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Iliad and odyssey comparison paper
Women's role in greek literature
Women's role in greek literature
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Around 850 BC, there was a major discovery when Homer was introduced. Through his poetry, he relinquishes two stories called the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer narrated a cultural norm where women were idolized and held great power over men in some ways, but were still found as property in their eyes. Homer acquaints us with two characters in each parable. From the Iliad, we receive a character of great beauty who is married to King Menelaus of (place) named Helen. The readers also learn of a diligent ad passionate wife of Odysseus named Penelope. After assessing both parables, one can learn that Penelope should be far more admired than Helen.
Penelope may not have possessed the outer beauty that Helen innately exhibited, but she was a very
The daughter of Zeus was also described as a “Beauty, terrible beauty! A deathless goddess -so she strikes our eyes” (Homer 133) which made it easy to attract many men’s attention. Most readers come to the consensus that Helen was the cause of the Trojan War making her the antagonist in this story. Originally, she was married to King Menelaus but found love with Paris, the Prince of Troy. Helen was very selfish. She did not think of others in this story or how they would react. Many Trojan families lost good men and gained tremendous sorrow behind her actions that she started to question after she has made it to Troy. Helen loved Paris, but once she arrived at Troy, she started to miss her previous husband. As her regrets began to grow, Troy ended up ultimately falling behind this great tragedy. Within her actions, there was only thought of her love for
Even though they lived in different places they were still treated as property to most men. While the suitors defaced Penelope’s property, they waited for her to choose a man to court. Whoever won Penelope over, would be able to take Odysseus’ throne. She was the pawn for them to take over the kingdom. With Helen She seemed to be a trophy to be won. The men thought that whoever “shall be victorious and prove to be the better man” would get to take “the woman and all she has to bear them to his own home” (Homer 137) to show they were the victor. This shows that she was nothing more than a prize for the winner of the battle. Both women believed strongly in themselves. Penelope showed her strength through her smarts and loyalty not to let the men sway her against what she believed. Even though Helen had her regrets, she owned up to her decision costing many people their lives and loved ones. Helen and Penelope also had men who cared for them. Odysseus proved his love for Penelope by telling Calypso that even though his wife was not as beautiful as she was he still longed to go home to Penelope and his son. He spent 10 years doing his best to be reunited with his family despite the obstacles that Poseidon set forth for him to face. For Helen. Menelaus showed great strength to fight the war to become the victor to win his wife. His will to fight for her was one of the qualities she greatly admired about him. When
The Trojan War is one of the most known battle or war in history, if not the most known. It was a very, very long war, but there was one main source or reason of conflict that drove it to last so long, it seemed endless. Paris, a Trojan prince, was promised a wife as fair as the goddess of beauty by Aphrodite herself. The particular woman she promised was already married to a Greek King by the name of Menelaus. This started not only tension between the Greeks and Trojans but also anger because they were recently married.Helen should have returned to the Greeks for a few reasons that could have led to a shorter war, or even no war.First off, Greek King Menelaus is her rightfully wedded husband. The war would have been totally prevented if a couple of decisions were better made. Finally, she never really was in love with Paris. It was all manipulated by Aphrodite.
a man, because he has to choose a wife for his mother, but for Penelope, she. must feel degraded and low. On the other hand, if you look at a goddess like Athena, "the gray eyed" goddess," (many pages) who is actually running the show, she has much more. more power than many men do. For instance, she is able to convince Zeus, ruler of the world. all gods, that Odysseus has suffered enough to set him free.
Some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, but never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, and what they do themselves. It seems the only accomplishment women could achieve was being beautiful. Theseus "had no joy of"(195) the princess Ariadne because she died before this was possible. Homer makes it sound as if Ariadne's life was useless because she did not give Theseus pleasure. The only woman we hear of for a different reason is Klymene, and we only hear of her because she "betrayed her lord for gold."(195) This is the only time we hear of a woman for something she did, and once we do, it is a negative remark. Penelope, Odysseus' queen, is paid attention to only because of her position. Because she has a kingdom, she has suitors crowding around her day and night. Being a woman, Penelope has no control over what the suitors do and cannot get rid of them. The suitors want her wealth and her kingdom. They do not respect her enough to stop feeding on Odysseus' wealth; they feel she owes them something because she won't marry one of them. One of the suitors, Antinoos, tells Telemakhos "...but you should know the suitors are not to blame- it is your own incomparably cunning mother."(21) Even Telemakhos doesn't respect his mother as he should. When the song of a minstrel makes her sad and Penelope requests him to stop playing, Telemakhos interrupts and says to her, "Mother, why do you grudge our own dear minstrel joy of song, wherever his thought may lead.
Now comes the part where he puts Penelope to the test. By sharing this information with her about her husband he comes to understand her feelings for him. Penelope has not only been loyal to Odysseus as her husband, but also as the authority figure. She has demonstrated her loyalty by being true to him for twenty years in his absence and has not remarried.
Penelope has to endure the suffocation of the suitors fighting to win her heart for power. She is placed in a position where she has to figure out a way to linger the suitors along until her true love is able to return to her. “ My lords, hear me: suitors indeed, you commandeered this house to feast and drink in, day and night, my husband being long gone, long out of mind. You found no justification for yourselves- none except your lust to marry me. Stand up then: we declare a contest for that prize. (Odyssey 21.14-20)” In addition, she is forced to become a father and mother figure for Telemachus, who grows up without the support of his own father. He is often mocked by the suitors as he is unable to have the power that Odysseus has over them, being raised only by his mother. “Telemachus’ frenzy struck someone as funny, and soon the whole room roared with laughter at him. (Odyssey
She is loyal, having waited for Odysseus for twenty years, not remarrying, though she thought he was gone for good. She also plays a much more active role in the marriage she has with Odysseus. Perhaps the most defining characteristics attributed to Penelope involve her role as a woman, in marriage and as a presumed “widow”. First, there seems to be a double standard, like described in Calypso’s case, between the loyalty of Penelope and the loyalty of Odysseus. Penelope is physically and emotionally loyal to Odysseus, while Odysseus is only emotionally loyal, meaning he has had sexual relations with other women within the twenty years he has been gone. During this time period in Greek culture, this was not frowned upon and was quite normal, suggesting that women were held to a different standard than men. In addition, as Penelope is presumed to be a widow, at least by the suitors, she is prized solely for her beauty. The suitors speak only of her beauty and none of her intelligence or of her personality or soul. This suggests that marriage was not always about love, and that women were judged and valued merely for their beauty. This idea further proves the act of sexualizing women during this
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.
In the ending chapters of The Odyssey Homer bring about many interesting points in which would bring us to believe that in fact Penelope had helped to slay the suitors. Penelope did not physically help to slay the suitors when Odysseus had been in the room killing them. It was Penelope’s actions leading up to this scene that may have helped Odysseus in his successful killing spree of the suitors. For the case of the argument we will discuss points in which it is believed that she had recognized him disguised as the old man, which gave her the ability to help Odysseus. On the other hand, the argument that she may have not recognized Odysseus would contribute us into believing that she did not help Odysseus to slay the suitors but that things
There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are emotional necessities to ultimately keep us happy. No piece of literature these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Throughout the course of this book there is one major emotional theme: love.
Atwood is playing with two levels of myth here: the Homeric myth of ‘faithful Penelope’ and cultural myths about women as either submissive or domestic (Howell 9). After marriage Penelope spends most of her time alone in boredom and Eurycelia, former nurse of Odysseus, often reminds her duties as wife by saying, “So you can have a nice big son for Odysseus. That’s your job” (63). Furthermore, Atwood recounts the vulnerability of alone woman in the male dominated world. To grab opportunity of being king, a number of suitors assemble at Ithaca, to marry Penelope, and she thinks, “They all were vultures when they spot the dead cow: one drops, then another, until finally every vulture for miles around is tearing up the carcass” (103). Moreover, Atwood argues about the partiality of sexual of freedom along with the vexed relationship between man and woman, as the former can do sex with any other woman such as Odysseus’s affairs with the goddess and whores, but the woman is restricted to marriage like Penelope. The foremost fatuous allegation makes on Penelope is about her faithfulness and loyalty for her husband Odysseus, and she defends herself from any sexual conduct in the chapter, “slanderous gossip”. The death of Amphinomus, the politest suitor among all, leaves the question of marital infidelity among the genders.
MacKay, L. A. "The Person of Penelope." Greece & Rome 2nd ser. 5.2 (1958): 123-27. JSTOR. Web. .
Homer’s Odyssey, by, is typically seen as a male dominated poem: the hero is male and the majority of the characters are male. We follow the men on their attempt to return to Ithaca. However, even though women are not the main characters, they are omnipresent through much of the story. Women play a very important role in the movement of the story line: they all want to marry, help or hurt Odysseus. During the course of his journey, Odysseus meets three different women who want him to be their husband: Circe, Calypso, Nausicca, and finally one woman who is his true wife: Penelope. Each of these women has a profound effect on Odysseus journey home. Yet, even though these women are much more powerful than ordinary Greek women are they still carry some semblance of the "good female" in Greek society.
She is a testament to women of this era in that she is not pushed around by men. The unknown writer for a website that analyzes the role of women in the art of ancient Greece writes this about Penelope,” One of the points that can be made of the story is that even though women are weaker than men there are tools available to keep them from being overpowered. The main tool is the rule of law, but even before laws customs could be used” (rwaag.org). Her tactics finally pay off in the end of the epic, when Odysseus returns from his voyage and she once again proves her intelligence by hosting the archery contest to prove Odysseus is
Paris’ brother, Hector, told him: "Paris, appalling Paris! Our prince of beauty-mad for woman, you lure them all to ruin." (Book III) Women are not the only ones drawn to ruin by Paris. The whole Trojan army, not to mention the whole city of Troy, was endangered by Paris’ selfishness. Paris is very likely the cause of the Trojan War. His story was told by prophecies before he was born: The prophecies said that he would be the cause of the destruction of Troy. His parents, Priam and Hecuba, left him to die on a mountain when he was a baby, but he was rescued and returned to Troy as a young man. Paris abducted prince Menelaos’ (of Mycenae) wife, Helen, who was said to be the
Homer describes Helen as the worlds most beautiful women at the time. She is the daughter of the Olympian god, Zeus and her mother is known to be Leda. When she was young Greek mythology states that Helen was rescued by her brothers when she was taken by Theseus. Helen`s sister, Clytemnestra was married to Agamemnon. Helen was the most desired woman by all men from all over Greek, she had many suitors come for her hand but Menelaus, the younger brother of her sister’s husband, Agamemnon was the lucky one. Helen choose Menelaus as her suitor and married him and became his Queen. As he was king of Sparta.