Although Homer’s The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’s heroic quest to return to Ithaca, the women in it play an equal, if not more important role. The saying “behind every great man is an even greater woman” rings true throughout The Odyssey. In Ancient Greek culture, one’s glory is based off of the geras they acquire; for men that glory included women. In Penelope, Odysseus found the perfect match, both intellectually and hospitably; she is clever, cunning and faithful. Penelope, along with other mortal and immortal women such as Athena, challenge the view of women during this time because Homer presented Penelope as a strong woman rather than the submissive character she is expected to be. In Ancient Greece when a young woman is married off, …show more content…
She is seen standing up to man and showcasing her authority when she speaks out to her father, Zeus. And although she is chastised, she does not back down because later in the text we again see her have her say when she questioned her father’s actions. Athena has respect for the cosmic order of the universe but still challenges the set perimeters in terms of divine intervention. Fond of Odysseus, Athena indirectly, directly intervened in the lives of him and his family but instead of appearing as herself, she appears as an old friend of Odysseus and “a shepherd, like a king’s son, all delicately made” (Homer 13. 281-282). A sharp contrast to the discernible interference the other goddesses are involved in, this quotation illustrates how she intervenes in Odysseus’s life in different forms which allow him to get help without outright knowing it is Athena, until when she feels it …show more content…
Penelope exhibits a mixture of both when she was alone with the suitors in Odysseus’ absence from Ithaca. Antinoӧs tells how she, Telemachus’ “incomparably cunning mother” (Homer 2. 95), led the suitors on for almost four years: For three years not – and it will soon be four – she has been breaking the hearts of the Akhaians, holding out hope to all, and sending
...ow Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a hero.
In his article entitled “Animal Liberation,” Peter Singer suggests that while animals do not have all of the exact same rights as humans, they do have an equal right to the consideration of their interests. This idea comes from the fact that animals are capable of suffering, and therefore have sentience which then follows that they have interests. Singer states “the limit to sentience...is the only defensible boundary of concern for interests of others” (807). By this, he means that the ability to feel is the only grounds for which rights should be assigned because all species of animals, including humans, have the ability, and therefore all animals have the right to not feel suffering and to instead feel pleasure.
In spite of being ruled by men in her entire life, Penelope remains patient and not only dexterously runs Odysseus’s state, but also cunningly manipulates the suitors in the ploy of shroud weaving. In addition, Atwood depicts the melancholy life of Penelope in the chapters of her childhood, marriage, slanderous gossip and suitors stuff their faces, where she struggles for her dignity and existence. Thus, the author often favours matriarch, opposes the double standard between genders and the roles imparted to boys and girls from their early age. Therefore, Atwood wonders that why women not men have to deal with violence, patriarchal oppression, infidelity, and objectification along with indifferent roles as well as duties in the society. Subsequently, Atwood exhibits the face of gender biased society and how female is treated as mere object of pleasure and child birth. As girls learn domestic work such as craft or to do things with hands, whereas, boys get training in bravery or war acts. Similarly, all twelve maids spend their childhood as slaves with no parents or playtime, sing of freedom, and dream of
Penelope intelligence, and her simple but elegant way of presenting herself, and apparent inherent sense of modesty make her ancient Greece ideal woman, she was unwavering in her loyalty and love to her husband and the in which she treat everyone. Throughout the poem the Odyssey we are shown that all challenge’s and obstacles can be overcome through love and togetherness, and willingness of a family, something that is completely lacking in today society where everyone is only out to make them self’s better and not the family structures as in the poem.
Penelope intelligence, and her simple but elegant way of presenting herself, and apparent inherent sense of modesty make her ancient Greece ideal woman, she was unwavering in her loyalty and love to her husband and the in which she treat everyone. Throughout the poem the Odyssey we are shown that all challenge’s and obstacles can be overcome through love and togetherness, and willingness of a family, something that is completely lacking in today society where everyone is only out to make them self’s better and not the family structures as in the poem.
The first major female character introduced in this epic is Penelope. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. She is portrayed as a strong-willed widow, who even after not seeing Odysseus for twenty years, keeps her trust in her husband to return home. The main tool is the rule of law, but even before laws customs could be used” (rwaag.org).
To begin, Athena played a major role when it came to helping Odysseus and Telemachus. One way she helps Odysseus is when she disguises him as a beggar to help overthrow the suitors. “My changing so? Athena’s work, the Fighter’s Queen – she has that power, she makes me look as she likes, now like a beggar, the next moment a young man, decked out in handsome clothes about my body” (Book 16 lines 237-240). Many other times throughout the epic she helps disguise him. This example shows how smart she was because she’s able to help odysseys trick the people he encounters. Penelope, Odysseus’s love sick wife, was very clever when it came to not getting married to a suitor. One example is her yarn scheme she plays with the suitors. When Antinous says, “So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web – by night, by the light of torches set beside her, see would unravel all she’d done” (Book 2 lines 116-118). It shows her cleverness in how to not marry the suitors. Homer stresses this important when he repeats the same line again how Penelope unravels the yarn. (Book 24 lines 152-155). Another example of Penelope’s clever ways is when she makes the challenge impossible so no suitor can marry her. “the goddess Athena with her blazing eyes inspired Penelope, Icarius’ daughter, wary, poised, to set the bow and the gleaming iron axes out before her suitor waiting in Odysseus’ hall to test their skill
By studying the female characters of The Odyssey, readers can understand the role of women in this epic. Along with the belief that women played a secondary role to men in Greek society, the female characters displayed certain traits that could not be portrayed by the men. Each female character adds a different element and is essential to the depiction of the story. Most women in this epic poem are tough, determined and are treated with the respect that they rate. Despite traditions of ancient society, the author characterizes the women as the counterparts of
Throughout The Odyssey, men are considered the heroes and the principal characters who play a huge role as conquerors. Yet, women are the pivotal characters and the underlying heroines who assist the men in ways no others could. Homer displays palpable gender bias and sweeps women under the rug as if they portray a weak role, rather than a supportive and important one. Without these women’s efforts, many of the men, such as Odysseus, would not have been able to succeed.
In The Odyssey, Homer tells the epic tale of a man’s (Odysseus’) heroic journey, a journey where women play a large role in the development of characters and complications in the journey, specifically Penelope, Athena, and other mothers, deities, and creatures. The most prominent woman in the epic tale is Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. The point of Odysseus’ journey home is so that he can be reunited with his wife and take back control of his palace, overrun by the suitors. Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, try’s to gain authority within the suitors but finds this difficult and goes on his own journey under the influence of yet another female, Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The main point of Homer’s The Odyssey focuses on the adventures of Odysseus as
This is immoral, animals are here for themselves, animals have their own lives, and they think, have feelings, feel pain, require love (from their own species), feel emotional hurt, have families, and everything else that humans do. To just simply say that non-human animals should have no rights because they’re “defective” is a mindless statement! People come to this “conclusion” because they come up with some mindless babble like, non-human animals can’t talk, drive cars or vote, therefore they have no non-tradable properties. Well answer me this; do non-human animals have the right to exist in their natural environment and express behaviours that matter to them? We withhold non-human animals the very basic rights, simply because they don’t resemble humans. Humans are speciest.
Penelope is tricky and intelligent deceiving the suitors into thinking she would be ready for marriage sooner, “And here is another stratagem of her heart's devising. She set up a great loom in her palace, and set to weaving a web of threads long and fine. Then she said to us: "Young men, my suitors now that the great Odysseus has perished, wait, though you are eager to marry me, until I finish this web, so that my weaving will not be useless and wasted. ...So she spoke, and the proud heart in us was persuaded. Thereafter in the daytime she would weave at her great loom, but in the night she would have torches set by, and undo it” (Citation). Penelope was very smart just as her husband is but she was not even near as respected as he is. Men in the story like Telemachus saw women below him so he would give commands to even his mother “ So , mother, go back to your quarters. Tend to your own tasks, to distaff and the loom, and keek the women working hard as well. As for giving orders, men will see to that” (citation), Telemachus demands that men will pursue all important tasks and the women can continue working, and he also insists that she go to her room. The Odyssey not allow women to be independent and a good attribution to the
I have been waiting twenty years for my husband Odysseus to return but all of my hope has just about been about lost, everyday new suitors come to my kingdom raiding my supplies eating up my food and the worst thing is they will not leave no matter what I say, they all wish to make me their bride and they all compete for my affection, no matter how hard i wish to wait for Odysseus to return i can not anymore so i have decided that it will be best for me to choose a suitor as my champion but it will be in a form of a competition. I grabbed my husband's bow and mourned over him for a while then i cleaned myself up and told the men the contest they seemed pleased they thought it would be easy but,the men had tried their
Dorothy Parker, in her poem “Penelope,” analyzed the unappreciated domestics and tedious tasks of a woman in the society, the man are rather given all the accreditations. Firstly, she alluded the title to Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, from “The Odyssey;” secondly, she uses imagery of “the pathway of the sun” and “the footsteps of the breeze” to describe Odysseus bravery and determination; thirdly, by juxtaposing his adventures with her daily house tasks: “He shall ride the silver seas/ I shall sit at home and rock;” fourthly, she says, “snip my thread” to allude to Penelope’s faithfulness and “bleach the linen for my bed” to allude to her purity and fidelity to her husband; lastly, by pointing out directly that upon
What rights do animals really have? Well in 1975, Australian philosopher Peter Singer wrote a book called’ Animal Liberation’ in it he argued that humans should not use animals for experimentation. Singer’s ideas are based on utilitarianism, which is one of many philosophies developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to help people decide whether something is right or wrong without going against the Bible or other moral authority. Utilitarians say we should judge actions only upon their react...