Gender Roles In The Odyssey

Gender Roles in Homer’s The Odyssey For as long as there has been man and woman, gender roles have existed. In most cases, traditional gender roles are followed - the man is the provider, and the woman falls in line. However, in our more modern day society, we see gender roles continuously being challenged. Women are speaking up. Surprisingly enough, one author was beyond ahead of his time, writing about women challenging gender roles as early as 7th century BC. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, women hold the power through the use of challenging and manipulating traditional gender roles. The Odyssey tells the story of the great warrior Odysseus. Odysseus fought for 10 years in the Trojan War, then spent an additional 10 years trying to return home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus. One prime example of women challenging gender roles in this text is Calypso, the goddess of the sea. One day, Odysseus landed shipwrecked on her island, and Calypso fell in love with him. She

Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, knew exactly how to manipulate a situation in order to get what she wanted. For example, in the very beginning of the epic poem, Athena goes to her father Zeus to get some help. She wants Odysseus to be released from Calypso’s grasp, but needs some help in making this happen. In order to get her father to agree with her, she appeals to his ego. It is well known that Zeus thinks of himself in the highest manner possible. Athena uses her power to take advantage of this. She states, “Father, son of Cronus, our high and mighty king, surely he goes down to a death he earned in full!” Additionally, instead of just referring to her father as Zeus, she calls him “Olympian Zeus”. Athena uses the power of her mind here to slyly get her father to agree to her wants simply by batting her eyelashes and using language she knows will appeal to her