003. 433-470. Print.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack et al. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1992.
Most classical society’s political and social organization revolved around the idea of patriarchy, a male dominated social system. This system exacerbated the inherit difference between men and woman and assigned gender roles based on these observations. Men were generally regarded as superior to woman therefore given greater religious and political roles as well as more legal rights. As the natural inverse, women were subordinated and seen as week; their main roles reproductive and domestic. Information about patriarchy in the classical era, though abundant, was, for the most part, written by men, therefore history does not give us an accurate depiction of women’s viewpoints. Four societies of the classical era, India, China, Greece, and Rome, adopted a patriarchal system, however, due to many factors, each developed identifiable characteristics.
All in all, Homer’s The Odyssey has delivered an overall picture which portrays women holding inferior roles, in terms of domestic duties and social status. Men are free to roam and stay with strange women for a long period of time; however, women are expected to obey the strict social codes of conduct that the cruel ancient Greek culture had created for thousands of years. The female character development in The Odyssey obligates the readers to reevaluate the societal status of women in a patriarchal society which leads to having sympathy for their limited role compared to the dominant role of men in the society.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997.
Albert, Susan Wittig. "Oedipus Rex by Sophocles." World Literature. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001. 301-71. Print.
Boston: Pearson, 2013. 1396-1506. Print. The. Sophocles. “Oedipus the King” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.
Homer. “The Odyssey”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 475. Print.
Sexism has occurred throughout history and has impacted women significantly.The Odyssey follows the narrative of a man and looks at love from the perspective of a man. The famed poem was written by an ancient greek man and until recently, has always been translated by a man. For these reasons, The Odyssey provides a great example of how love, women, and marriage have been perceived by society, especially men, in the past. By examining the sexist undertones and the perception of women and love from the men in the epic and comparing those to criticisms made today we can truly understand how far we have come as a society.
Homer. The Odyssey: Fitzgerald Translation. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.
Homer. "The Odyssey." The Norton Anthology: World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W.
In the early centuries, in a relationship men were the unfaithful ones in dating and also in a marriage, women didn’t have the equality in rights as a worthy person. “Men did not commit infidelity more than women, and no sex differences were found regarding the type of
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1902.
Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.
Homer. "The Odyssey." Adventures in Reading. Ed. Dorothy Diemer Hendry. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. 599-653. Print.
Throughout time and across many cultures, women have had the lowest status in society. In a patriarchal world, women have consistently been viewed as weaker and inferior to men. As a result, it is no surprise that men have found themselves in places of power and admiration. However, this does not mean that society completely neglects the impact of women; in Greek lore, women take on passive yet important roles, weaving the destinies and doom of many men and earning themselves a reputation as banes of manipulation and deception. Negative as that portrayal may seem, other societies have defined the roles of their women differently. Anglo-Saxons also flaunted the heroics of their men, as exemplified