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Roles Of Women In The Odyssey

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In Homer’s novel, The Odyssey, many values from society in that time period are shown throughout the story that helps us see what things were like in that era. For example, the way the women in the story are portrayed reflects how women were treated as less than men in that time period. In the chapter, “The Witch Circe”, Odysseus’ men are captured by the powerful goddess Circe, but when Odysseus goes to fight her “The witch, realizing she has met her match, frees Odysseus’ men”, (Homer 2000), and he is able to persuade her into letting them off the island. Odysseus is able to easily take down a goddess who is so powerful she is called a witch, suggesting that in this society it was thought that women were possibly helpless and weaker than men.

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