Societal Values In Homer's Iliad And Women In Genesis

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.

Women in The Odyssey desire power and equal opportunities, but strict gender roles do not allow them to achieve equality. An example of this is Queen Penelope. Her husband, King Odysseus, has been gone for 20 years and missing for 10 of those, and she's completely helpless against the suitors who have overrun her house. The intention of these suitors being is to marry Penelope (against her will) and take over the thrown. In book two Telemachus calls a meeting of all these men to share his exasperation and anger over the fact that all the suitors have been taking his cattle, wrecking his home, and longing after his mother against her will. Nobody spoke up, except for Antinous. He was a sly man who had discovered Penelope’s secret, and decided

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?"

In Book 6 of The Iliad, women are portrayed as tragic figures, whom are in the sidelines as the war is taking place. Andromache, a key character in the Iliad, is shown in an untraditional place for a woman. She is standing on top of the walls of the city watching the events occurring below. At this time Hector returns to the city asking all the women to pray for their safety and victory. Andromache asks Hector to stay and be there for his family instead of fighting in the war, “have mercy upon me; stay here upon this wall; make not your child fatherless, and your wife a widow...''. At this point we notice Andromache being in a vulnerable position but also having some importance in her role as a wife and in the Trojan community. She is even mentioned by name in the

Does Homer exhibit gender bias in the Odyssey?  Is the nature of woman as depicted in the Odyssey in any way revealing? Upon examining the text of the Odyssey for differential treatment on men and women, it becomes necessary to distinguish between three possible conclusions.  One, differences in treatment reflect the underlying Homeric thesis that  women are "different but equal in nature,"  Two, different treatment  of men and women in the text reflect a thesis that women are "different and unequal in nature" -- arguments about misogyny fall in here but a host of other interpretive possibilities are possible too. Three, the different treatment reflects simple ignorance. How much do we attribute what we discover to male authorship -- or

The Iliad centers around the use of moira to control the lives of the characters while Genesis relies on God to set things in motion for his plans. Andromache, from the Iliad, and Rebekah, from Genesis, are each used by the larger force at work to express the major themes of each work. Andromache and Rebekah are each used by either God or moira to produce offspring that are predestined for important events that have been predetermined by either God or moira. Each woman also attempts to bend their husband to their will, in different ways, to get their husband to act in the way that they see as most desirable. However, Rebekah is much more successful in her attempt on Isaac than Andromache is in making Hector do what she wants him to do. Both Andromache and Rebekah attempt to control their husbands, but Andromache has no real power to influence her husband’s decisions due to moira. Andromache is given very little power to change the direction of her narrative due to the fated fall of Troy. Andromache and Rebekah are given very different abilities to control their narratives due to what is predestined by moira, in Andromache’s case, and what God commands, in Rebekah’s case.

The women in the city of Troy cannot ignore that lives without their husbands is a possibility. Helen, who some would say is the cause of the great battle, understands that she has a fault in the tragedies the men and woman will suffer: “You are the one hit the hardest by this fighting, Hector/ you more than all – and all for me, slut that I am, /and this blind mad Paris. Oh the two of us!” (VI: 287-289). Hector is valiant, a man of honor, which is the detriment to his fate, an element Andromache cannot help but worry about: “Clung to his hand, urged him, called him: ‘reckless one, / My Hector – your own fiery courage will destroy you!’” Life without a father for their son causes her most worry: “Have you no pity for him, our helpless son? Or me? /and that destiny that weighs me down, your widow, /now so soon. Yes, soon they will kill you off,” (VI: 350-352). Andromache understands that Hector is too proud of a warrior to walk away, but fears his death will cause most harm to their child, and many of her days she worries tremendously. Hector himself is conflicted:

It is Andromache’s role and nature as a woman who exemplifies the soft side of human relations that paradoxically reminds Hector of his duty to fight and hastens the fall of both Hector and Troy.

Through Homer’s image of society in The Odyssey, women are perceived as second class citizens, subservient to dominant men. The reader sees this cultural expectation when Telemachus tells his mother, Penelope, that he “[holds] the reins of power in [his] house” (Homer 1.414), to which she responds by “[taking] to heart the clear good sense

Although Hector says this to Andromache because he believes it, in reality, it is moira that pushes him into battle. While begging Hector to stay, Andromache attempts to guilt him, yelling “...it will be better for me / To sink into the earth. When I lose you, Hector, / There will be nothing left, no one to turn to, / Only pain.” (Il 6.432-436), but guilting Hector does not work. Nothing Andromache can say or do matters nor will it influence Hector. Andromache is ultimately powerless in convincing her husband to do anything, because moira limits her.

Who is the ideal Greek man? It can be argued that through the illustration Homer weaves throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus's character traits cast a lens as a prime example of a man in ancient Greek society. He appears to be brave, intelligent, well-spoken, and clever. Much of his knowledge is discovered by his travels, absorbing the local culture around him and using it as a guide. Aristocratic and a warrior. Perhaps the best warrior of all time. It is the Iliad which presents these attributes initially. The commander of the Greek army, Agamemnon, calls on Odysseus for assignments frequently, ones that required someone cunning and brilliant. He sends Odysseus off to ask Achilles if he would be willing to return the army and has Diomedes come along also into the Trojan camp to gain more information. Odysseus must act quickly on his feet impulsively in order to not be caught. Interestingly enough, despite how valiant he can be during battle, it is in the Odyssey in which it becomes clear how Odysseus can be seduced and enchanted by women. In the Odyssey, myriad examples of such temptation reflect the importance of gender and the role of women. His specific interactions make this clear, creating an interesting duality between the power of men and women as illustrated throughout the poem.

Women are perceived as the gender, that in which is not superior. In the epic, tributed to Homer, The Odyssey, traditional gender stereotypes of a patriarchal society are enforced. Men dominate women in a sense of roles, influence, power and relationships. In ancient Greece, the dominant role was played by men. The society, culture, government and occupations was organized and driven by men, women having little to no role in how to society functioned. Generations adapted these ways and depicted myths that in which represented this type of society, as seen in the Odyssey.

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.

Women in ancient Greece had very few rights in comparison to male citizens. Women were unable to vote, own property, or inherit wealth. A woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was to rear children. Considering this limited role in society, we see a diverse cast of female characters in Greek mythology. We are presented with women that are powerful and warlike, or sexualized, submissive and emotionally unstable. In many myths, we encounter subversive behavior from women, suggesting, perhaps, the possibility of female empowerment. While produced in an ostensibly misogynistic and oppressive society, these myths consider the possibility for a collapse of male power and the patriarchal system. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey,

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