Representation Of Women In The Odyssey

For years upon years women have been looked at from all different lights and perspectives. In the past, for most cultures, most of these views placed women in less important household and societal positions as opposed to men. Women were most commonly seen as wives, mothers, and housekeepers, depending on their social class, whereas men took the head role as husband, father, provider, and protector. Men had and still have, in the majority of cases, all the power in the family. In Homer’s epic poems, The Odyssey as well as The Iliad, gender roles are very much established. I believe that in both of the epics women are not only portrayed unfairly they are portrayed inaccurately to an extent.

In The Iliad the most predominant portrayal of women

Circe and Calypso were mentioned prior but, a few other goddesses I find important are Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. Hera’s role involves carrying out her duties as a wife to Zeus, at times though, Hera stands up for what she thinks is right regardless of her husband’s opinion. In book 14 of The Iliad, Hera’s mischievous side comes out when she uses magic to trick both Aphrodite and Zeus in order to help the Achaeans behind her husband’s back. This implies that Hera is a bit of a nuisance to Zeus and her loyalty teeters at times making her untrustworthy. As for Aphrodite, her roles in both of the epics involved some kind of unfaithfulness whether on her part or on another’s. In The Iliad she gives Helen, who is married to Menelaus, to Paris in return for the golden apple. Giving a married woman to another man definitely has its consequences but, as for where Aphrodite’s concern lies, if there is love between people she is there meddling in their affairs, after all she is the goddess of love. Also, in book 8 of The Odyssey her own tale of unfaithfulness is sung by the bard within the palace of Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians. The song reveals the story where she had committed adultery on her crippled husband, Hephaestus, with Ares and was caught in the act. This gives the impression that Aphrodite is unfaithful and whorish. Athena, Zeus’s favorite daughter, plays a very significant role in both epics. Unlike all the other goddesses, she is the most self-sufficient; she does not need a man by her side. Regardless though, she still has aspects of her personality and role in the books that give her a negative portrayal. Out of all the characters within both epics Athena is by far the master of trickery. Countless times she uses disguises on herself as wells as others, specifically Odysseus. She manipulates people and things to get everything to play out in her