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Times in the Odyssey where loyalty was shown
Character of medea
The roles of women in literature
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Recommended: Times in the Odyssey where loyalty was shown
The Odyssey of Homer and “Medea” are two of the better-known Greek literary works that emphasize the role of women in society. Odysseus returned home from his long journey to find Penelope’s loyalty unwavering to her husband, despite going through several hardships to keep this sense of loyalty. For example, while Odysseus was on his journey, she agrees to remarry on condition, which appears as though she is betraying her husband. On the other hand, Medea, the wife of Jason, took an opposite approach in response to gender role expectations. Once she discovered that Jason found a new wife and abandoned her, she tried to do something in order to ruin his name and reputation. We see from here that while Penelope conforms to the expectations of …show more content…
Even though Odysseus was far-off on his journey, and didn’t have an idea if he was dead or alive, she remained loyal and didn’t give up hope for his return. She wept every day, despite each day feeling as long as eternity, hoping that he will one day return home. Many of the suitors wanted to marry Penelope in order to take Odysseus’ place to gain power, however, she knew the suitors’ intentions. While the suitors were fighting for her hand in marriage, she tells Eurynome, her housekeeper, “Mother, they are all hateful, since all are devising evils, but Antinoos, beyond the rest, is like black death.” (The Odyssey of Homer 17.499-500) Penelope knew something needed to be done in order to save herself and her son Telemachos from the evilness of the suitors. The goddess Athene, seeing her misery, set a plan in place. Her plan was to create a contest where the suitors would need to string a bow and shoot an arrow between twelve axes by, “put[ting] in the mind of the daughter of Ikarios, circumspect Penelope, to set the bow before the suitors…the contest, the beginning of the slaughter.” (The Odyssey of Homer 21.1-4) However, the suitors didn’t realize it was an impossible feat, that only Odysseus was capable of fulfilling. Penelope didn’t use trickery to take revenge on the suitors; she used trickery as an attempt to stay loyal to her husband. Therefore, Penelope …show more content…
After Medea helped Jason acquire the Golden Fleece, Jason and Medea lived happily in Corinth for many years. But one day, Jason decided to leave her and marry the daughter of Creon leaving Medea on her own. He believed that he should marry her in order to protect their family name, and to provide a better life for their sons by marrying into royalty. However, he not only left Medea; he also exiled her from the land. Medea decided to take revenge on her husband and anyone close to him, planning to “make dead bodies of three of her enemies- [his new wife’s] father, the girl and her husband.” (Medea 374-375) She decided that if she killed them in any other way, she would get caught. So she thought the best way to kill them was through poison, that “it is best to go by the straight road, the one in which I am most skilled, and make away with them by poison.” (Medea, 384-385) Medea uses “craft and silence” (Medea 391-392) to carry out these plans. She then uses “craft and silence” in order to seek revenge on Jason by giving her sons a beautiful gown and a golden diadem to give to Jason’s new wife. Although Jason didn’t accept the idea of Medea giving his new wife presents, Medea deceives Jason by convincing him that she was wrong about his new wife. Medea tells him, “I ask your pardon, I admit to being wrong, I’ve thought better of it now” (Medea, 891-893), which allowed her sons to, unknowingly,
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.
Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each—through her vices or virtues—helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks. 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 evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600).
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.
...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.
The Odyssey was written near the end of 8th century B.C. by Homer. Homer wrote this epic poem in the Greek coastal region of Anatolia called Ionia. This poem talks tells the famous story of Ulysses journey back home after the Trojan war. In the surface the poem gives an interesting story about Ulysses battle against monsters and Gods, but after analyzing the story in depth one can find important information about Greek society in this time period. The Odyssey has the theme of women as monsters tempting men away from home and also the theme that men actually settle in a different area rather than return home. Historically, we are able to see that women were the reasons that many sailors prefer to settle on an island away from
“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.
Greek women, as depicted 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 men and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was 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 were faced with 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.
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.
Homer wrote the classic epic The Odyssey more than 2,500 years ago. At that time in ancient Greek society, as well as in the whole of the ancient world, the dominant role was played by men. Society was organized, directed, and controlled by men, and it was accepted that women occupied a subservient and inferior position. Women, of course, were valued, but were expected to possess certain traits and perform certain tasks that men demanded of them. Does Homer's writing in The Odyssey support or refute the common belief of his time regarding women? Homer endorsed the dominating belief of his time concerning women by treating the female characters unequally and differently compared to the male characters in The Odyssey.
In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason’s new bride that also kills the King of Corinth. Medea then kills the children. Later, she refuses to let Jason bury the bodies or say goodbye to the dead children he now loves so dearly. Jason is cursed with many catastrophic flaws that lead to his downfall and that of others around him.
In ancient Greece women were viewed as many things. They were not viewed as equivalent to males by any means. Women were portrayed usually as submissive domestic, and controlled. They played supporting or secondary roles in life to men, who tended to be demanding of their wives, but expected them to adhere to their wishes. In the tragedy Medea, written by Euripides, Medea plays the major role in this story, unlike most Greek stories with women playing only minor roles, but she also demonstrates many behavioral and psychological patterns unlike any other Greek women. In Euripides’ Medea the main character, Medea, Displays many traits that breakdown traditional Athenian misogyny by displaying her as proactive in taking her revenge, having cruel and savage passions, and being a very manipulative women.
Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression, and honor are misplaced and self-defeating values.
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.