Homer’s epic, The Odyssey is one of the most influential tales to date. It is believed to be written during the twelfth century B.C.E and since then Homer continues to leave his audience in awe as he tells the story of Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War. This classic piece of Greek literature serves as a symbol for Greek culture. For example, Homer the relationships between host and house guest/parent and child/man and woman as well as the moral rules of ancient Greece. As the audience reads this epic they join Odysseus on his journey home and they are taught about the definition of heroism but, what is often over looked in this epic is the admiration he shows for women throughout this epic. His main character is Odysseus, yes, but he often highlights his wife, Penelope. She plays just as important role as Odysseus since she is his “love” and mother of son Telemachus. According to Sue Blundell’s book, Women in Ancient Greece, women at the time were given little-to-no respect or authority but Homer challenges this by placing women in powerful strong roles and referring to them in a respectful manner. He has given women a voice and …show more content…
Men, at the time, created our representation of the traditional Greek woman by how the visualized in artworks to how they were perceived in literature. Women remained secondary to many and were denied a public voice. They were treated like adolescents. Marriages were arranged by the dominant male figure in the family. When that man passed the female relative did not receive her family inheritance generally, it was passed on to her husband instead. As for a woman’s social life, they hardly had one. A woman’s duties were confined to the indoors catering to the household/family need such as cooking, cleaning and raising children. A woman required special permission if she desired to go out of those
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.
Judged by modern Western standards, the treatment of women by men in Homer's Odyssey can be characterized as sexist. Women in Homer's Odyssey are judged mainly by their looks. If important men and gods consider a woman beautiful, or if her son or husband is a hero or has an important position such as king, the woman is successful. The way women in The Odyssey are treated is based on appearance, the things men want from them, and whether the woman has any power over men. During Odysseus' journey to the underworld he sees many different types of women. We hear about their beauty, their important sons, or their affairs with gods. We hear nothing about these women's accomplishments in their lifetime. Odysseus tells how Antiope could "boast a god for a lover,"(193) as could Tyro and many other women. Epikaste was called "that prize"(195) her own son unwittingly married.
There is really no way to generalize the women in Homer’s Odyssey because they all have their own distinct traits that make each of them great, strong, and powerful women. A very powerful woman is Arete. She is as powerful as the king, Alcinous. Her daughter Nausicaa is an amazing woman, even though she is so young. She displays great intelligence in handling Odysseus. These women I speak of above are great women in a good sort of way but there are also some very bad women that still have some amazing qualities. For instance Clytemnestra who has great vengeance and deceit. Another Homeric women that breaks the mold is Helen. She is so independent and headstrong it’s almost scary. These qualities I’m applying to all these women are not their only but they are the most memorable. In fact some of them share the traits I have already laid out. One other thing I would like to mention before I go on is how different these women are from what I expected. I thought they would all be weak and completely under the control of the heroic men but all the ones I’ve mentioned are very powerful and could probably do with out their men. I know Helen would be all right with out Menelaus.
Odysseus ' principles and characteristics are a prototype of an ideal Homeric Greek leader. Odysseus is noble, clever and loyal. Through his distress and blunders, he gains knowledge that was not only crucial for his survival but for his companions too. Odysseus’s cleverness constantly allowed him to avoid death because he relied on trickery, rhetoric and disguise. “The society depicted in The Odyssey is one where male values were dominant and where all socially relevant transactions took place between the male members of the community”. (Whittaker 39) While males’ dominance takes the forefront in society, their principles are continuously being challenged by the allurement of women. In The Odyssey, many instances of such seduction reveals
Homer's great epic, "The Odyssey" was written several thousands of years ago, a time in human history when men played the dominant role in society. The entire structure of civilization was organized and controlled by men; It was an accepted fact that women held an inferior position in society. Society was constructed as if women were around only to serve the men. The involvement of women in any circumstance was almost completely dominated by what the men allowed. The women were valued in society, only they were not given important roles or any decision making power. It is as if they held no power in the ancient Greek society. This is why Homer's Odyssey is very unique, Homer put women into roles that were previously unheard of for women to possess. Unlike in The Iliad, where women served merely as an object to men; female characters of Odyssey are distinctive because they possess personality, and have intricate relationships with the male characters of the Odyssey. By characterizing the women in "The Odyssey", a reader may come to some conclusions about the role of women in this epic. Along with the belief that women played a secondary role to men in society, the female characters displayed certain traits that could not be exhibited by the men. Athena demonstrated the most intelligence and valor out of all the characters in "The Odyssey." The male characters play the most significant roles in this epic, but without the support of the females in "The Odyssey", Odysseus would not have made it through his journey.
" 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--the woman included--that a wife should stay in the home far removed from the complicated business of the "man's world."... ... middle of paper ... ...
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.
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.
Women in the Odyssey were a huge component of Odysseus’s journey home. Without these women, Odysseus’s home would have broken down, and he would have never gotten home. His wife, Penelope, is one of these women. She stays loyal to her husband and never gives up hope on his return. She is curious about people and tests them to be able to trust them, just like her husband. Another woman is Odysseus’s old nurse, Eurykleia. She may be old, yet she puts forth the efforts and power to assist Penelope with the control over the household. She never lies about anything to Penelope and especially Odysseus. She also is kind of like a spy for Odysseus when he returns as himself. One more woman is Athena. She has the true super powers to help Odysseus physically
...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.
However, there are several female characters in the Odyssey who play essential roles in the stories, which contradicts women’s roles in Classical Athens. First of all, some women are remarked by their helpfulness. For example, Helen, the Queen of Sparta, who tries to help Telemachus find his father. Not to mention the imperative role of the Goddess Athena, who is very helpful and is always there to help Odysseus in difficult situations: in the beginning the helps Telemachus with her divine powers by disguising as a friend of Laertes to convince him to talk to the suitors and make them leave because she knows Odysseus is still alive somewhere. Furthermore, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope is portrayed as very clever and loyal. While her husband is gone for several years, many men try to marry her, but she stays faithful to her husband because she still believes he will come back. Penelope is also a smart woman, which is not typical in Classical Athens: she told the suitors she
It is interesting to analyze the gender problematic in the Odyssey through the lens of the roles of women in this epic. This epic is dependant on the role of women. It is difficult to completely judge the beliefs about the gender roles in Greek culture based solely on the Odyssey. At times, the roles and actions of women in this poem show the male chauvinist view, that they are objects of beauty and have to succumb to manipulation and trickery to accomplish a goal. There are other times when a woman's strength and intelligence come through. Homer uses this interplay to make the epic more interesting and develops an underlying theme of a battle of the sexes.
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they would face serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying, Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret, the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
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.