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The Significance Of Women In Homer's Odyssey

546 Words3 Pages

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.
Circe personifies temptation and …show more content…

With this security he no longer feels at harm. Circe tries to use temptation against him, “I’m wonderstruck- you drank my drugs, you’re not bewitched!” Here Odysseus outsmarts her already knowing what’s to come. Odysseus uses his knowledge and superiority to outsmart her. “Mount your bed? Not for all the world. Not until you consent to swear, goddess. A binding oath you’ll never plot some new intrigue to harm me!” (Page 241) He makes her swear to turn back his friends into people and gives her something in return. Moreover, when they become trusting again she gives him a prophecy suggests he should go to the underworld to fin his way home. Odysseus follows the wisdom she shares, but not all of it. Because he doesn’t take her seriously and sees her as below him, he doesn’t take her wisdom earnestly. As a result of this fixed superiority on women this causes some problems on his way home.
Throughout book 10 you see how the affect of a tempting woman can change the way a man uses his power. This is all about temptation and succumbing to it. This reveals the flaws of the men in The Odyssey. More importantly, it exposes the tensions between male and female powers. Lastly, it reveals how trust can be a

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