Literary Hero Dbq

Although Odysseus is a famous, intelligent and heroic figure, his loyalty to Penelope is nonexistent. This is revealed by his affairs with other woman, his extended journey home, and by the fact that he failed to make Penelope his priority. Loyalty is not a difficult concept, all Odysseus had to do to fulfill this was avoid other women, and put Penelope above his selfish ways. His failure to do this proves him to be an unreliable husband, who does not deserve his selfless and trustworthy wife. Loyalty is an essential part of marriage or any relationship and requires both people involved in the relationship. In this case Odysseus is one of those people, but unlike in a good relationship he fails to uphold the duties to be faithful to the other

However Odysseus, despite being a good man, does not display honor and dignity when he refuses to forgive the suitors, then slaughters them all, and has an affair with Calypso. Since Penelope can react to tough situations with grace and poise, she is more admirable than

In Homer’s Poem, The Odyssey, Penelope is the exceptionally patient and clever spouse of the infamous hero, Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. One poignant factor of Penelope’s character is her patience and devotion which is displayed throughout the poem. With her husband absent for a great majority of her life for the later of twenty years and his location unknown, Penelope stays, patiently awaiting Odysseus’ return, all whilst preserving their estate and raising her son by herself. Throughout this time, she had many persistent suitors in pursuit of her, abusing her husband’s absence.

In Homer's epic poem,The Odyssey, women are a major part of the story. In ancient times, women were very limited to their rights. They were expected to stay at home all day every day. When men would cheat on their wives it was fine, but when woman cheated they were shamed. When their husbands would leave, they would have to feel lonely while the Husband could go off and cheat. For example, when odysseus left Penelope all alone, he went out and cheated on her with Calypso. Although many people believe that Homer presented woman positively, the characters the Sirens, Scylla and Calypso actually suggest the opposite.

Odysseus is not a hero because he stabs Polyphemus in the eye and blinds him. Odysseus is still a hero because he is a leader. Moreover, after Odysseus and his men fight the Cicones, he orders ¨Back and Quickly! Out to sea again!” (Homer 984). When Odysseus commands his men to go back to sea to voyage, he is a good leader because he is telling his men what to do. He is being a leader by protecting his men from the Ciccone 's army by leaving before reinforcements come. For example, when Odysseus and his men are heading to the sirens Odysseus states “you are to tie me up, tight as a splint” (Homer 1005). Odysseus is an admirable leader when he orders his men to tie him up and do not untie him because he is sacrificing himself for the good of his men. He is a leader when he does this because he lets his men not suffer the sirens while he has to. Odysseus being a leader makes him a hero because he makes bold decisions and he protects himself and his

Yes, Penelope struggles greatly with a very important decision throughout the course of the story.

Women are weak, helpless, and have no real purpose other than to serve men and take care of children. . . or so they were perceived in history. In the Odyssey, one can see that Homer’s portrayal of women challenges the depiction of women during that time period. Throughout the book, many women intervened in Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, for better or for worse. One will see Penelope, Athena, Circe, and other women impact Odysseus’ expedition home. These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey.

Amongst the many women portrayed in the book, the two most important women are Athena and Penelope. Athena is the Goddess of wisdom, courage, law & justice, strength and skills. She plays the role of a mentor in disguise for Odysseus but doesn’t show him the full path to his destination as Athena wants Odysseus to fight and prevail on his own. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus and the mortal queen of Ithaca. She is portrayed as the average Greek woman, but in reality is very cunning. Though both these women are two different characters, their roles are similar, and they both are equally powerful. They are cunning; teach Xenia; develop Odysseus’ character; and an important role in their families.

Penelope’s character displays how some women are able to exceed society’s standards and show strength and cleverness when it is necessary. For the many years that Odysseus has been away, Penelope is able

In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, there are many female characters who play the role of a villain. Calypso, Scylla, Charybdis, and the sirens are among the women with the largest, negative impacts on Odysseus’ journey home. Though some women, such as Athena, Eurycleia, and Penelope, are loyal to Odysseus throughout the poem. With such a wide range of female characters, they all contribute different things throughout the book, whether the impact of their actions is negative or positive. Regardless of the outcomes, Homer has quite a modern view of female representation in his poem.

However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do. After discovering Penelope’s deception, the suitors complain, “Her very words, and despite our pride and passion we believed her. So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web- by night, by the light of torches set beside her, she would unravel all she’d done. Three who years, she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme” (Homer, Odysseus, 2. 101- 106). With one simple promise, she is able to keep the suitors in control for three years, which demonstrates her intellectual strength. Penelope, a woman who perceives to be a weak character and unable to keep the household together, manages to assert dominance over 108 men with words alone. She shows wisdom in personal management in private household, satisfying the role of head of the household, through

Countless of these tearful songs have been written, describing the image of the woman behind a hero’s victory. In The “Odyssey”, Homer transforms the audience’s perspective about women significantly. All of them, whether beautiful woman or powerful goddesses, are occupied by sorrows. Especially, Penelope and Calypso--the two most influential women in both appearance and the complicated relationship with the guile hero. Although they have very different personalities and backgrounds--one is the queen of Ithaca, and the other is a magnificent goddess. However they are both caught in a same trouble--they expect too much from Odysseus, and they are striving for a hopeless purpose. They both undergo great sufferings, but neither of them is in control

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.

Appropriation is defined as being able to shift ideas, visuals, key concepts, characters and settings from one context into another in order to manipulate old notions into new innovated ones, for example the Odyssey by poet, Homer in comparison to Margret Atwood’s the Penelopiad. The Penelopiad as a modernized, fresh view of a vaguely described character, which originated from the Odyssey named, Penelope. Penelope is an obscure or cryptic female character who is interpreted to be a cunning, sly, secretive, intelligent, passionate character that can be compared to Shakespeare’s Juliet. Penelope goes through stages of enlightenment, struggle and happiness and questions the way society works as well as trustworthy relationships. The Penelopiad