Prize Women In The Iliad

The Homeric Epic, The Iliad, is a narrative about a war between the Greeks and the Trojans, which lasted ten years. The war started after a dispute between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Each goddess turned to Paris, prince of Troy, to solve the dispute. In particular, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world, prompting him to choose her. The woman Paris was given was Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Having discovered that Paris took his wife away, he declared war with his allies on Troy in retaliation. Throughout The Iliad, the various aspects of the life of women are identifiable. Most women do not have a lot of power in their lives, reflecting on the ancient Greek traditions during the time when Homer

Compared to the modern world, women in Ancient Greece had very few rights compared to men, and generally had dreary lifestyles. The Iliad reflects this, as many of the women seen in the epic have insignificant and seemingly useless roles. Most notable is the role of women as “prize women” from wars, including women such as Briseis and Chryseis. Both women were “prizes” from the Trojan War given to Achilles and Agamemnon. Evidently, the concept of prize women in Greek societies was pivotal due to the concept of τιμη, or “honor and esteem”, as noted by Achilles’ dramatic reaction to Briseis being taken away from him by Agamemnon, demonstrated in Book 1 of The Iliad, “‘I [Agamemnon] shall come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis …’ The son of Peleus [Achilles] was furious, and his heart within his shaggy breast was divided whether to draw his sword, push the others aside, and kill [Agamemnon], or to restrain himself and check his anger.” Obviously, not all women are prizes. The reader can see women fulfilling basic roles as wives or mothers. The simplest example is Helen, who was the husband of Menelaus before and after the Trojan War, and the wife, as promised by Aphrodite, of Paris during the war. While some may argue that Helen played a pivotal role in causing the war, which is true, her otherwise main role as a character was nothing beyond the wife of a given man and a spectator of the war. Similarly, Hecuba and Thetis are both women with overall insignificant roles. Both women were mothers who were concerned about their children. Thetis arrives when Achilles is seen crying, as the text stated, “As he [Achilles] spoke he wept aloud, and his mother heard him where she was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the old man her father. Forthwith she rose as it were a grey mist out of the waves, sat down before him as he stood weeping, caressed him with her hand,