Comparing Women In Aeneid And Ovid's Metamorphoses

In essence, society’s notion of female inferiority is reflected through the misogynistic views and actions towards women, as shown in the Greek society The Odyssey. These views, such as expectations of chastity towards women, continue on today. By recognizing sexist actions in literature, similar current actions can be acknowledged and

The passivity that society expects women to possess is a major contributing factor in the deaths of females in both stories. Society’s silencing and oppression of the characters makes the audience feel remorse for their actions. Lastly, the authors depict female characters as more human than their male counterparts, challenging the ideal female stereotype. The female characters in Shakespeare’s Othello and Shelley’s Frankenstein reflect how society treats women. It is imperative to use literature as a means of correcting social beliefs as they truly represent society’s perspective. As a result, literature is a significant contributing factor in societal

Ovid’s epic “The Essential Metamorphoses” and Ghandl’s poem “Goose food” present similar visions of women, and the writers show that men might not actually be superior, compared to women as they are often portrayed in myth. Moreover, in Ovid, there are numerous myths told, but in most of them, there is a recurrent theme of misogyny, and in the first myth of the epic – called “Origin of the World”–, on top of just describing the creation of the world, it is mentioned that man was first to be created and woman was made second. This could be because of numerous reasons; for example, Ovid could have been jealous that it was actually woman that was created first or maybe Ovid wanted to follow what the rest of society believed in order to be able to gain the trust of the readers so that he could then be able to put unrealistic views and that when reading the epic, the reader becomes skeptical of what seems so true to him at first and that maybe the whole principal of man being at the center of attention is not a true fact. Similarly, in Ghandl’s “Goose Food”, this story is told in a single way and man again is at the center of the attention, but this could be to give…(not good ). These stories portray women in a negative way in order to make readers realize that they are actually equal to men in real life and that they might even be superior to men. This statement can be viewed through the way women look physically, the actions they perform, how men interact in proximity to them

Gender inequality will always affect the portrayal of women in society, the weaker, unnecessary, and other sex. It is not just a subject of the past, and still holds a name in society. However in the olden eras, the way women were treated and looked at was in a much harsher condition. In Shakespeare’s Othello and Shelley’s Frankenstein, women’s roles in the books are solely based on the way they are treated in their time period. The portrayal of women in these books demonstrate that they can never be in the same standing as men and therefore will never have the same respect as them. In both Othello and Frankenstein women are treated as property, used to better men’s social standards, and lack a voice, which demonstrates that in

To begin, Virgil depicts Queen Dido as an emotional person. When her lover Aeneas leaves her to build Rome, Dido curses him and prepares to burn all of his possessions, only to later kill herself. Before Dido ends her life in The Aeneid “Book IV: The Passion of the Queen,” she curses Aeneas by yelling,

Once Aeneas is rather harshly reminded of his duty, he apparently snaps back into his role as a founder of cities rather than a role of a tame husband (in Mercury's words), and he successfully fights down his emotions and makes a clean break from Dido with no long lasting ill effects on his psyche. Dido, on the other hand, is first enraged and incredibly bitter, then desperate, and finally, crazed by passion to the point of suicide. She finds herself unable to function any longer as a successful builder of Carthage, and her honor has been tainted by her affair with Aeneas to the point where she cannot see a future for herself as a ruler. She can no longer command any respect from her people or other neighboring rulers, and in her pain, she sets up a funeral pyre for herself out of Aeneas' possessions. Here again we find the emotions of women bringing them to extreme lows as Dido's lost passion consumes her, not only spiritually, but physically in her suicidal bonfire.

In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of

On the other hand, Virgil notes that Dido’s love for Aeneas has caused her to suffer. Dido’s emotions have caused her to act like a wounded animal, not thinking about the consequences of her own actions. By being reduced to an animal, Dido has lost all rational thought. Consequently, Dido’s lack of rational thought causes her to begin to ignore other duties she has to fulfill.

The other important female figure—Venus, the goddess of love—attempts to cover up her selfish desires when she pretends to worry about Aeneas safety and well-being when all she desires is for someone from her lineage to found Rome so that she can get praise. This is depicted when Jupiter tells Venus, "My Cytherea, that 's enough of fear; your children 's fate is firm; you 'll surely see the walls I promised you, Lavinium 's city; and you shall carry your great son, Aeneas, high as heaven 's stars" (Virgil 1: 358-362). Venus is so obsessed with making sure Aeneas arrives in Italy safely—so that he can found Rome—that she obstructs the order in the human world by making Queen Dido fall in love with Aeneas. This is evident when Virgil reveals Venus 's plan: "… Cupid, changed in form and feature… inflame the queen to madness and insinuate a fire in Dido 's very bones" (Virgil

The feminist approach is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Feminists are interested in exposing the undervaluing of women in literature that has long been accepted as the norm by both men and women. Women characters in both Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King have different and similar characteristics based on the general norms so that they can be exposed by the feminist approach. In Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King, feminist approach is through the description of women about the traditional gender values of women, women’s inequality of power and importance, and women’s effect to the whole society.

Women make up half of this world’s human population, and with consideration of this fact, who is to say women are lesser of the two genders? Sexism and Women’s Rights are a global issue, that affects more than just woman themselves. Even in the United States, commonly known as the “Land of the Free”, ironically is empowered by the Statue of Liberty, which presents false ideas that women are well respected in this country and provided with equal rights. Throughout history, women have constantly been working hard to prove their strength and ability, it was not until the twentieth century that women started to rise up in society and were slowly beginning to be viewed as an equally capable being in the eyes of the United States. From Cleopatra

One man said, “All men are created equal”; however, men treat women differently in today’s culture. Society categorizes them as less intelligent, not capable of working in job fields such as construction, and generally less important than men. Because of these ideas, women do not have the same advantages as men. The importance is the effect it has on the progression of the future. Today, women have overcome most stereotypes, but there are still plenty remaining. Most stereotypes originate from ancient times, for example this theme is seen in the Odyssey, written by Homer, who is considered the first and greatest epic poet. Women face persecution daily through the media and society, yet the way society thinks towards them is changing.

Women have experienced a similar degrading to that of the laborers and capitalists. Metaphorically, the women are the laborers and the men are the capitalists. They look down upon women. Wollstonecraft (2004, 12) states “it is observable that the female in point of strength is, in general, inferior to the male” but “men endeavor to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment.” Wollstonecraft understands the physical difference between men and women. Wollstonecraft (2004, 16) rebuttals when she says, “some women govern their husbands without degrading themselves, because intellect will always govern”. A person who is intellectually gifted should not be looked down upon. A physical appearance does not mean inferiority. A person is a body that is being inhabited by a soul and a soul is believed to be genderless. But women did not have a say in government or could not pursue professional careers. Just like the laborers with the capitalists, women are being

In the Middle Age literature, women are often presented or meant to come off as an unimportant character; which can also reflect on how the author wants the women character represent. Women are usually shunned, have no say or control in what they do; due to what men desire; like Ophelia and Gertrude did in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But these female characters that I will discuss are women with power, control, and a voice. Majority of the female character’s appearances are made to represent wickedness, evil, or a seducer who challenges a man belief; and does not symbolize perfect women.

Virgil’s portrayal of Aeneas can arguably be based off of Augustus. His characterisation and values he is shown to possess demonstrate that of an ideal Roman citizen; the value most referenced and recognisable in the text is his piety. This refers to his religiousness and his ability to put duty before his own wants and needs. An example of this is him leaving Dido (Virgil Aen, 4.393-394). This abandoning of Dido, although tragic, shows his pietas to the will of the gods, his followers and to his son Iulus. Although a modern view of this part of the story suggests Virgil is pitying Dido and the Carthaginians and presenting Aeneas as cold and unsympathetic, to the Romans of the time Aeneas is performing his duty to the future state. Also, the Roman’s prized moderation and self control therefore Dido’s reaction to Aeneas leaving would be seen as excessive and over-dramatic which would reinforce the idea of non-Romans being barbarians and also demonstrates Virgil’s propagandistic intentions. Virgil successfully uses the Dido affair to strengthen and develop this idea of piety.