Representation Of Women In The Odyssey Essay

The representation of women within The Odyssey reflects the perception of women within modern society. The ideas of women over time have shifted into a more empowering sense of what is right for a woman how she must be represented within a culture. Within today’s culture the women of The Odyssey would receive backlash from those who would call the characters’ temptresses or seductresses, yet they represent so much more than that. The women of The Odyssey are strong, empowering, and loyal. To take the element of sexualization away from the characters allows a specific level of praise that should be given for being so liberating, loyal, and determined. Penelope, Calypso, and Clytemnestra are all representatives of the modern woman despite the

The loyalty and love that she shows over ten years to Odysseus is admirable. The way in which Penelope tends to Odysseus’s family while he is gone, the avoidance of her suitors, and leadership she shows by maintaining the kingdom for years despite the suitors are commendable actions. The loyalty Penelope shows is praised throughout the worlds of both the living and the dead. In the Underworld Agamemnon claims she deserves a gracious song by remaining virtuous toward her husband. Penelope’s virtue of self-restraint drives her actions creating her esteemed level of piety are such a display of admirable character. Penelope’s qualities are respectable through the ages. As a woman of her time it would be easy for Penelope to marry after months or even several years after her husband's delayed return. Penelope would no longer have to host the suitors, live a life of deceit, or remain hopeful that her husband would return with a new formed life. The amount of self-control is admired today as it was in the past. Penelope’s qualities allow her to be viewed as a hero in her own right, supporting the honor that the Greeks often sought. Penelope is the woman to be expected, mourning at the loss of her husband, distant to those who do not honor their household, and loyal to the one she loves. She is the most respectable women throughout the ages

As a female character during the Greek Bronze age she calls out the double standard of the treatment of men versus women. The annoyance Calypso harbors towards Hermes as he demands that she lets Odysseus go is understandable. It is moving to have a dated piece of literature act as such a relevant tell of issues that occur within today’s era. It is so often that men in this current time call women, degrading them for taking part in similar actions in which the men are. Calypso notes that the Gods can sleep with any mortal at any time, yet when a goddess does it they are judged even if that mortal is their husband. Calypso is driven by her own desires and rightfully calls the male Gods out for their opinions against her. This attitude towards women is still very much relevant, to do anything that is masculine or that involves the desires of a women is often times reprimanded by the male population as they take part in the same action. Like calypso women of today call out these unjust moments to bring awareness to human motives as women justify equal rights from men. Calypso acts a representation of moving women who represent change within our current society that lacks the level of violence that Clytemnestra