Double Standards In The Odyssey

Throughout the epic poem “Odyssey” we see many great characters who all bring a different feel to the story. “Odyssey” is a story that has a male main character and many male side characters, but it also has several female characters found in it. Each one of these females have an important role within the story and it would not be the same without them. Athena, Penelope, and Eucycleia are a few examples of female characters.

Odysseus and I are both contentious. Odysseus is combative and always ready for a fight we see this is the Odyssey many times throughout the book. An example of this would be when they were going up to Scylla and Odysseus didn’t listen to the advice he was given “I tied on my cuirass and took up two spears” (936). This shows he is antagonistic and is always ready for a fight or argument. Odysseus knows how to fight and win too he killed a man in a very gruesome way “Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat” (955) which that action sparked him killing most of men in Ithaca. I am also contentious and am always ready for an argument but not a fight. Most of my days I am always ready for a political

In the first section of Odyssey, mortal women are presented to us as controlled by the stereotypes and expectations of the culture of the day, and it is only within that context that we can consider the examples Homer provides of women to be admired or despised. He provides us with clear contrasts, between Penelope and Eurycleia on the one hand, and Helen and Clytemnaestra on the other.

The Odyssey by Homer is one of the two major Ancient Greek epic poems. This epic poem was mainly about Odysseus and his journey home to his family and loved ones in Ithaca. In "The Odyssey," Homer demonstrates the dominant roles played by men, while women occupied a more submissive position to their husbands /masters. Greek society was organized and directed by men who played the most important roles. Of course, women were as valuable, but their roles were not as powerful as men. In fact, they would only participate in activities that were approved of men. Homer used these themes in "The Odyssey" to differentiate between the two genders. However, gender roles were depicted in the poem by one of the main characters' Penelope, in which she plays a very important role. She provides the motivation for her husband Odysseus's to return to Ithaca. She is also the center of the plot involving the suitors and the fate of Telemachus and Ithaca itself. The characterization of Penelope in the poem shows the expected role of women in Ancient Greece. Even in the household that she is supposed to be in charge, she lacks power. Her values are shown in her faithfulness to her husband even though he been gone for 20 years, and in the end, she is seen as a prize to be won. Even though women were considered valuable, they were not given important roles or any decision making power.

The Odyssey is an epic about Ancient Greek culture written by Homer. This is one of the two major Greek poems. Odysseus is on a long journey back to Ithaca after the fall of Troy. The most valued life traits in an Ancient Greek culture is respect. Odysseus helps portray this by worshiping gods through the epic.

‘The Suitors and the disloyal servants get what they deserve.’ How far do you agree with this statement?

A. Yes, Eurylochus and the rest of Odysseus’s men tend to typically act in a more selfish manner than gravitate towards the notion of justice.

The #MeToo movement has brought the most recent revelations of misogyny in modern society. Sexism has been present throughout history, and the Greek society in Homer’s The Odyssey is no exception. It tells of the hero Odysseus’ journey back to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemakhos, on Ithaka, including his delays by the nymph, Kalypso. Throughout the epic, Homer portrays that society’s perceptions of female inferiority lead to harsher expectations of and stereotypes for women, as shown by the powerlessness, sexual double standard, and seductive stereotypes of women.

In The Odyssey by Homer, many characters feel prejudiced toward others. Many of these characters have opinions solely based on rumor. Such characters are influenced by many factors,, but all of them lead to improper judgement. In the same context, many characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird also possess such prejudiced thoughts. Through her use of the characters within Maycomb, in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird; Harper Lee shows how injustice and prejudice between African American and white people was impossible to beat at this point in history, however some characters attempt to fight it anyways.

     Many people regard Homer’s epics as war stories—stories about men; those people often overlook the important roles that women play in the Odyssey. While there are not many female characters in the Odyssey, the few that there are, play pivotal roles in the story and one can gain a lot of insight by analyzing how those women are portrayed. Homer portrays the females in contradictory ways: the characters of Athena and Eurykleia are given strong, admirable roles while Melantho, the Sirens and Circe are depicted in a much more negative way. Penelope—the central female character—is given both negative and positive attributes.

Despite the attempts of removing the idea that men have “male chauvinism” over women and that men let the mind down below think for them, it’s still a ubiquitous belief in today’s society. Girls have been brought up to know how to be a housewife, while boys have been brought up on the idea of being the one to make the most money and to be the head of the family for generations. As both genders hit puberty, boys start to look at girls and/or other boys in lustful ways, making boys let their area below the belt think for them. In “Circe’s Power”, Louise Glück facilitates the power of Circe in which was first seen in Robert Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey. In both excerpts, it seems that the theme is men don’t care about their partner’s emotions

The Odyssey and The Penelopiad’s storyline are both based off the same social context as Homer recorded the epic poem during Homeric society (when he was alive) however when the story was composed the literary context is completely different in comparison to Atwood, as Atwood wrote her novella - The Penelopiad, in the 21’st century and homer recorded the epic poem during 8th C BCE. The difference between each time period meant there were societal differences which had different impacts on each of the stories literary context. The odyssey is a historical epic poem that was verbally told by bards around ancient Greece and recorded by homer in 8thC BCE, following the dark ages. During this time there was no real sense of freedom or self expression and people were not very opinionated.This was because during this time, Homeric society was overruled by patriarchal views and a hierarchy within their time, meaning some people were seen as much less than others. In contrast to Margaret Atwood where her fictional Novella the Penelopiad was crafted in 2005, during a modern society where freedom of speech was more or less accepted than in Homeric society. The Odyssey has a major influence on Margaret Atwood’s novella the Penelopiad, as she based her opinions and perspective off the facts and historical content from the Odyssey. The Penelopiad’s central theme consists of the double standards that occurred against the women within the Odyssey such as the maids and Penelope. Margaret

The Penelopid is a novella by Margaret Atwood, that tells the story of the Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective. Atwood incorporates many interesting elements in her work including, the women’s place in society, the fairness of justice, the double standard of the sexes at this time period, and a 21st century view on the Odyssey. Atwood uses different literary devices in her writing, such as the genres from the maids and the interesting perspective of writing from hades after death. Penelope’s view of the Odyssey, along with gender roles, reveal the patriarchal expectations though out the novel. In Atwood’s work there is justification to the unfairness, along with the roles women played in Penelope’s society.

The Penelopiad is a novel written by Margaret Atwood a Canadian born female with strong opinions and even stronger viewpoints. Margaret started her career as a writer in 1961 when she published her first poetry book. She has written many books and novels. Atwood has denied that her work is feminist in many occasions but when we further inspect The Penelopiad we get the feeling that this is indeed a very feminist novel. The Penelopiad is the story of Penelope the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus son of Odysseus. We get to hear her side of the story in this novel. Odysseus is the main character in Homers the Odyssey. Unlike the odyssey The Penelopaid does not revolve around the strong brave man who sailed off to battle Troy. It is about

It is very clear that Atwood was influenced by The Odyssey when writing The Penelopiad. After reading The Odyssey, it left Atwood with more questions than answers about the maids and Penelope. Atwood waned to explore the poem from a female perspective. Atwood found many inconstancies in the story of the maids which she wanted to explore. She also wanted to explore Penelope’s role as a wife, mother and materfamilias. Margaret Atwood said that after reading The Odyssey she had two questions; “what led to the hanging of the maids and what was Penelope really up to?” In writing The Penelopiad, she felt she was able to answer those questions. Atwood acknowledged that The Odyssey recorded by Homer in a Patriarchal time period. This helped to shape and influence her desire to find out the answers to her questions and inspired her to write The Penelopiad with a modern perspective.