The Role Of Beauty In The Odyssey

Women are weak, helpless, and have no real purpose other than to serve men and take care of children. . . or so they were perceived history. In the Odyssey, one can see that Homer’s portrayal of women challenges the portrayal of women during that time period. Throughout the book, many women intervened in Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, for better or for worse. One will see Penelope, Athena, Circe, and other women impact Odysseus’ expedition home. These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their power and authority show the idea behind a quote by Groucho Marx, which states, “Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife”. Throughout The Odyssey,

    The theme of appearance versus reality is the soul of the relationship between Athena and Odysseus. Athena is the master of disguise. In the epic poem, “The Odyssey” disguise demonstrates the theme appearance vs. reality as Telemakhos would have never reunited with his father and found himself. At the beginning of the story, she appears to Telemachus as Mentes-an old friend of his father who has just stopped to visit in Ithaca. This allows her to encourage Telemakhos to go on a quest to search for his missing father. However, she mostly appears to Telemachus as Mentor, an Ithacan adviser who protects the prince from murderous suitors and guide him through his coming of age.

‘The Odyssey’, like other epic poems, is patriarchally centered. The poem is focused on “godlike” Odysseus and his laborious journey home (Homer __). In Ancient Greece, the time of Homer, women were commonly viewed as part of oikos headed by the male kyrios. They were expected to be submissive, domesticated, and viewed as their master’s property. This raises an important question in the context of this epic: are women only secondary characters that blindly follow the decisions of their male counterparts or do they have the ability to make their decisions freely? Homer, a forward thinker for his time, allowed the reader to make this judgement by including two paradoxical characters: Penelope and Calypso. Penelope, the “faithful” wife of Odysseus, spends most of her time crying and longing for her husband. She is compliant and passive, never making a decision without her husband (homer __). Calypso, on the other hand, takes her sexuality into her own hands. She traps Odysseus in Ogygia and attempts to force herself on him, showing that she does not follow the norms of being an obedient woman. Through the inclusion of Penelope and Calypso, Homer is able to address the view of women in typical epic poems by both accepting it and challenging it in order to redefine what is expected of epic tradition.

Vanity, infidelity and envy once seen as transgressions, have now been normalized by the capricious acts of society. Failing to regulate to society’s ever changing norms makes one an outcast. Their actions deemed erroneous and caustic to the way of life. In like manner, this is not the first time outcasts have stayed within one’s midst. Olympian gods have defied their “high horse” by violating the canons of god like behaviour, yet instead of being isolated these Olympian gods are put on pedestals. The early people are blinded by their need for explanation that they do not see that; although the Olympians were gods they had very human frailties.

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.

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.

Greek society is highly stratified, one where the distinctions between Nobles, peasants, and slaves are explicit. While many people consider women oppressed in the ancient hierarchy, this notion is somewhat contradicted in the Odyssey, where many women act as powerful figures. Penelope separates herself from the suitors that plague her palace, who are relentless in their pursuit for her hand in marriage. Circe has the capability to seduce an entire unit of Odysseus’ men and turn them into pigs. Athena benevolently guides Telemachus over the many obstacles he faces on his quest to seek out his father. Helen defects from Sparta, rallying all of Troy for her cause. Clytemnestra deceitfully plans Agamemnon's death for her new love interest, Aegisthus. Women in the Odyssey show that through seduction, trickery, and wisdom, women of Ancient Greece are able to obtain significant power.

Women form an important part of each society, however their role and importance to its function are often times overlooked. Society is/was organized and directed by men. All of the most important positions and purposes within it`s routine were filled by males. This societal organization is often times reflected in many pieces of literature of various time periods, however there are texts in which contrary to the patriarchal society models, women are given substantial importance within the plot. Homer`s The Odyssey, Heart of Darnkness by Joseph Conrad and Aeschylus`s Oresteia each demonstrate or conceal female importance in a given society.

The literature composed during the era when the Odyssey was written was directed by men. Woman characters were valued but the only participated in affairs when they had the permission of men. The men, for the most part, directed the women's lives. The themes used in literature were on the subjects that men would be interested in; combat; warriors, and rulers. Domestic affairs, for the most part, were not noted. There is a immense contrast between the Odyssey and other epic poetry of the period. There are several women characters in the Odyssey. All of them add to plot in significant ways and they are also treated with admiration. The women of the poem change the lives of the gods and men, and how they link in significant ways to one

Odyssey have in common: they are all very clever. There are two ways that the

Homer wrote the classic epic The Odyssey more than 2,500 years ago. At that time in ancient Greek society, as well as in the whole of the ancient world, the dominant role was played by men. Society was organized, directed, and controlled by men, and it was accepted that women occupied a subservient and inferior position. Women, of course, were valued, but were expected to possess certain traits and perform certain tasks that men demanded of them. Does Homer's writing in The Odyssey support or refute the common belief of his time regarding women? Homer endorsed the dominating belief of his time concerning women by treating the female characters unequally and differently compared to the male characters in

Even though all the stories in this unit had a male as the main character, that doesn’t mean females went unnoticed. In fact, they were crucial to the plots of the stories, and some of the things that happened wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t around. For better, or worse, for the main protagonists. One of the female characters in this unit is Circe, who plays a unique role in Part 2 of “The Odyssey”.

In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer contains the overall mission by the protagonist, Odysseus, while trying to sail back home after battling at Troy. Throughout his mission, Odysseus meets women who both affect his life positively and negatively. Women in The Odyssey either play one of two roles, the unfavorable person with consequences or a strong women who holds on her own. Odysseus’ first encounter, Circe when him and his men land on her island, she turns the men into pigs, and persuades Odysseus to stay with her. In the story Odysseus says, “Circe tossed them acorns, mast, and cornel berries-- fodder for hogs…”

   Ancient Greek society treated women as secondary citizens. Restrictions were placed on the social and domestic actions of many aristocratic women in ancient Athens.  The women depicted in Homer's Odyssey, on the other hand, are the ideal.  Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen are all women with exceptional liberty and power.

The definition of beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty has negative and positive influences on mostly people. Beauty is described by the inside and outside of us. Due to beauty, our self-esteem has been hurt dramatically, especially towards girls. Beauty is not always about our outside looks but it’s about our inside personality also.