The Power and Influence of Women Roles Some of the most well-known work of literatures in the world are examples of epic poetry. These epics consist of heroic adventurous tales that have contested time and have been around long enough to aspire many readers and writers. Two literary works that demonstrate the attributes and qualities of an epic is, The Ramayana and The Odyssey. Through the adventures of the protagonist we learn the traditions of the ancient world and its culture. Many themes are shared between both epics. However, the theme that stood out the most in these epic, was the influence and power of women roles. The male characters play the most significant roles in this poem, but without …show more content…
the support of the females, the men would most definitely not have been able to make it through their journey. The Odyssey is the second Greek epic poem, written by the ancient Greek poet Homer.
It was written in the 8th century BC and tells the adventures of a hero named Odysseus and his journey home after the Trojan War. The status of his wife, Penelope, who was waiting for Odysseus on Ithaca was also talked about. For the Greeks, the epic of Homer was more than just an entertaining tale about gods, monsters, and people. It was an example of their culture and demonstrated their human interactions and relationships. The Odyssey gives the readers an opportunity to understand the relationships between god and mortal, father and son, servant and master, guest and host, and man and woman. Women's role is pivotal in the process of developing the epics. The women in The Odyssey are unique in their character, purpose, and relationships towards men. All women in this epic are not same in personality or character. However, all of them do help in defining the role of the ideal woman. The Odyssey describes the world of women in Ancient Greece, by identifying apparent social dynamics, roles, and views held of the second sex. The epic was written at a time when women held lesser positions among men; their roles were limited to childbirth and household …show more content…
duties. The civilization at that time was organized and controlled by men, and women were held at an inferior position in a society ruled by men.
The society was formed as if women only purpose was to serve the men and women by any circumstances. Women were not given important roles or any decision making power or position. They were subjected by what the men permitted. That is why this epic poem is so unique; Homer places women into roles that at that time women did not possess. Women in the poem are unique because they possess character, and share very complicated relationships with men. 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
men. The most memorable and important women in the poem is Penelope, wife of Odysseus; Nausica, a young innocent maiden; All women of the epic poem are unique. The goddesses play some very serious roles in The Odyssey. Athena makes things happen during the entire epic. In Epic poetry, gods or supernatural beings frequently take part in the action, to affect the outcome. The role of the goddess is one of a supernatural presence, and helps provide guidance to mortals. Athena, understands Odysseus and the struggle he has been going through. She attempts to aid Odysseus in his pursuit to return home. Athena is a Goddess that is displayed as confident, intelligent, and very cunning. She is skilled in disguise, which is very pivotal in The Odyssey. The readers recognize that she is one of the main reason that Odysseus was able to return home. The goddess Calypso is also very powerful as she was able to hold Odysseus captive for many years. Among the mortal women Nausica is a sweet girl, and daughter of a king with dreams of her marriage and other girlish hopes. She symbolizes all that is pure, innocent and righteous in the world. Penelope is a central character throughout the epic; by studying the role she played as the wife of Odysseus and how she is characterized exposes how a wife may have been treated in Ancient Greece. She is characterized as weak and submissive in the beginning; However, later she is framed with strength, independence and cunning. Penelope has all the man-made qualities of an ideal Greek woman: loyalty, submission and fertility. Penelope had to deceive and mislead all the suitors for a long period of time by making the excuse that she had to weave a burial shroud for Laertes. Penelope showed her wisdom and cleverness throughout the entirety of the epic. Even after Odysseus came home she was wise to be cautious. She used her intelligences to set a plan that would prove if Odysseus has really returned. Women in Ancient Greece were considered inferior to men and they couldn't mix with men and be part of the action in society. Very few women had important roles, so that world was dominated by men. However, in The Odyssey women played very important roles. They took care of the the men and provided loyalty and assistance. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, waited for her husband's return from the Trojan war for years. In Odysseus absence potential suitors who had the desire to take Penelope hand in marriage. However, she constantly found a way to reject them. In The Odyssey, Odysseus was held captive by Calypso, she held him for seven years in order to have fling with him. However, Odysseus managed to escape and reached Penelope and proved that he is in fact Odysseus by stringing a bow and shooting it through a dozens of axes heads which could have only been accomplished by Odysseus. Rama married Sita by stringing the same kind of bow in Sita's bachelorette contest where the winner is awarded her hand in marriage. Rama lived in exile with his wife Sita and his brother Prince Lakshmana in a forest. One day Ravan's sister Surpanakha saw Rama and approached him with a desire to have a fling with him. Rama declined Surpanakha approach and she ended up withdrawing with her nose cut. Surpanakha returned to her brother Ravan and fabricated a story that manipulated her brother Ravan to confront Rama and steal Sita from him. The role of a wife and women is most sincerely demonstrated by Sita, wife of Rama in the epic The Ramayana. Sita represents all that is good in womanhood. Sita, the princess of Ajodhya, is looked upon today by all Hindu women as the ideals of what a woman should try to emulate. She radiates in this aspect, principally as the loyal wife of Rama, sharing his joys for a short time and subsequently following him in exile to a foreest for fourteen years. She stood beside Rama at all times, bearing the rigours of the forest life cheerfully. In that very forest she was abducted by Ravana, the King of Lanka, and suffered an intense humiliation by him and his followers. She defied Ravana, who was determined on making her his queen, rejecting his offers and patiently waiting for her beloved husband Rama to come and rescue her, just like how Penelope waited for Odysseus. In the presence of Ravana she extoled the virtues of her husband, Rama. In the end, she was rescued by Rama in the Battle of Lanka. She demonstrated the characteristics of fidelity and willingness to undergo awful hardship for Rama. She literality walked through fire to test her fidelity and sexual morality, after she returned to her husband's kingdom in Ayothya. She earned her the accolade of the ideal wife but also the status of a goddess. The Ramayana extols Rama's accomplishments in his attempt to save Sita in captivity. It also describes a period of time which was particularly similar to the period which Homer of Greece is described. In The Odyssey, Homer represents battles, heroism that closely resembles to those portrayed by Valmiki in The Ramayana. Like Penelope in Homer's work, Sita, perfect in chastity, expects Rama always beside her and regards him as her sole protector and lover. Traditionally, Sita is regarded as the model for ideal womanhood, she exemplified the traits that a woman should have. The role that women play in this epic is pivotal. They provided aid and had the ability to influence the event that transpired. We witnessed how Surpanakha was able to manipulate Ravan and how Sita influenced Rama to undertake the journey he did in order to rescue her. As well as how Odysseus went through an extensive degree to return back to his wife Penelope and his family. Just as the Indians extol the epics such as The Ramayana, Greeks highly praise the Homeric epics which continue to inspire them with strong cultural sense.
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.
The women were generally less defined than the men, but that is due to the fact that none of the women could be considered main characters, except perhaps Penelope. The woman all served a point, and were there to add to the plot or to compliment another character, like Penelope and Odysseus’s connection. Homer wrote women to help the plot along, but not be a major point or character themselves. The women are very important to the Odyssey, and the poem would not of been able to read the way it did if the women played no role. The poem illustrates women as important people, but only for the sake of a man. Homer wrote according to the greeks pyramid of social standing, where women were lower than men, but he still allowed women greater roles, and even gave them important tasks to fulfill, like Penelope and her suitors, or Helen and her elopement with Prince
The great epic, Homer's Odyssey, is a tale of an adventure; a journey through the mind body and soul. Odysseus was strong throughout his voyage and was able to conquer his obstacles thanks to the help from the Goddess Athena. Athena provided physical and emotional support for this man, to get him on his way home to Ithaka. She also provided this same support for Odysseus' son, Telemakhos. Without her involvement, "The Odyssey" would not have turned out the way it did; because she plays such a crucial role in the story. It is understood that Odysseus is the primary character in this epic; concerning his fears and eventually returning to his home, Ithaka. The only reason this was possible is because he had the help of the clever and intelligent Goddess, Athena.
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--...
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.
Sexism has occurred throughout history and has impacted women significantly.The Odyssey follows the narrative of a man and looks at love from the perspective of a man. The famed poem was written by an ancient greek man and until recently, has always been translated by a man. For these reasons, The Odyssey provides a great example of how love, women, and marriage have been perceived by society, especially men, in the past. By examining the sexist undertones and the perception of women and love from the men in the epic and comparing those to criticisms made today we can truly understand how far we have come as a society.
...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.
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The women in “The Odyssey” dictate the direction of the epic. Homer the blind creator may have contrived the story with the aim to depict a story of a male heroism; but the story if looked at from a different angles shows the power women have over men. The Sirens and women that posses the power of seduction when ever they are encountered take the men off their course, and lead many to their death. The power women in the Epic pose can be seen from the goddess all to the wives. From The nymph Calypso who enslaves Odysseus for many years posses all the way back to Penelope who many argue is of equal importance to
Mortal and immortal women inspire many of the events that take place in The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. For example, without the harlot, who “tames” Enkidu, the story of Gilgamesh would not be, as we know it. A chapter entitled, “Women in Ancient Epic” from A Companion to Ancient Epic by Helene Foley compares Ishtar in Gilgamesh to Calypso and Circe in The Odyssey. By comparing the role of immortal and mortal women in both The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh, one will be able to discern how the feminine figures have played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of the epic heroes, as well as, understanding the interrelation amongst the female figures of both ancient epics.
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
“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.
of the family. This fact not only holds true for The Odyssey but in the ancient Greek way of life, too. For example, women did not have such a meaningful role in Greek drama as the men did. The parts of women would be played by men in the majority of the plays. The reason this took place was because all of the playwrights were men. There were cases in which women were used in plays but they were used solely as models. Nonetheless, all of the types of women that lived in ancient Greece were depicted in all of the playwrights. The women in these plays were depicted by the role of a sinner, saint, poetess, coward, heroine, and
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.