Masculinity In Homer's Odyssey

Masculinity Defined by Women

The notion of masculinity in Homer’s Odyssey is synonymous with heroism, intellectual aptitude, and physical strength. It could not exist without the presence of the weak females in the story. It is ironic that masculinity is depicted on the surface of the text as procuring dominance over the inferior females because it is from the women that these masculine qualities are derived. The men presented in the Odyssey are not just mentioned as male, but also rather assumed male, because of the “masculine” qualities they possess. All of the significant men in the story like Odysseus and the suitors contain many, if not all of these qualities. The women, whether divine or human, are able to control the degree of these

traits with cunning, love, or lust. They assert this control by being the man’s motivation that strengthens him, or temptation that weakens him. Masculinity is displayed at some level in all of the male characters in the story; however, the female characters have the ability to manipulate this trait, thereby controlling the males’ actions and creating their persona.
The most prominent method that women use to control the actions of men in the Odyssey is manipulation. Athena and Penelope are unveiled as masters of manipulation throughout the story, and while Athena uses her manipulation to strengthen Odysseus, Penelope uses her cunning to weaken the suitors. Their different forms of trickery influence the men’s actions in a different way. Athena’s main method to strengthen Odysseus is to make him feel like less of a man; therefore, giving him motivation to redeem himself. On page 318, line 310, Athena makes the suitors continue to insult Odysseus, “But Athena was not about to let the suitors/ Abstain from insults. She wanted the pain/To sink deeper in Odysseus’ bones.” This exemplifies how she manipulates Odyssey’s feelings to provoke him to slaughter the suitors: a very heroic and brave task. Odysseus acquires his reputation of a great hero by conquering extraordinary obstacles such as the slaughter of the suitors. However, his character would not have this grand reputation without the motivation that Athena provided. I would argue that had Athena not aroused this rage within Odysseus in this instance and other instances, his character would no longer be the same god-like Odysseus. Similarly, Penelope manipulates the suitors by devising schemes to keep them at bay while she waits for Odysseus. As she leads these men on, they desperately cling to any hope of marrying her and do not give up their courting efforts. They become less great, and more desperate and pathetic as portrayed in the book. One of her most effective tricks is the unweaving of Laertes’ burial shroud. Penelope tells the suitors that when she is finished weaving Odysseus’ father’s burial shroud, she will marry one of them. So she unweaves the basket every night to avoid marriage, and the suitors wait desperately for three years until Melantho discovers her trick. On page 18, line 12 Antinous complains of Penelope’s cunning, “Every day she would weave at the great loom,/ and every night she would unweave by torchlight./ She fooled us for three years with her craft.” Although the suitors were the strongest young men in all of Ithaca, Penelope was still able to manipulate them into believing they could marry her if they only waited a bit longer. This desperation to marry Penelope destroys the suitors’ masculinity. It redefines their characters as weak and undeserving. Both women’s’ cunning influence the men’s actions; however, manipulation is not their only impact.
Love for a woman affects a man’s actions by enabling him to use his emotion to overcome obstacles. Odysseus’ longing to see Penelope gives him vigor, fearlessness, and determination to continue home. Odysseus battles great monsters and travels all over the mighty seas. All the while, his journey would have been non-existent without love as his principal incentive to continue. Odysseus’ main motive was to see his beloved Penelope. If you only focus on the superficial layer of the story, it seems incongruous that a mere, useless woman is the reason this majestic hero was so great. However, a deep analysis of the story indicates that women are the main influence in the creation of the men’s persona. Odysseus even tells the beautiful Calypso he would be happier with Penelope than she, although Calypso is a goddess. “Goddess and mistress don’t be angry with me. /I know very well that Penelope, / For all her virtues, would pale beside you. / She’s only human, and you are a goddess, /Eternally young. Still, I want to go back (P.76, line 215).”This quote shows how although human, Penelope is Odysseus’ reason to continue on his journey. Without his love for Penelope, I see it probable that Odysseus would have remained on Calypso’s island for the rest of eternity. Odyssey’s loyalty to Penelope indicates how much power feelings for a woman can have over the mindset of even the strongest man in all of Ithaca. Although, Odysseus’ love for Penelope made him more of a man, mere lust does not have the same affect.
Intrigue in a woman can be devastating to a man’s masculinity if he allows himself to be naïve.

When the men originally arrive on the island to investigate, they are afraid of Circe and very skeptical to go near her house. “They went through the wood and found Circe’s house/In an upland clearing. It was built of polished stone/And surrounded by mountain lions and wolves,/ Creatures Circe had drugged and bewitched./…So these clawed beasts were fawning around my men,/ Who were all terrified all the same by the huge animals” (Page 147, line 226). The men are naturally skeptical, as I would expect a man would be in such compromising situation. However, once the men hear Circe’s beautiful voice, they call to her immediately. The simple voice of a woman makes almost all of these men naïve in a matter of seconds. On page 147, line 24, “Someone inside is weaving a web,/ And singing so beautifully the floor thrums with the sound./Whether it’s a goddess or a woman, let’s call her out now.” “And so they called to her and she came out…and invited them in./ They all filed in naively behind her,/ Except Eurylochus, who suspects a trap.” Only one man out of the entire crew that goes to investigate on the island is able to retain his dignity and skepticism. The others are blinded with infatuation and Circe remains in control of the situation, the driving masculine force. The men that are blinded by infatuation are completely controlled by Circe’s lure. In this case physically, Circe makes them less of men physically by turning them into pigs. This theme of infatuation causing the crew to act naïvely is reoccurring; another example is their confrontation with the sirens. After Odysseus frees his men from Circe, she warns him of the sirens. One page 179, line 37, Circe explains their danger in detail, “ So all that is done. But now listen/ To what I will tell ou. One day a god/ Will remind you of it. First, you will come/ To the Sirens, who bewitch all men/ Who come near. Anyone who

approaches/ Unaware and hears their voices will never again/ Be welcomed home by wife and children/ Dancing with joy at his return- Not after the sirens bewitch him with song./ They loll in the in the meadow, and around them are piled/ The bones of shriveled and moldering bodies.” From this warning, it is clear that if Odysseus or his crew goes near the sirens, it is a death sentence. Even so, the sirens’ enticement is so powerful that as Odysseus and his crew pass the sirens, Odysseus begs his crew to untie him. On page, line, the reader sees weakness in Odysseus’ character for the first time, “They made their beautiful voices carry,/ And my heart yearned to listen. I ordered my men/ To untie me, signaling with my brows…” Although Odysseus is fully aware of the consequences of coming near the sirens, their song weakens him so drastically that he has no control over his actions at all.
It is ironic that the females, who are portrayed as so inferior, have such a sturdy control over who the men are. The masculinity that is usually believed to only be a male quality in the Odyssey has proved from my essay to actually be rooted from females. The males in the epic would be incapable of all their grandeur without the influence of the females. The females use masculine qualities rooted in them to control the men through trickery, love, and enticement. All of the methods allow the women to make a man more or less masculine. The women have the ability to take the strongest of men and make him weak and naive, or take an ordinary man and make him strong and great. I think that without the female characters in the novel, Odysseus would be rather ordinary and the epic could not exist.