Penelope And Sita In Homer's The Ramayana And The Odyssey By Homer

he Odyssey, as written by Homer, intricately and excitingly weaves Colin Renfrew’s Subsystem Theories throughout the entire play. Many of the five subsystem theories can be seen and support understanding of the novel. Of the five systems, trade/communication, social/ political hierarchy and symbolic subsystems will be the focus of analysis in this paper. All of these subsystems come together in The Odyssey to explain the characters and their lives, and also how they fit into the society which they live in. To understand the growth and development of the characters, we must understand the systems theories, “many human actions have a meaning at several different levels, with undertones and overtones… it is the complex interconnectedness of the subsystems which gives human culture its unique potential for growth.” As this paper will demonstrate within The Odyssey, trade and communication, social and political hierarchy and lastly symbolic subsystems create adventure in Odysseus’s harrowing, yet exciting journey back to his kingdom and family. These specific subsystems add depth and excitement because we see how each specific one impacts Odysseus’s journey back home. They help us understand who Odysseus is a man and sympathize with all that he goes through. The communication subsystem helps explain how communication between people (and gods) in different lands aid to the success of his return home. We are able to see from the social subsystem how Odysseus and other men

Ramayana, translated by William Buck, is an ancient Indian epic telling the story of a prince named Rama who fights against his adversary, Ravana. Although there are many important female characters throughout the book, they are often seen as subordinate to their male counterparts where intelligence and strength are concerned. One character who proves this stereotype wrong is Sita, Rama’s wife, who often shows that she has the capacity of being just as powerful as the men of the story. By being more mindful than most people around her, Sita defies the expectations that many characters have placed on her. Sita lets the reader see another side of women’s power and shows us the strength that women could have. The reason that Sita proves to be powerful is that she seems to have an understanding of the deeper meaning of her life; precisely the quality that men don’t expect her to have.

Although “The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer is very much an epic tale of a man’s heroic quest, women play an incredibly large role. Homer’s epic tale, “The Odyssey” revolves around Ulysses’ quest to return back to his wife, Penelope, so that he may be reunited with her and assume control over his palace, which has been overrun by suitors. Ulysses’ son, Telemachus attempts to regain authority in the presence of the many suitors but finds this difficult and embarks upon his own journey under the guidance of Athena and other deities. The main thrust of Homer’s “The Odyssey” centers upon the adventures of Homer as he endeavors to get back home, which he finally does. He overtakes the suitors through his cunning and the tale ends happily.

Odysseus Wife, Penelope was a very important character in The Odyssey. Odysseus left for the Trojan War leaving behind his loving wife and newborn son named Telemachus. Penelope had to learn to survive with the circumstances of being the Queen of Ithaca and being left with all the money and power to uphold until Odysseus, The King of Ithaca returned. Her bravery and wisdom help her stay strong and overcome the obstacles that she had to face while her husband was away. The only hope that she had staying strong for her Odysseus hoping that he will return home to her and her son.

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?"

     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.

The Ramayana is an Ancient Indian epic poem that follows the story of a young prince named Rama who is a mortal incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The plot follows a narrative that starts from his first time outside the royal palace, through his banishment from the kingdom and his quest to save his beloved wife Sita from Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, all the way to his coronation as King of Ayodhya, the kingdom from which he was originally banished. Throughout the whole narrative, there is one factor that remains constant, the role of women in the culture. The acceptance, or rejection of these cultural values by the women directly corresponds with how their character is perceived by the reader and how their role directly influences the

The season of old Greece appears like its own story in a different universe, one in no way like our own. Capable divine beings and goddesses, overcome warriors, magical creatures, and the abuse of ladies lead the plot. But that ladies have been ignored in our reality for quite a long time. The irrelevance of ladies was a piece of Greek life that isn't lofty or ethereal. In the epic lyric The Odyssey by Homer, Penelope forms into her own particular character amid a period where ladies are prized as belonging more than individuals. Homer makes Penelope into her own particular individual and not only an expansion to her significant other by his long nonattendance and the inconveniences she should look without anyone else through troublesome circumstances. Homer gives her characteristics of unwaveringness, quality, and clever to have the capacity to get by without a spouse when all others figure she should simply take another. Penelope ends up plainly like a character not at all like numerous ladies in Greek circumstances, for example, Agamemnon's significant other, however like Circe and Athena. She is transformed into a lady of energy by Homer.

            Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the lives of the latter.  A respected woman was to have characteristics including obedience, virtue, refinement, productivity, honor, beauty, talent and intelligence (social consciousness).  Sarah B. Pomeroy has studied this aspect of ancient life and

You all must be aware of the epic tale of Ramayana that begins as Lord Rama was exiled to a forest for 14 years with his dear wife, Sita and brother Laxman. To get to the main point straight away, Sita, the epitome of grace and beauty was abducted by the main antagonist of the Ramayana written by Valmiki- Raavan. My mention on Valmiki as the writer is on purpose because it was according to him that Raavan was termed as the villain but in reality,

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.

The stories that as a whole make up the body of ancient Greek mythology have treatedthe complex subject of women in various ways. Although women are generally considered to beweak and subordinate to their husbands, there exist some examples of strong, even heroic womenin certain myths. Such “extraordinary” women include Deianeira, Phaedra, Medea, Penelope,and Clytemnestra, among others. This discussion of women will focus on the latter two,comparing and contrasting them and addressing the ways in which the former is often considereda “good” wife and the latter a “bad” wife. The comparison of Penelope and Clytemnestra willultimately show that, in certain ways, the line between “good” and “bad” wife is rather blurryand the distinction between husband-killing monster and devoted, faithful wife is not as clear-cutas one might expect.The major works in which Penelope and Clytemnestra appear are Homer’s Odyssey andAeschylus’ Oresteia, particularly the Agamemnon. One of the first things to notice about theseworks is that they were both written by men, for men. Given the ancient Greek context, this is arather obvious observation, but it deserves to be pointed out because it should be expected thatmen would have a biased view of women. Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days describe thecreation of Pandora, the first of “the race of women”, as a gift and punishment from the gods.While she is made to “look like a goddess immortal, / having the lovely, desirable shape of a

The accounts of honesty practiced in Dharma appear first when Sita proves her faithfulness to her husband Rama. Following the death of Ravana, Rama renounces Sita assuming that because she has lived in another man’s house she has committed adultery. In order to maintain her honor Sita jumps into a funeral pyre, customary for the widows of Hindu aristocrats, and commits suicide. However, because she is pure the fire god, Agni, rejects her asserting that “Sita has not the smallest fault, and she is innocent. Lakshmi of good fortune is your wife, and she loves you” and returns her back Rama who is now convinced of her innocence (Buck 364). Reunited with her husband, Sita demonstrates the perfect wife, telling Rama, “I am a fair free woman, I surrender to you of my own will, command me anything” (365). Sita’s act of faithfulness and Rama’s acceptance in taking her back displays the Dharma practice of honesty, which in the Hindu sense means the love of what is true. Sita’s honesty is not only highlighted as a characteristic of the perfect being but her truthfulness sets an example for future generations of women as to what constitutes the excellent quality for respectability of a women in Hindu society.

‘Sita Sings the Blues’ is an animation movie created by an American woman, Nina Paley. The three strands that make up the warp and woof of the narration are: the personal story of Nina Paley’s betrayal by her husband; heartfelt- blues, the sentimental songs of Annette Hanshaw; and the larger-than-life canvass of the epic Ramayana. The movie, prima facie, is the story of the Director’s failed marriage as is evident from the official tagline of the movie ‘the greatest break up story ever told’. But the overarching depiction of Sita’s plight in the Ramayana, parallel to her own, assumes great significance. The portrayal of the travails and tribulations of Sita in the movie instead of the usual glorification of Rama, lends this movie

In Sita Sings the Blues, Paley has an alternate, customized picture of Sita. All through the motion picture we see that Sita is crying, and is assuming the part of the casualty instead of being solid and following the Dharma of Indian culture. Paley conflicts with the conventional understanding and overlooks the possibility of Dharma in general and social perspective. The account of Rama and Sita in Ramayana goes ahead and Rama who was viewed as the perfect child and spouse, abandons Sita after she was captured, trusting that she was touched by another man making her debased and not deserving of him. She is surrendered by her significant other to live in a timberland while she was pregnant with Rama 's twin young men. Regardless she remains faithful to him and brings forth two young men and shows them to love their dad and regard him like a God.