The Role Of Women In Homer's Iliad

The Role of Women in Iliad The poem “Iliad,” by Homer, is known for its violence between men during a war, but under that violence, is the different type of women who play a significant role in the poem (Homer 189). This poem’s narrative seems to show a male dominated world between the Greek commanders. This male dominated world cannot happen on its own, thus the different background roles of women are needed in order to make sense of all this rage. As the University of Michigan article How Do Women Make Their Way Into This Cycle states, “They are seen as the objects of both lust and domesticity, yet they are also used to excuse war, cause conflict, and display the power of men” (www.umich.edu). The focus in this poem steers towards the rage between the men, but this rage most of the time is inspired and initiated by a woman. The women of Iliad play a significant role in the poem such as war prizes, male hero partners, and women gods. One significant woman role during this poem is women characters Chryseis and Briseis as war prizes. These women have a role where they have little control over their destiny, and this destiny, actually causes a lot of disruption between Achilles and Agamemnon. Chryseis and Briseis are both women characters who play the role of seized maidens who are looked at as loot of

The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the goddess of sexual desire, Aphrodite, both play a significant role in this poem. These women have the ability to control mortals and even other gods. They are considered to be one of the powerful forces in this poem because of their control over the mortal relationships would systematically change the course of conflict and actions of the mortals. In the beginning of book I, Homer uses Athena to try and calm Achilles down from a quarrel with Agamemnon. During this situation the goddess is about to change a situation when she, Athena, states to