Female characters from various stories play a significant role in shaping its outcome. In the epic poem, The Illiad by Homer, women stir up further violence and conflict, the same thing they seem to be condemning. The epic poem takes place in the ninth year of a brutal war between the Archaens and the Trojans. The only way either side can make maximum further advancements is through the assistance of divine power. Gods and goddesses govern the fate of the battle, as their immortality and divine powers gives the upper hand to those whom side the gods are on. Throughout the course of this poem, it may seem that decisions of Hera may not influence or agitate the major conflict at all, however, a closer examination reveals otherwise. Being the wife of Zeus, Hera possesses the authority to fulfill anything she …show more content…
The plague was caused by a prayer from the priest of Apollo, Chryses, whom was refused his daughter by Agamemnon. Agamemnon offers an unusual demand of a girl that Achillies liked, Briseis, in compensation for the girl that he was returning to the priest. This unusual proposal enraged Achillies and hurt his pride, which makes him consider fighting Agamemnon. Just as Achillies begins to position him to fight, goddess Athena appears and says “Stop this fighting now, now. Don’t lay hand to sword” (The Iliad 84 Line 246). Goddess Hera sends down Athena in hopes of cooling Achillies’s anger, so this way neither of them can get hurt. After hearing her out, Achillies agrees with Athena, and fulfills the demands of Agamemnon. The love in Hera’s mind for both Achillies and Agamemnon signals her to stop Achillies, as he is a top warrior for the Archaens and possesses the full potential to hurt the commander of the Archaen army, Agamemnon. This displays her ability to resolve conflict, and not cause further
In life we carry a lot of emotions, burdens and luggage. There is a quote from a great poet that reads. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” in “Things They Carried”. The author Tim o Brien, creates a story about a soldier and his life after the war and struggles that he has to go through and the people around him seem to go through. Tim Obrien writes this story, as a 43 years old man which is recalling his previously experiences as a foot solider in Vietnam. “On their feet they carried jungle boots-2.1 pounds- and Dave Jensen carried 3 pairs of socks” (Obrien 270). The theme revealed in “The Things They carried” is that you can keep your spirits alive by moving and carrying your
In book one of the Iliad, a plague is placed on the Achaian army because Agamemnon wouldn’t release Chryseis, a maiden he’d taken as a prize for sacking a Trojan-allied town. Agamemnon refuses to give up Chryseis until Achilleus surrenders Briseis, another maiden, to him as consultation. This insults Achilleus’ pride and is the first event in the epic to fuel his burning rage (1.8-1.611). Due to his leader, Agamemnon, wounding his pride, he refuses to fight for the Achaians for the first 15 books. However, the tide turns in book 16 when Patroklos, Achilleus’ friend, is killed (16.816-16.821). His rage causes him to join the Achaians once more and develope aristeia, where a hero in battle has his finest moments. He nearly single-handedly slaughters the Trojan army by splitting their ranks and pursuing half of them into the river, where he recognizes Lykaon (21.1-21.35).
Odyssey have in common: they are all very clever. There are two ways that the
Religion, literature, and art have historically illustrated a virtuous woman as a submissive, fragile being. Her moral purity is desirable compared to the contrasting dangerous depiction of a woman that deviates from this male contrived ideology. Sexually liberated and independent characteristics in a female figure are often accompanied by malicious and cunning intentions. When femininity is used as a seductive tool of destruction, the concept of the femme fatale, or fatal woman, is introduced. Her attraction is irresistibly detrimental. Written works often utilize this archetype as a literary device to symbolize a threatening temptation. This concept is represented in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Odyssey. Both exploit luring women
The cultural role of women in the Odyssey In Homer’s Odyssey the cultural relevance of a preferred woman’s role in society generally stands out in the roles of the female characters of Athena and Penelope simultaneously rejecting the negatively viewed characteristics of Calypso and Circe. The entire structure of Ancient Greek culture boasts its men in more superior roles than that of women. Greek society was largely built upon an idea that good women were only around to faithfully serve and support their husband and that it was very important not to stray from those essential traits. Athena is a very involved character from the beginning of the book when she wants to help Odysseus get back home to Ithaca. However, as fate would put it
Often times in ancient works, women do what they must to reach their goals. In the Odyssey and the Theogony, women use deceit to achieve their goals, with the difference being that in times of trouble Penelope is able to create and enact multiple plans on her own while Rhea must ask for help. While Homer gives some agency to his female characters, Hesiod does not.
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.
Women are important to the plot and overall theme of the Odyssey. In fact, without many of the women there would not be a complex plot to this epic poem. In the narrative and in Greek society women played a variety of roles, as mothers, herons, and many other strong roles yet, they were treated as less significant, and were made to be loyal and submissive to men. The women were required to wait on and sulk for love, as Penelope did for 20 years. In Greek society, the women had very little authority but the little control that they did have was sort of a sexual power, which at times they could use to outwit the men. Obvious examples of this sexual power would be Circe and Calypso. Calypso and Circe however, are not the
It could be contested that The Odyssey was intended to appeal to women as the main audience, as evidenced by a strong focus on relationships and female characters. Homer maximizes women, subtly drawing out their power and making them appear larger than life; Penelope is a prime example of this. J.W. Mackail, a Scottish literary historian, also agrees, stating that “Penelope is one of the great women of history. If at first sight she seems more remote from, or even contrary to, modern ideals, a larger and more intelligent view will alter that misconception. She will reveal herself as no obsolete type, but as an individual figure, of extraordinary complexity, and intensely human because
Achilleus was a Greek hero, who fought in the Trojan War. Achilleus' most famous defeat during the Trojan War was the killing of the extraordinary hero Hektor, outside the city of Troy. In The Iliad of Homer, Achilleus’ character is inexorably altered by the nature of the experiences to which he is subjected. These consist of his fall out with Agamemnon, his emotional removal from battle, the death of Patroklos, and the killing of Hektor. Achilleus' actions had over sized impact on the outcome of battles and the lives of many warriors on both sides. Achilleus struggled with anger, respect, satisfaction, loyalty and love. At first Achilleus’ character is unlikable and self-centered. By the end of the Iliad, we see an Achilleus
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,
First, the gods influence on his fate becomes evident when Athena persuades Achilles to keep Agamemnon alive and spare Agamemnon from his rage. Due to Achilles holding onto this rage towards Agamemnon, a series of events transpire that push him closer and closer to making rash decisions that eventuate into his fate at the end of The Iliad. Right as Achilles closes in to kill Agamemnon, Athena appears to Achilles and says, “ you shall have a
The Odyssey, by Homer, was written with the Greek mindset that women were supposed to be submissive. If the woman in question was not submissive enough, she was depicted as cruel, selfish, a monster, or a whore. This is true for both mortal women, such as Penelope, and immortal goddesses, such as Calypso. Mortal women were expected to be good faithful wives who listened to everything the head of the household said, while goddesses were expected to follow the gods every order and were called sexist slurs if they ever got involved with a mortal man.
Imagine you are left by your husband after he leaves to go to war and you must protect your kingdom and yourself. How would you handle the situation? In Homer’s The Odyssey a wife is left alone to raise a child and to protect others from taking her husband's position on the throne until Telemachus is old enough to take it himself. Penelope must give her son experiences that normally a father would give a son, along with having him grow up to be fair and just. Telemachus and Penelope push through the hardships without a husband, father, and a ruler. Penelope raises telemachus while persevering through sexism, abuse, and loneliness.
For this informative report I will attempt to point out the roles women and how they are viewed in ancient Greece. I will then show how these views are present in Homer’s "The Odyssey." How are women, goddess or mortal, conveyed in "The Odyssey?"