Greek Mythology

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Deception Amongst Women in Greek Mythology Within the writings of Greek mythology women commonly display certain attributes that the Greek society associated with women or femininity back in the day. A common quality demonstrated amongst the women in Greek society, and more specifically in Greek mythology, is deception. Throughout the Greek literature discussed in class, women have commonly showed their deception and trickery in different ways and for numerous different reasons. The Odyssey, Theogony, and Homeric Hymm all displayed Greek women showing some form of deception within the stories and poems. These stories show various ways and reasons for Greek women being deceiving and disingenuous, reasons for which there needs to be more discussion. Homer’s epic great poem, The odyssey, shows the readers various samples of women deceiving men within this literature. The Greek goddess of wisdom and war, Athena, was the first to show deception within this epic poem. Although Athena was helping Telemachos, she did it with trickery and deceiving him. When Athena was attempting to tell Telamachos about his father still being alive, she did it by changing her appearance, deceiving him, in order to help lead him towards his father (Odyssey 1.178-220). Athena finds herself using a changed appearence to deceive Telemachos, again in order to help him voyage for his father. Although she is again disguising herself, this time as Mentor, she is deceiving him in efforts to aid him (Odyssey 2.267-271). Another leading lady within The Odyssey is Telemachos’ mother, Penelope. Penelope finds herself being very deceitful throughout this reading. Penelope shows her abilities in trickery in efforts to stay faithful to Telemachos’ father, Ody... ... middle of paper ... ...eceives people on earth, but it’s all out of a place of sorrow. She does it merely to look for her daughter in hopes of finding her. Throughout all of these examples, it’s obvious to see that women in Greek Mythology are portrayed as deceptive. Penelope, Demeter,Gaia, and Rhea are just a few of the women who were portrayed as misleading in the Greek society. As readers interpret the readings, such as The Odyssey, Theogony, and Homeric Hymm, they will see the numerous deceitful acts commented by the Greek women. People should take into account though their reasons for being misleading, some of the women found themselves doing it for other reasons, other than just being deceptive. With the women discussed earlier, it’s clear to see that although the women deceive and use trickery on others, it’s clear to see there is commonly more to than merely to deceive.

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