Women In The Iliad Analysis

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The portrait of woman in the Roman / Greek Mythology
Homer. (1959). The Iliad of Homer (Vol. 18). United Holdings Group
The Iliad narrates a story about the Trojan War, where the desire to possess a woman caused the battle for 10 years. There are several female characters that represent the position of the woman in society, the “ideal” of women at that time, and the role of women in decision-making processes. The Iliad draws a picture of women not only as a Goddess, but also as a mortal human being. The beautiful Helen embodies the idea of the passivity of a woman, her absolute dependence on a higher power, she is just a “prize of honor” for all these heroes and lovers around her. At the same time, Helen is an ideal woman for ancient people,
This source provided more detailed images of female characters, like Penelope. For the whole world the name of Penelope, who was waiting the return of her beloved husband for 20 years, was the impersonation of the faithful wife. Homer shows a clear picture that Penelope on her feminine way, as clever and resourceful as her husband. Another example is Clytemnestra, the woman should be very fearless in order to kill her husband and his mistress, but Homer describes Clytemnestra mercifully as a weak woman, who chose a wrong way. Author gives a detailed description of the female protagonists, and even despite the fact that they are still characterized with a certain passivity, they are not just “prizes of honor” anymore, now they can fight against the
The first part “Patriarchy and Misogyny” reviews the beginning of inequality between women and men by including the historical research; “Women in Civil Society” narrates that history has an unique quality to repeat itself; author is comparing the relation of female perception between ancient Greece and Europe in eighteenths-nineteenth centuries. Women have been considered as an “appendix” to the man, and she didn’t have any rights even to protect herself. The theme of sexual culture and women’s status unfolds in the last part of article - “Race, Culture, and Sexuality". The destiny of each women, by ancient Greeks opinion, was to be a vessel for childbearing. Doubtless, that one of the reason of this female neglect was in approval of homosexual relationships, where people decided that love can be only between two males. Notwithstanding, that article has a lot of science terms and explanations, this is a perfect “peace of mind”

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