The Impact of Women in The Iliad

582 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women in the iliad

Women have always been recognized for their strong influence on the actions of men. Because of his love for Delia, Samson told his secret of his power and ended up losing it. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to commit murder. More recently, Eleanor Roosevelt strongly influenced the decisions that Franklin D. Roosevelt made. Women of Homer's epic, The Iliad, were considered primary instigators of the Trojan war. The characteristics attributed to women in ancient Greek mythology may have been key to the outbreak of the war. But many ask why Homer would choose to reflect so deeply on the feminine roles of this war fought by men.

Although the beginning of the war was not spoken of in The Iliad, the origin of the war is traced back to jealous goddesses. The gods and goddesses were feasting together to celebrate the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. Eris, the goddess of discord, had not been invited. She came, however, and threw among the guests a golden apple, on which was inscribed "For the fairest." Three goddesses claimed the apple. They were Hera, wif...

Show More
Related

  • Portrayal of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Important Role of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    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--...

    Read More

  • Shamhat's Treatment Of Women In The Iliad

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, when reading the Iliad, there is a shock factor of how some of the men weren’t as kindly receptive to the influences of women as Enkidu was. Enkidu treasured Shamhat, but Agamemnon treated Chryseis and Briseis as mere objects of pleasure. Chryses was influenced by Chyseis’, his daughter’s, capture to call on Apollo, the health god, to place a deadly plague over the Greeks. This resulted in Achilles confronting Agamemnon who reluctantly stated, “Still, I’ll give her back, if that’s what’s best. / I don’t want to see the army destroyed like this. /

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Homer's Odyssey

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Women in The Odyssey

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.

    Read More

  • Treatment Of Women In The Odyssey Essay

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Greek Mythology

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women have given birth to new generations for centuries and have the common stereotype of being caring and gentle. But in the creation myth, women were given to man as a punishment. In the book of collected Greek tales, " Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes", by Edith Hamilton, women take up important roles that shape each story. Although women are usually characterized as being helpful and motherly, Greek mythology, on the other hand, portrays them to cause distress, fear, and anxiety to numerous men. Women’s actions are shown to be influenced with jealousy and vengeance which gives them an evil nature.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in the Odyssey

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” (Ibsen). This saying also applied to the times of the Odyssey, an epic constructed by the blind, eight century B.C.E. poet, Homer. As one of the few representatives of ancient Greek social order, the blind, Homer witnessed women as substandard to men, regardless of their actions; many of them existed as seductresses, prostitutes, or slaves. He engraved into his poem women’s roles; the roles of women, as mothers, wives, seductresses, and goddesses are exemplified in this epic, when shown in comparison to the men of that era.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of Women in Homer's Odyssey

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Does Homer exhibit gender bias in the Odyssey?  Is the nature of woman as depicted in the Odyssey in any way revealing? Upon examining the text of the Odyssey for differential treatment on men and women, it becomes necessary to distinguish between three possible conclusions.  One, differences in treatment reflect the underlying Homeric thesis that  women are "different but equal in nature,"  Two, different treatment  of men and women in the text reflect a thesis that women are "different and unequal in nature" -- arguments about misogyny fall in here but a host of other interpretive possibilities are possible too. Three, the different treatment reflects simple ignorance. How much do we attribute what we discover to male authorship -- or female authorship?

    Read More

  • Troy vs. The Iliad

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    The suspected start of the war- over the abduction of Helen, Queen of Sparta- was caused entirely by a godly conflict over who was the most beautiful- Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, was selected to judge. He chose Aphro...

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Odyssey

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greek tragedy incorporates female characters that symbolize women in Ancient Greece. Through the portrayal of Antigone in the playwright, Antigone in Antigone by Sophocles and Penelope in the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, these two women play opposing roles depicting how they appear to society through their actions. In both of these stories, they embody the ideals of passionate women who are very loyal and brave. Through other female characters in each story such as Penelope and Ismene, we can construct a better view of traits illustrated by Antigone and Penelope.

    Read More

  • Representation Of Women In The Odyssey Essay

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    The portrayal of women in The Odyssey is represented by both divinities and mortals that influence men in a particular way. Prominent examples include: Calypso, Circe , as well as Penelope. Although women held an entirely different position in society compared to men, both divinities and mortals alike held a certain field of influence and power; they simply exert it in ways of temptation, trickery, and deceit that eluded the men of the story.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles among Gods and Mortals in The Iliad

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Homer's Iliad

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of Women in the Iliad

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Impact of Women in The Iliad

Open Document