The Nature of Women Portrayed by Circe and Calypso in The Odyssey

The portrayal of women in society and literature is known to be sexist and male dominated. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, has similar portrayal of women and it presents women as deceiving in many cases, as well as, their subservience. From a feminist perspective, one would agree that women in The Odyssey compared to the men are deceptive and very dependent on the males in their families, including their husbands. The men, however, are demonstrated as independent and as the protectors of the household, while the women are forced to stay.

Throughout the plot of The Odyssey, the main hero Odysseus encounters a few women on his journey home to Ithaca. He even had affairs with a couple of them. Despite caring about his wife as much as he does, Odysseus had succumbed to temptation more than once. There were three other main female characters that he encountered during the epic. He met Calypso, Circe, Athena and at the end he finally reunites with his wife Penelope. Odysseus has a different relationship with each woman and they each treat him differently as well.

     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 patriarchal nature of ancient Greece, especially in The Odyssey, is talked about by scholars globally. Despite this prejudice, reading The Odyssey, multiple strong women are revealed, both antagonists to the hero Odysseus and his helpers, sometimes both in one.

Within the masts of ships, the tests of loyalty, and the authority of the social pecking order lays the similarities and differences among powerful female characters. The Odyssey by Homer was written as a sequel to his previous work The Iliad. These books follow The Trojan War and the events following this massive war. Specifically, The Odyssey follows the journey of war hero Odysseus on his way back home to Ithaca. On his campaign filled with trials and tribulations, Odysseus received help from many important women. Bright-eyed Athena, the goddess of strategic warfare, serves as a mentor throughout Odysseus’ journey to his homeland, Ithaca. Calypso, the nymph with the human voice, houses Odysseus on his journey home. Eurycleia, the nurse in his placae, provides care and support to her superior, Odysseus. These three women can all be compared and contrasted to one another because of their close relationships with Odysseus, master of tactics. Odysseus would not have been successful on his journey home to Ithaca if it were not for women such as Athena, Calypso, and Eurycleia.

She gets all the men all hot and bothered meanwhile, she is just cleverly using them up and buying time for Odysseus’ to return and subsequent vengeance.

Athena and Leucothea, two of the most influential women in the story, play a prominent role in the story, for they help Odysseus complete his journey! Athena and Leucothea work together to save Oddyseus’s life when he is drowning out at sea. Odysseus had just gotten off the island of Calypso and was on his way home when Poseidon, the God of the sea created a massive storm and almost killed Odysseus. Poseidon was furious with Odysseus because he had blinded his son Polyphemus. Luckily, a mortal named Leucothea comes to his rescue. As Odysseus is drowning, Leucothea yells over the storm, “‘Strip off those clothes and leave your craft for the winds to hurl, and swim for it now, you must, strike out with your arms for landfall there, Phaeacian land where destined safety waits. Here, take this scarf, tie it around your waist—it is immortal.’” (Book #5) Athena then plays a role by helping him get through the storm to the land safely. If it weren’t for these two powerful and wise women, nobody would have heard the story of Odysseus and his completion of

The “terrible goddess [...] who spoke in the language of men” uses her beauty to brainwash the crewmembers on her island. After luring them onto her island, the witch transforms the men into pigs. She refuses to undo this act unless Odysseus will sleep with her. Despite her reputation as a witch of deception, she exchanges useful information with Odysseus. Before Odysseus’ departure, she gives him directions to Hades, the underworld, and advice about the obstacles he will face. The witch, Kirke, uses her appeal to mesmerize the men in her life and exchanges her knowledge for their presence in her

The Odyssey is an epic poem about the voyage of Odysseus who is trying to return home to Ithaca. Odysseus is the main character but there are several women that played a role in his adventure. Three of the women are Penelope, Circe, and Calypso. They each have different character traits but in some way they all help Odysseus in his journey home. One female character in this unit is Circe, the daughter of Helios.

There are various important female roles in the Odyssey. Most of these roles involve women attempting to seduce Odysseus. One important female character encountered in the Odyssey is Calypso. She had seduced Odysseus into staying with her for 7 years. This had been beneficial for Odysseus, as it kept him out of trouble with the gods for quite a while. However, another important female character, Athena, had convinced the gods that it was time for Odysseus to go home. Though Calypso fell for Odysseus, she had to give him up.

She is a goddess; an immortal, near-omnipotent being. She’s smart, yet deceitful; pretending to be the perfect hostess to lure Odysseus’s men into a trap, turning them all into pigs. After meeting Odysseus himself, she shows herself to be kinder than she appears to be at first. She turns the pigs back into men to make him happy, and warns him about the sirens rather than letting him and his crew fall prey to their songs.

Albeit three of the four ladies had sexual encounters with Odysseus, they are not Odysseus' trophies. The ladies are not simply immediately pulled in to the most nice looking man on the planet. Odysseus had earned their affection with his graciousness, valor, and character. A few ladies even discovered Odyesseus awful: Nausicaa disliked Odysseus at first, which demonstrated that not all ladies look at the hero admitting their affection and undying dedication. The cliché female character is more than regularly very imbecilic; nonetheless, the four female characters are all astute and free. Calypso, Circe and Athene are all goddesses who are superior to any mortal man. All men, ladies, and kids penance to the Gods and go to them. Not at all like 'Rustler's Rhapsody'; where man is looked upon as better than ladies: these female characters in The Odyssey are more prominent than any mortal man. Circe traps men, and changes them into feeding pen creatures for her own particular delight. Pallas Athene, the goddess of war and shrewdness, battles against men and does not require their 'insurance'. She is the most savvy, and does not fall into the generalization of a debutante. Fundamental Queen Penelope's

The role of women in The Odyssey differ from the role of women in our society in today's world. Some women shown in the poem are helpful in preparing Odysseus for a safe trip home. Odysseus’ last adventure in the poem which is the first told in The Odyssey takes place on Calypso’s island. She gives Odysseus warmth, protection, and love because she can see that he has traveled from afar with many hardships that he has overcome. Since his ship was struck down and all of his crewmates drowned, he had to swim to shore. Calypso gave him warmth with a fire and shelter until he was ready to finish his trip up and return to his home. After some time, Calypso got unexpectedly close with Odysseus and showed him some affection. Back in the time when this story was written, many people were loyal to one person but also showed loved toward others. It was not frowned upon then, like it is today. As they stayed in her home, they started to get more friendly. Later, Odysseus decided it was time to visit his wife and return to his homeland.

Despite the fact that Odysseus was with Calypso and Circe he still claims to be faithful. “… the enchantress desired me, and detained me in her hall. But in my heart I never gave consent “(I am the Lartes’ Son) Odysseus claims that he was faithful to his wife in his heart but he stayed with Calypso for seven years willingly when he could have left at any time to go back home to his wife. He is also easily persuaded by Circe to stay with her longer than needed. “Now Circe loveliest of all immortals persuades Odysseus to stay with her” Long after Circe turned his crew back to humans so they could leave, the Goddess was still able to convince him to stay longer than needed, keeping him away from his

After the encounters with the Sirens, Odysseus had to face a terrifying creature that he feared of. Circe warned Odysseus about the dangers of Scylla. He is informed that she will snag six of his men and tells him that it is much better than loosing everyone. “Nobody would feel good seeing her, not even a god who crossed her path. She has a dozen feet all deformed, six enormously long necks, with a horrible head on each of them and three rows of teeth packed closed together, full of murky death” (Steele and Alwa, 489). Odysseus knew that in order for his survival and to be able to get to the island, he had to sacrifice his men and escape this monster. “Monsters such as the Sphinx are often represented as female, as if to imply that women are on the borderline between human and “other” than human”(Steele and Alwa, 41). Odysseus also had to deal with his love affair with the witch goddess, Circe. She lived with nymphs on a mythical island. She changed all of Odysseus’s men into animals when he showed up to see her. Hermes helped Odysseus remove the men from the spell. “Many men appear to have felt that they could truly not love women who were not educated well enough to read, write, or engage in informed dialogue with their husbands”(Steele and Alwa, 43). The love between Odysseus and Circe failed due to her lack of ability to engage with men, by