Importance Of Women In Homer's The Odyssey

Very few women had important roles, so that world was dominated by men. Yet in "The Odyssey" women played very important roles. Women were not meek little structures blended into the background, they were powerful and wise. They charmed and controlled the men, took care of them; they provided submission, loyalty and advice. Women were very wise in The Odyssey and it was rather different to the roles women most often played in other stories of that time.

A great example of this is found in the medieval literature “The Canterbury Tales.” In the tale “The Wife of Bath's” the wife gloats about the power she has over all five of her husbands. “I kept my husbands well in hand. I told them they were drunk and their unfitness to judge my conduct forced me to take witness that they were lying” (Canterbury Tales, page 268.) The Wife’s deception against her husband gave her the upper hand in marriage.

Women were represented as worthless human beings to stratify a man sexual pleasure. Therefore women only contribute to heroes by either using their bodies as an object, giving guidances and a word of advice. But also women do have thematic significance in expressing the truth about the nature of a woman and of male-female relations. As for instance in Shamhat case, the temple prostitute.

After Odysseus reveals himself and they start fighting, Telemachus kills a suitor just to save his father. Odysseus loves his family and would fight till the death to save them. In “The Odyssey” written by Homer, it shows how much Odysseus cares about Penelope just to risk his life to be with her. In my essay you learned how I think Odysseus is loyal, trustworthy, strong-hearted, and a hero.

The Odyssey embodies the proverb in the intro about women and men, which states that men are only successful when women support them. Without Penelope, Circe, Athena, and Calypso, Odysseus’ journey would have continued in agony and ended ultimately in his death. Many powerful women today, like Michelle Obama and Malala, inspire men and women alike to stand up for what they believe in and support others. Without their influence and that of other strong women, many celebrities, who people look up to, would not be who they are

To get revenge on him, “she drugs his drink; they (the other gods) surrounded him as he slept and bound him with rawhide thongs.” Her jealousy caused her to punish her husband. She was right in doing so but it did backfire on her.

What sets them apart is the way they respond to their situations they are put in. They each have their own unique characteristics. Helen, the most stunning mortal woman in The Odyssey, is enchanted by a goddess to have an affair with Paris. She is stolen from her husband, which leads him to start a large war. Helen is hated by

Upon Odysseus’s long awaited return home to Ithaca, the powerful warrior is enraged due to the suitors mistreating of his home and his family. As a result, he gathers a small army and leads the push to destroy the threat. During the

He went to a fight with Humbaba (70). Also, Gilgamesh is more focusing to have the idea sex and women; for example, “Gilgamesh, who sounds the tocsin alarm bell for his amusement and takes virgins from their lovers (62). In addition, we can see that Gilgamesh is guilty in different places and selfish king “he takes what he wants

Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.

While Hera offers to make him king and Athena offers him wisdom in war, Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world. He picks Aphrodite and she tells him he will receive Helen, the wife of the King of Sparta, for his prize. His kidnapping of this woman begins the Trojan War. Not only are the three goddesses completely selfish and naive in their quest for beauty, but so is Paris. He neglects the moral code of the Romans just because he believes he is entitled to the wife of another man.

Women in The Odyssey Gender roles, specifically of women, were a little different back in 700 B.C. They played more of a typical role, expected to get married and have kids at a young age. They were expected to take care of the house and children, while their husbands were out fighting wars. However, while women in The Odyssey were greatly valued for their beauty, Homer reveals that they also had to be intelligent to be successful in their lives.

Whether it be a movie or novel, women are commonly portrayed as objects of beauty and the weaker gender. It is a typical stereotype that women are weak and men are strong; women are made to serve men. However, Homer’s The Odyssey is different; the epic poem proves that women can not only be manipulative, but that they can also be powerful and often stronger than men. Women in this epic poem have several roles like being interventions throughout Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan War.

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 of women is that women have to be so full of virtue that they end up having no substance. These women of no substance are deemed as ideal because they have no visible flaws.