Penelopeia In Homer's The Odyssey

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Homer's epic The Odyssey was more than an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and people. It was a cultural paradigm that showed human relationships by giving a diverse depiction of Ancient Greece and an understanding for the reader of what was appropriate for the Greeks in the relationships between god and mortal, father and son, man and woman, and more. Although there were not many female characters in The Odyssey, the few women in the story played pivotal roles. Unlike the way Greek women were mistreated in their societies at that time, Homer portrayed women in his epic as tough and strong-willed, treated by the men with the respect and seriousness they deserved.
The goddesses played an essential part in the epic. The most prominent example …show more content…

Odysseus's homecoming was centered on his love for her. She was not only his wife but also the mother of his son Telemachos. Since Odysseus had not returned from the war and was presumably dead, many suitors desired to replace him by taking Penelopeia's hand in marriage and Odysseus's property. The readers were constantly reminded of her faithfulness to Odysseus: not only did she wait many years for her husband to come home, but she also did not give in to the temptation of her many suitors. During the whole epic, Penelopeia showed her wisdom and cleverness. While she may have appeared weak at first, she proved to be shrewd, much like her husband, after tricking the suitors by claiming that she would choose one of them as her husband once she finished the burial shroud for Laërtês, her father-in-law. Every night she would undo the weaving she had done for the day, in order to delay her marriage to one of the …show more content…

Arêtê was the wife of Alcinoös and the mother of his children, including Nausicaä. The Phaeacian queen was acknowledged by her daughter, and the reader can assume that others felt the same way, as the higher authoritative. Nausicaä told Odysseus to bypass her father and instead ask Arêtê for help. Arêtê was very hospitable toward Odysseus and helped him find his way home to Ithaca. Helen, the wife of Menelaos, was kidnapped by Paris, the young prince of Troy and she was the reason Menelaos and his brother Agamemnon attacked Troy and started one of the most famous battles in Greek mythology, the Trojan War. Not only was Helen the most beautiful woman of all, but she also was treated very respectfully by not only her husband Menelaos, who it seemed completely forgave his wife, but by all citizens of Lacedaimon. She was regarded and respected as highly as the

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