Female Roles In Homer's Iliad

Lighting Up their Many Faces

Among the hundreds of human characters in Homer’s epic poem Iliad, there are only a few women. Each woman plays an integral role in the story about the Trojan War, yet they do not significantly change the course of events. The function of these women is to illuminate the character of the men around them by providing a domestic perspective to add additional dimensions to the men beyond their roles as just war fighters.

The female characters often help reveal their men’s compassionate sides. Andromache is depicted with typical femininity. With her dependence on Hector and her family priorities that are different from Hector’s focus on war, she offers a chance to show Hector, the mightiest warrior of the Trojans, as

While the women express deep feelings of love and sadness, they are generally ignored by the men, who determine the course of events and often ultimately commit to their duties on the battlefield. When Hector is in Ilion, his wife Andromache worries that “[his] courage / Is going to kill [him]” (6.427-8) and begs Hector to stay since she depends on him as a father, mother, brother, and husband. However, Hector, faced with this tough decision between staying with his wife and going to war, commits to his duties as a Trojan warrior to serve and protect the entire community. Before Hector dies, his mother Hecuba announces that she too was completely reliant on him, who was “the only comfort / [She] had, day, and night, wherever [he was]” (22.478-9). These women are heavily dependent on Hector and beg in vain for him to stay. Helen also cannot influence Paris, and though she is disappointed in him, she still follows others’ directions. Aphrodite commands her to see Paris, and when “[Paris] walked to the bed, […] Helen followed” (3.475). She does not make these decisions for herself but rather is forced into submission. Unable to influence the men, all the women can do when the men are off fighting is wait on the wall and watch their future be determined. With little power

For example, Achilles and Agamemnon, the two great Greek warriors, argue over their prize Briseis from the war. Agamemnon threatens that “[since] Phoebus Apollo is taking away [his] Chryseis, […] / [he is] coming to [Achilles’s] hut and taking Briseis, / [Achilles’s] own beautiful prize” (1.192-6). In the warrior society, honor is generally determined by material possessions, and their fight over these female characters directly places the women as possessions. During contests, such as the Patroclus’s funeral games, women are often the prizes. In fact, “a cauldron / Which the spectators guessed to be worth twelve oxen” (23.731-2) is worth more than “a woman skilled / In various crafts [whom they] rated […] at four oxen” (23.733-4). Also, Helen is the prize of the match between Menelaus and Paris and also the cause of the entire Trojan War. These women have no say in determining the plot of the story or even the course of events in their own lives, which is completely determined by the men or the gods.

Although the women in Iliad are unable to contribute much to change the plot, they help bring out the human side of the men around them to make them full of richness in life beyond bloody battlefields. These extra dimensions brought out by the women greatly enhance the reader’s understanding of the men so that they do not appear to be merely