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The role of women in Greek society
The role of women in Greek society
Women in greek society
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The Power of Zeus Teleios in the Oresteia
Is the action in the Oresteia preordained? Is the trilogy simply a working through of destiny and fate; the ultimate telos of the events being the downfall of the house of Atreus? Are the characters in the story destroyed by themselves or by the necessity of the deeds that are carried out? These are some of the questions I will discuss in this essay.
I wish to concentrate on the end of the story as we know it, the Eumenides, with reference to character portrayal in the previous parts of the trilogy. The characters I am really interested in discussing are Klytaemnestra, the Erinyes and Orestes in particular, but am also going to make brief reference to the characters of Elektra and Athena.
Klytaemnestra appears in all three plays in the trilogy: which through repetition, for me at least, makes her the most important character. More than anything, in the Oresteia, we watch Klytaemnestra become powerless. It is her transgression of limits1 that we see rectified.
Klytaemnestra in Agamemnon is a strong and wilful woman, who relishes her part in the downfall of Agamemnon himself. She is proud of her action, accepts full responsibility for his death at her hands; she takes her vengeance against him for the death of Iphigeneia2. This is shown in lines such as 'I exult' (A 1417) and after she kills him, 'you think I'm some irresponsible woman?' (A 1425). Aeschylus uses her to embody the powerful 'heroic' ethic of vengeance - blood for blood.
This is unusual firstly because she is a woman; it would seem more appropriate to use a hero in the traditional Homeric sense to embody a heroic ethic. Secondly, we have the dichotomy between the markedly female Erinyes, visualising the nature of 'blood for blood' in Eumenides and the act of vengeance itself - expressed in Homer as a male 'heroic' ethic.
We know this is the start of a trilogy because an audience cannot see a woman - especially one as anti-matriarchal as Klytaemnestra - triumph over a king as famous and respected as Agamemnon. Her downfall is intrinsically tied in with his; she catches herself in the 'great net' (A 1402) and it is her struggles that 'merely tightened the tangle.' (A 1403).
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.
In the ancient myths from the Aegean seas, much political theory is derived. Lessons on the dangers associated with monarchical political forms are brought to light. The connection between gender and power along with violence, war and necessity raise questions to enact a democracy and depersonalize the government.
Poseidon has never really liked Odysseus. When Odysseus tries to make it onto the shore of Skheria, Poseidon “…calls up wind / from every quarter, and sends a wall of rain…'; (89). Consequently, it is a safe assumption that Poseidon will really have it in for Odysseus. He states, “I thought he should suffer all the way [home]'; (233). After Odysseus returns home, Poseidon talks to Zeus and says he wants to put a mountain ring around the city and crush the ship of the Phaiakians.
In her spin-off of The Odyssey, Margaret Atwood employs a dead Penelope’s perspective to fill the gaps left by the classical epic and to push a righteous feminist agenda. Atwood uncovers an entirely different Penelope than the empty paragon of wifely goodness and loyalty from Homer’s epic. Atwood’s Penelope, although waiting twenty years for Odysseus’s return, actively protects herself from unwanted suitors, her bratty cousin, and even her deceptive, cheating husband. Limboing from the 21st century to Homer’s times to the underworld, Atwood’s narrative reflects on Penelope’s earthly life and encounters in Hades with the ghosts of the past. Specifically through the voice of the twelve dead maids, Atwood debases Odysseus's actions as unnecessarily
In conclusion, it becomes obvious by these three plays that for a woman to achieve kleos in ancient Greece, she usually had to become more man-like in her role. The murders committed by Electra and Medea, the bravery of Antigone—all three of these were fulfilled by what would have normally been considered a man’s role. A woman could rarely be considered a hero unless she became like a man in her actions. Otherwise, she would be only a simple woman.
Western art has always presented itself with ideas of the perfect female figure. As time goes on the change and conquest for the perfect image of the female body seems never ending. The Venus of Willendorf was apart of the Old Stone age. Although one can guess we actually have no way of proving the sculptures message or purpose. From 25,000 BCE when Willendorf was mae fast forwarding to 350 BCE when Aphrodite was made marks the first nude sculpture of a women in Greek art. Praxiteles created the Aphrodite of Knidos. The name Aphrodite stems from the goddess of love. Both sculptures form their own romanticized version of the female body from two different perspectives. The Venus of Willendorf and the Aphrodite of Knido both successfully portray culture in different time periods. They both
The heroine of this story is the fearless and honorable girl, Antigone. She acted more motherly than sisterly, always seeking honor and caring for her fallen family. The villain would be the king, Creon, who was increasingly more concerned about his own personal authority and welfare. He thought of himself as the supreme ruler over the city and felt that all people should obey him in all things, great and small, just and unjust. Only God, Himself, should have this honor!
She fully embraces her masculinity, as she triumph over his lifeless body, and speaks exultantly of her victory "fallen thus, he gasped away his life, and as he breathed forth quick spurts of blood, he struck me with dark drops of gory dew; while I rejoiced no less than the sown earth is gladdened in heaven's refreshing rain at the birth time of the flower buds"(1389- 1402). She arrogantly concludes that her actions are just and that justice has been served in Agamemnon murder. With glee and delight she proudly announces to the chorus of Agamemnon death, "you are testing me as if I were a witless woman. But my heart does not quail, and I say to you who know it well and whether you wish to praise or to blame me, it is all one here is Agamemnon, my husband, now a corpse, the work of this right hand, a just workman” (1402-1405). However, the chorus does not agree with what the queen has done and shows their anger with her actions, "you, pathetic- the king had just returned from battle. You waited out the war and fouled his lair, you planned my great commander's fall" (1625-1627). The chorus feels that Clytemnestra has only wronged Agamemnon, rather than accomplishing justice she only perpetuates to the circle of violence that has riddled the family, “violence beget violence”. In their opinion, she is
Klytaimestra has thought up an ingenious plan to uncover the outcome of the Trojan War as quickly as possible; however, when she tries to share the news, the Chorus castoffs her declaration. This constant stichomythia between the Chorus and Klytaimestra annoys her because of the persistent disbelief, “And you have proof?/That, or a phantom spirit sends you into raptures” (272-274). The Chorus, which consists of men, do not accept that a woman can have any sort of knowledge before they do. They dismiss her claims until they hear it from a male messenger, which makes Klytaimestra very angry: “I cried out long ago!/You made me seem deranged” (580-586). Further, when she explains how she discovered the outcome, the men automatically assume that because she is a woman, she got her information from gossiping. “Just like a woman/to fill with thanks before the truth is clear . . . So gullible. Their stories spread like wildfire,/they fly fast and die faster;/rumours voiced by women come to nothing.” To the Chorus, a woman to devise a plan as clever as Klytaimestra’s, is inconceivable. But even after Klytaimestra’s facts are proven, the Chorus will later undermine her abilities again.
Firstly, Venus’s atmosphere is heavily laden with carbon dioxide (CO2), which makes up 96 percent of its atmosphere, 3.5 percent is made of nitrogen, and the remaining 0.5 percent is a combination of water vapor, sulfuric acid (which produce Venus’s thick, stable clouds), hydrochloric acid, and hydrofluoric acid. Venus’s upper atmosphere is cool, which the lower atmosphere is extremely hot and causes the surface temperature to rise to 470C (880F). Venus’ present atmosphere is very dry, but shows signs that it may have once contained water. An abundance of deuterium—the heavy isotope of hydrogen—developed, but was broken down into hydrogen and oxygen atoms by ultraviolet radiation that could not be absorbed by Venus’s lack of an ozone layer (Seeds).
These few instances of revenge: Orestes’ revenge on Aegisthus, Zeus’ revenge on Odysseus and his men, and Poseidon’s revenge on Odysseus in The Odyssey, lay the background for Odysseus’ story of struggle in his journey home from Troy. Revenge proves to be the main reason not only as to why Odysseus cannot return home, but also as a means of proving the importance of the gods’ role in the epic journey. Without these occurrences of the gods getting revenge on Odysseus and other mortals, there would be no passionate tales of the perseverance that Odysseus had in achieving his goal: getting home to Ithaca.
The Venus of Willendorf was believed to be created 25,000 years ago, is none-freestanding sculpture and is sculpted out of oolitic limestone. The subject matter, I believe it to convey a fertility figure for men and woman to gaze upon. The Venus of Willendorf is a none-freestanding female nude stature, which is an 11 centimeters high, made out of oolitic limestone and now resides in Naturhistorisches Museum. She was found in 1908 in Austria in a village called Willendorf. The stature has been carved out of oolitic limestone and has been given a red ochre tint. This small oolitic limestone figure representing a woman in the nude has no known artist and no information on why it was created. I believe that
Clytemnestra has the ten years of the Trojan War to plan her revenge on Agamemnon. Upon his return Clytemnestra shows him some love. That love she showed quickly changes to rage and hatred when Clytemnestra she’s Agamemnon with his mistress Cassandra.
The theme of women in the Odyssey is essential in establishing one of the if not the main message in the poem. The paradoxical messages give insights into the lives of the characters and generalizations into the reader's lives. Although this theme would have a noticeable affect on the poem in its absence, it is odd that in a story about war and adventure that they hold such dominating roles. In the setting of the Odyssey, women did not have a status that measured up to that of a man. However, whether seen as demonic or angelic they still hold in the example of Odysseus a significant role in the determination of the final fate of a man.
After Agamemnon’s death, Aegisthus is next in line to become king and Clytemnestra is his queen. Her desire for power is hidden by her claims of justification. She challenges anyone to take her power. “[H]e who conquers me in fair fight shall rule me” (45). She threatens the Chorus to a fight for power. She knows she has all the power now the king was dead and she is his queen. Clytemnestra is aware she killed him for his power, but her arrogance makes her put the deed on the curse of the House of Atreus and vengeance for