Homer's Odyssey: Helen On The Wall

Nicole Tschida ENG 210 Paper 1 2-26-18 The Iliad and The Consequences of War The plot of the Iliad takes place in the middle of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans that lasted for ten years. This conflict according to Homer and ancient Greek mythology occurred because the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, the wife of Menelaus, brother to king Agamemnon. In this paper, I will be examining the consequences of war, as outlined by Homer.

In the epic poem, the Iliad written by Homer, several characters taking part in the warfare between the Achaeans and the Trojans are portrayed as embodying the heroic code of courage, physical strength, leadership, arete of value of honour, and the acceptance of fate. The heroic code is illustrated by the actions of the Trojan prince, Hector and the Achaeans strongest warrior, Achilles. Both of these characters display the Greek’s image of a hero, and can also let the reader discern what the society admires, looks up to and aspires to in its heroes. There are also characters who fail to be heroic, such as the Trojan “vivid and beautiful” prince, Paris. These characters in the Iliad illustrate the qualities that Ancient Greek society values.

The epic poem, The Iliad written by Homer shows the conflicts and events that occurred between the Greeks and Trojans during the Trojan War. Among both sides there are warriors who follow a distinct code, known as the heroic code. This Heroic code helps portray the characteristics of the warriors and their perspective on war. This distinct code is composed of many elements such as arete, acceptance of fate, honour, excellence in war, leadership, courage and power. These traits are shown within the main warriors, Hector and Achilles throughout the epic war poem and helps to guide their decisions.

World Literature Paper – Role of Athena and Penelope in The Odyssey Homer’s, The Odyssey is an epic which was written many years ago. At that time, in Ancient Greek society, the dominant role was played by men and the women were considered and given an inferior position. But The Odyssey was often considered a women’s epic because women played an important role. Women in The Odyssey are portrayed as powerful, wise and controlling because they ensure that the illusion of male success will go on - they speak as men through women.

Two female characters are Penelope and Athena. Penelope is the beautiful wife of Odysseus. She hasn't seen her husband for twenty years and fears he is dead. She is pursued by many suitors who wish to take Odysseus' place. She weeps for Odysseus nightly. Some criticize that she doesn't kick the suitors out of her home because she likes attention. However, she has been without her husband for so long while he has been entertained by goddesses. If she wanted a little attention, then that would not be such a horrible thing. Nevertheless, she remains steadfast in her faithfulness to her husband. She even puts off the suitors using trickery that would make her husband proud, promising to remarry once she has finished weaving a shroud for Laertes,

In this Epic Poem, Homer displays the significance of women in a subtle yet impactful way. In The Odyssey, Circe, the sea which of Aiaia, exposes men’s fragility of succumbing to tempting women and thus revealing the power of a women’s touch. When Odysseus’s men sea the smoke coming out of Circe’s house they follow it and discover a beautiful singing voice which they think can only come from a goddess. She brings them in for a meal and fools them, turning them into pigs. Odysseus asks for strength and courage from the gods which they give him and he uses his potency against her. All of this shows the role Circe plays as a woman in this Epic Poem, essentially she symbolizes temptation, a destructible woman.

It is clear that Helen 's behavior in book 3 is in almost direct correlation to that of Andromache in book 6, in terms of transgressive behavior. To understand this and to analyze any transgressive behavior further, it must first be established that there are very clear and strict gender divisions in the society portrayed in the Iliad. Hector states, "War is man 's business"1 and a women 's business is the "loom and the

The movie Troy, from Hollywood has been one of the greatest Hollywood movie ever made, it was nominated for more than 10 awards and got into the “Best of Warner Bros- 50 Film Collection”. In addition, it made approximately $497 million worldwide. It was one of the most successful films ever made. However, the content that was in the movie brought some speculation into whether or not the events of the movie were historically accurate. The purpose of this essay is to answer the question of how accurate the Hollywood movie, Troy, really was and whether it portrayed Homer’s tragic, charming side of the story or the predicted historical side.

Euripides’ The Trojan Women expresses the disbelief and hope of ancient Greek women during the Trojan war. The characterization and dialogue between Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, shows the role of women in society during that time, as well as their different prerogatives towards the war and its consequences. Likewise, The Odyssey by Homer uses the main female character, Penelope, to convey the role of women and their opinions towards the social changes from the war. Both texts, collectively, use dialogue to develop hopeful and hopeless ideas within the women of ancient Greece. Euripides’ The Trojan Women tells the story of three women, Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, who struggle with their lives after the murders of their husbands

How I wish you’d died there, killed by that strong warrior who was my husband once’” (Homer, Iliad 3. 480-482), this stirred up conflicts on the ground between the mortals and made Helen and other Trojans dislike Paris even more. Goddesses like Athena were out for revenge in the Iliad because Paris did not see her fit for the golden apple that was to be given to the fairest Goddess, in the Judgement of Paris. So Athena and Hera, who mainly used her marriage to Zeus to do her dirty work, plotted against the Trojans.

In many societies today, individuals are led to believe that the concept of women possessing their own strength or independence is abnormal. As a result, women experience the world in a constrained way in comparison to men, even if they are in higher classes of society. However, these extensive aspects of females are contradicted in some ancient Greek literature. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer portrays women as a vital and powerful force through the characters Penelope and Circe, who counter the normality of misogyny in Homer’s time. Penelope’s character displays how some women are able to exceed society’s standards and show strength and cleverness when it is necessary.

Menelaus exemplifies the qualities of a courageous hero based on his actions in the Trojan War. To begin with, the Trojan War began when Paris abducted Helen, Menelaus’ wife. Menelaus commanded for her back, but the Trojan side had refused to return her (Megas). The Greeks assembled

The Odyssey by Homer contains multiple moments where female characters are oppressed or fit into a patriarchy, but there are several moments where these character show signs of rebellion against this oppression. Applying a critical lense of feminism to these characters and relationships create complexities and conflicts within the novel that shine meaning on the world. The character Penelope offers many of these moments. Analyzing the actions, situation, and comparisons with other characters using a the feminist critical lense will show a more enriched version of Penelope and offer a deeper insight of the patriarchy, and how is affects the world.

However, these contrasts between their personal thinking built most of valuable points in Odysseus' epic journey, and making a more intense story. To some extent, these women are not foolish at all because at least they are successful at leading people to believe that waiting is meaningful. The whole story happened during the dark centuries of women in Greece, when their value was limited behind men. However The “Odyssey” gives an opportunity to horror their role, also rejecting all erroneous preconceptions about the woman. Penelope -- a typical woman who represents for an image of a devoted wife, a mother of family and she is also an image of how women was treated at Greece.

The Trojan War was started because as seen in the myth of the golden apple, Zeus believed that there were too many people on the earth. Therefore Zeus devised a scheme that would solve this situation, with the help of Eris. They created a golden apple for the “Fairest” and gave it to Hera, Aphrodite and Athena,