Divergent: The Evolution Of Women's Roles

The Iliad and The Odyssey are tales written by Homer centered on the drama of the Trojan War. First poem deals with the time during the end of the war, while the latter, which occurs roughly ten years later, explains the disastrous journey of Odysseus fighting his way back home. The character of women in the Odyssey is to exhibit the many and diverse roles that women play in the lives of men. These functions vary from characters such as the goddess ' that help them to the nymphs who trick them. Women in the Iliad exhibit their significance in the lives of the ancient Greeks because they are so prominent in a world so dominated with military relations.

Throughout history, gender roles have been the foundation that determines the course of a civilization. These gender roles have undergone a change over time. It is important for every society to re-evaluate its preconceived ideas of gender and determine if that is still the norm for their society. When people think of gender roles we typically have set stereotypes in our head of what that means. Much of the time, what we believe, is not what is actually true. It is often argued what is right and what is wrong.

The Greek and Roman societies were a very patriarchal society. This is reflected throughout the myths in classical mythology. By looking at the many pieces of literature involving Greeks and Romans we will see that the roles women portrayed are very different from women’s roles in today’s society. Although there are a few similarities to women’s roles in today’s society, their roles are more like those women in the past. We can see this by looking at the qualities of Greek and Roman female gods and looking at the roles women play in the myths.

The Iliad is first and foremost an epic poem about a war waged by men. Even though there are no female warriors , apart from the goddesses, women play a major role in defining the course of it. The roots of the war can be traced back to the beauty contest between Athena , Aphrodite and Hera which Paris is chosen to judge. Each Goddess offers Paris a bribe in return for favoring them, but in the end Paris chooses Aphrodite’s gift of the most beautiful woman in the world ; Helen.

Gender roles became so complex in the twentieth century due how society has changed what men and women should be like. Men take being strong and independent as a God given right to them, while females on the other hand have had to work their way up in order to be titled independently strong. From growing up to early adulthood I faced the conflict of constantly worrying about how society wants me shape myself as a dependent and self-confident which was the complete opposite of me.

When thinking of gender roles in society, stereotypes generally come to mind. Throughout history these stereotypes have only proven to be true. Major historical events have had a huge impact on the way men and women are seen and treated. In this way, women have always been secondary to males and seen as the fragile counterparts whose job is to take care of the household and most importantly, be loyal to her husband no matter the circumstance. Gender roles throughout history have greatly influenced society. The slow progress of woman’s rights throughout humanities led to an explosion of woman’s rights throughout the 20th century and that trend will only continue on into the rest of the 21st century.

“The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer tells the epic tale of a man trying to return home to his wife and kingdom to rescue them from the men seeking to gain control. Many of the Grecian works by Homer are told from a man’s perspective and many argue that this narrow retelling of the Trojan War leaves very few places for prominent female characters. This leads to women being portrayed as only servants or deities; the few mortal women are reduced to simple archetypal characters such as the devoted mother, seductive siren, or a combination of the two. Penelope manages to play the role of mother and seductress simultaneously, acting as an echo of her cousin Clymenestra’s story as well as proof of the patriarchal ideals of Grecian society and narrow roles of women as shown through Homer’s “The Odyssey”.

Women play an enormous role in the Iliad and even though they do not actually fight in the war their presents in the lives of the protagonist change the war completely. Their roles, though small from line to line, had huge impacts on the war overall. From Hector’s love for Andromache who fought for the Trojans nonmatter what, and Achilles not fighting for the Achaeans because of Brises, to Paris capture of Helen that started the whole war Homer really emphases these women’s role and influence in the different male protagonist and the Trojan war

From prehistory to 1450 CE, in many different and complex civilizations, religion has influenced the gender roles of many societies. From prehistory to 600 BCE, in Mesopotamia, women could own property, maintain their dowry, and even trade. However, from 600 BCE to 600 CE, in Rome, women were completely under the control of their paterfamilias. Than, from 600 to 1450 CE, in the Byzantine Empire, women were constrained to their homes, and when they went out, they had to wear veils over their faces. Religion influenced the gender roles of many societies and civilizations from prehistory to 1450 CE.

The Iliad and Odyssey present different ideals of women, and the goddesses, who are presented as ideal women, differ between the two epics. The difference in roles is largely dependent on power, and relations to men, as well as sexual desirability and activity.

The role of women in Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.

Murphy then goes on to discuss the role of women in the Iliad. Murphy states that, "Like the official taunters they do not themselves participate physically in the frequently savage fighting and feuding of the sagas which they often cause in a very direct and deliberate way by goading their men into curses of action sometimes very much against those men's good judgment and mutual friendship (111)."

In the time of the Iliad women were mostly looked down upon, but there are a few that can be a role model for women to come. Women had to empower themselves and had other encourage them. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, the role of women can be seen through the characters of Helen, Athena, and Andromache, as they oppose men’s objective views of them and exhibit the eternal strength of women. To begin, Helen confronts paris and shows the strength of women as she defies the submissive stereotype, and scolds paris for being a coward.

A women's role has changed tremendously and is making its greatest impact in our society today. Many years ago, women's contribution to society was limited and controlled by men. Women are standing tall and are playing a major role in many important areas. Women's role has changed at an accelerating rate and have part in areas such as Politics, Professional Training Jobs, Medicine,Business and Law. Formerly they were not part of any political matter, but they have advanced in many aspects. For example, women have attained power and have been growing in political office.

Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression,