Imagine this, you are a powerful women living in ancient Greece, immediately you are viewed as sneaky, because you are a dominant and controlling leader. In the Odyssey, by Homer, written in 800 bc, Odysseus is retelling the story of his journey after the battle of Troy. While on his journey, Odysseus and his men have various encounters with powerful goddesses and monsters. In the Odyssey, the characters believe that all women are evil, which reflects the belief of the ancient Greeks that most women cannot be trusted.
As a result of women being untrustworthy, most men in the Odyssey and ancient Greece believed that women and goddesses alike, were pure evil, and should never be trusted. In the Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus and his men travel
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After Odysseus’ continued his journey from Aeaea, he arrived on the same island, once again. Circe is there to tell Odysseus about the rest of his journey home to Ithaca, and the challenges he must face. Circe explains how Odysseus has three routes that he can take to get home, option one is to go through the Rovers, option two is to pass by Skylla, and the last, Charybdis. Ultimately, Odysseus chooses the second option, to pass by Skylla, an evil, woman monster with multiple heads. Once Odysseus has had Circe explain the Rovers to him [Odysseus], she [Circe] begins to explain with immense detail the characteristics of Skylla. “Her body from the waist down, is holed up inside the cavern, but she [Skylla] holds her heads poked out [...] peering all over the cliffside looking for dolphins or dogfish or anything bigger, [...] never can sailors boast aloud that their ship has passed her without any loss of men, for with each of her heads she snatches one man away and carries him off from the dark-prowed vessel (Homer 187). Homer characterizes Skylla, an evil, women monster, by portraying her to have six heads that will unexpectedly snatch up the sailors while their ship sails by. In the end, the way Skylla sneakily snatches up me while they sail by, proves the belief of women in the Odyssey, and in ancient Greece that women are
In Greek epics, tragedies, and mythology women are portrayed in various ways. Women are mainly considered to be weak and less important than men, but there are some women who are shown to be strong and heroic, despite the reputation that was placed onto them in Ancient Greek civilizations. There were two particular women that were strong and took the roles of their husbands while the men left to fight in the Trojan War. These two women were Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon. These two women were different in how they chose to rule while their husbands were at war and how they acted once they got back.
The treatment of women has always been different in different societies, cultures, and time periods. In the Odyssey, the treatment of the female gods is different than the treatment of mortal women because the gods are a powerful being, but the mortal women are property and owned by their husbands. If a women marries a man who she has more money then, they will live in her house, but he will be in charge of everything, including herself. In book 21 and book 3 show the power of the mortal women compared to the power of the goddesses. In the Odyssey, the mortal women are treated and used differently from the way that the goddesses are worshiped because of the gender and societal roles that each group of women are assigned.
On the other hand, women are shamed for having the same relationships. These double standards are portrayed in literature as well. In Homer’s The Odyssey, we see these double standards applied to its’ story and characters. It was especially applied to Odysseus, the main Greek hero in this epic.
There are different ways for women to be portrayed in the Odyssey. They can be disloyal, sexual, and loyal woman that gets used for these things. Could you ever grasp a point of how you would feel if you were the one being portrayed? In the first section of the Odyssey, women are presented to us as controlled by the culture of the day, and it is only within that area that we can consider the way Odysseus provides women to be admired or despised throughout his journey.
The position of women in the societies of Genesis and the Odyssey grant them little power. Despite the pervasive gender hierarchy present in the ancient texts, Rebekah and Nausicaa wield their intelligence and wit to influence those around them. These two women utilize deception and indirect communication in order to alter the lives of prominent men as their means of exerting control within their patriarchal society. Due to their actions, these women become essential to the narratives of Genesis and the Odyssey, for Rebekah is integral to the perpetuation of God’s covenant through familial lineage and Nausicaa is fundamental to Odysseus’ nostos journey.
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.
“The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.
In the Odyssey, Calypso, a Greek goddess, says “You unrivaled lords of jealousy- scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals,” (Book 5, 131-132). This quote can be seen as an accurate representation of the constant power struggle between gods and goddesses in the Odyssey; Calypso points out the male gods’ hypocrisy and argues for her right to sleep with mortal men. The concept of this power struggle can be seen in three of the main goddesses: Calypso, Athena, and Circe as the story progresses. Throughout the Odyssey these goddesses gain their power by deceiving men and manipulating them, but are then limited in power by the authority of other men.
Meanwhile, Penelope is in Ithaka busy dealing with the suitors who vie for her hand in marriage, tending to her loom, and directing her serving maids at work. In Homer’s epic poem, women, and goddesses are treated differently than men and gods when it comes to their freedom, expectations, and image. One common occurrence in this epic poem is unequal freedom for women,
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.
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. Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, bravely held down the front in Ithaca while her husband struggled to find his way back home. In Book 18, Penelope spoke to the ever-so-desperate suitors about what Odysseus “told” her before he left.
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.
Throughout the Iliad, females have been and fought over but also respected. Even though the society is patriarchal, women are necessary. Female goddesses are treated as equals to gods, while mortal women are inferior to mortal men. There are many examples of the objectivity of women and women being used as war prizes. Chryseis and Briseis and both women held captive in the epic.
In spite of the fact that Homer’s Odyssey is an epic story of a man’s gallant journey, women play a huge part throughout. Their unique yet controversial personalities, intentions, and relationships are vital to the development of this epic and adventurous journey of Odysseus. The poem by Homer was written at a time when women had an inferior position in society, yet that didn’t stop them from being any less influential. All of the women throughout the Odyssey possess different qualities, but all of them help to define the role of the ideal woman.
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.