Bijoy Shah
Mrs. Jones
Sophomore English (H)
8 January 2014
Men > Women
Throughout The Odyssey by Homer, many women, if not servant girls or deities, are assigned to the powerless role of mothers or seductresses. In most instances, the women are in need of support and guidance as they are weak and fragile. Without a steady male hand to guide them, these women appear to be lost and heartbroken. Women serve little function aside from mourning their men and urging them to remain safe. In many ways, the value placed on fathers and sons in The Odyssey is far greater than the bonds with mothers or daughters. Anticleia, Odysseus’ mother, cannot even exist without her son as she dies after waiting for years for him to come home. For Anticleia and other women, the entire purpose for existence is to look after, nurture, and protect their sons and husbands. However, no female character in The Odyssey is quite as complex as the grief-stricken Penelope. Some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, but never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, and what they do them...
Odysseus ' principles and characteristics are a prototype of an ideal Homeric Greek leader. Odysseus is noble, clever and loyal. Through his distress and blunders, he gains knowledge that was not only crucial for his survival but for his companions too. Odysseus’s cleverness constantly allowed him to avoid death because he relied on trickery, rhetoric and disguise. “The society depicted in The Odyssey is one where male values were dominant and where all socially relevant transactions took place between the male members of the community”. (Whittaker 39) While males’ dominance takes the forefront in society, their principles are continuously being challenged by the allurement of women. In The Odyssey, many instances of such seduction reveals
The power and influence of women is symbolized in Odysseus’ encounter with the dead in Hades. In the Underworld, Odysseus meets more women than men. He meets his mother and then a “grand array of women” (334). They all were “wives and daughters once of princes” (334). All of them are the legendary women who were the mothers of the greatest Greek lineages. This symbolizes how Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a
The Odyssey was written near the end of 8th century B.C. by Homer. Homer wrote this epic poem in the Greek coastal region of Anatolia called Ionia. This poem talks tells the famous story of Ulysses journey back home after the Trojan war. In the surface the poem gives an interesting story about Ulysses battle against monsters and Gods, but after analyzing the story in depth one can find important information about Greek society in this time period. The Odyssey has the theme of women as monsters tempting men away from home and also the theme that men actually settle in a different area rather than return home. Historically, we are able to see that women were the reasons that many sailors prefer to settle on an island away from
The mothers, throughout the Odyssey, are insistent figures that are shown to give plenty of grief and pity, instead of supporting their husbands and/or sons, as far as in quests of personal or military matters. In many of the occurrences of these figures in the story, they are the same women who need support and guidance, themselves, because they are shown to be of the fragile and timid type. Deprived of the men that, normally, are helpful in their guidance, these motherly figures are brokenhearted and have gone astray. There is an excerpt from the epic that reveals Telemachus asserting his manhood as he orders his mother, Penelope, from staying away from the rooms in the palace, occupied by the suitors, because they still have, yet, to show reason to claim his father’s throne. In another instance, Homer mentions Anticlea, the mother of Odysseus, as dying because she longed for her son, as opposed to dying from any sort of illness; these two parts show a dependency from their mothers and how devot...
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.
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
Though not the focus of epic poetry, the female characters of this ancient genre play a central role, as they have a great influence on the male heroes they encounter. In a genre which idealizes manliness and heroism—that is, acts of courage, strength, and cunning— women are set in opposition to these ideals and therefore less respected. At the same time, women who attempt to take on more “masculine” roles are vilified. Here, antagonist is defined as anyone in opposition to the hero’s goals. Female agency—their free will and ability to wield power—is directly related to their role in epic poetry; that is, the more agency a female character has, the more antagonistic of a role she plays. This agency is often enacted through sexuality or supernatural
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they were faced with serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
Greek tragedy incorporates female characters that symbolize women in Ancient Greece. Through the portrayal of Antigone in the playwright, Antigone in Antigone by Sophocles and Penelope in the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, these two women play opposing roles depicting how they appear to society through their actions. In both of these stories, they embody the ideals of passionate women who are very loyal and brave. Through other female characters in each story such as Penelope and Ismene, we can construct a better view of traits illustrated by Antigone and Penelope.
In The Odyssey, Homer tells the epic tale of a man’s (Odysseus’) heroic journey, a journey where women play a large role in the development of characters and complications in the journey, specifically Penelope, Athena, and other mothers, deities, and creatures. The most prominent woman in the epic tale is Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. The point of Odysseus’ journey home is so that he can be reunited with his wife and take back control of his palace, overrun by the suitors. Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, try’s to gain authority within the suitors but finds this difficult and goes on his own journey under the influence of yet another female, Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The main point of Homer’s The Odyssey focuses on the adventures of Odysseus as
The women in Ancient Greek were amazing and powerful immortals and mortals alike. Women during that time didn’t do much as mortars but changed the world and destinies changing as immortals. You’re probably asking what’s the difference between immortals and mortals. For one, immortals can’t dies and mortals can but most importantly immortal women are very powerful and everyday they changed and decide the lives of mortal women.
Both the Trojan Women (a play produced by Euripides during the 5th Century BC about the aftermath of the Trojan War in Troy), and The Odyssey’s Book 19 (a section of the epic poem The Odyssey [believed to be 8th Century BC] by Homer which depicts the grievances of Penelope to a disguised Odysseus), has been interpreted to be about how women should remain loyal to their husbands, with them having to be loyal in life, loyal in death, and eventually being rewarded for their loyalty / justice to their husbands. This is explored throughout both texts with examples present that show both the gains and losses of committing to a life of loyalty.
Odysseus treats women much differently than most men in this age of time. Instead of treating them like objects, Odysseus treats them with the respect they deserve. The Odyssey tells about the world of women in dark-age Greece, pointing out different social dynamics, roles, and views held of the opposite sex. This epic was written at a time when women were limited to childbirth and domestic duties. The structure of civilization was controlled by men only and women held a lower position. In this time period women were just there to serve men. Women were valued in society but weren't given important roles or couldn't make important decisions. This is why the odyssey is so unique; homer put women into roles that were unheard of for women to
In The Odyssey, Homer paints a picture of not only how a man should act, but how a woman should act. A woman must be good, and to be good she must have no faults whatsoever. To be a true Greek woman, she must be perfect in every way. Homer's misogynistic view on women is that women have to be so full of virtue that they have no substance. These women of no substance are deemed as ideal because they have no foreseeable flaws. Homer illustrates this in not only the mortal women, but among the goddesses, and overall “higher powers”. The ideal woman is pure of mind and cooperative to all, but ultimately these standards make these women devoid of character.
The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer is a compelling story about a king named Odysseus. Twenty years before this story began, Odysseus, King of Ithaca, voyaged to Troy to fight in the Battle of Troy. During those twenty years, vile suitors pined after his wife, Penelope, while she lamented for him. On the journey back from Troy, women played the important role of being five out of the seven beings that hindered the men’s journey in some form. Although the goddess Athena is shown as someone who succored Odysseus on his path back to Ithaca, Homer presents women in a more negative light, as manifested through the characters Penelope, Calypso, and Scylla.