The Role of Women in Homer's The Odyssey Essay

Throughout the epic poem “Odyssey” we see many great characters who all bring a different feel to the story. “Odyssey” is a story that has a male main character and many male side characters, but it also has several female characters found in it. Each one of these females have an important role within the story and it would not be the same without them. Athena, Penelope, and Eucycleia are a few examples of female characters.

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.

As the request is made of his own mother she simply abides to her son’s wishes, “She bathed now, put on some fresh clothes,” (Homer l 17.60). All throughout the Odyssey Penelope shows her strength to ward off suitors and she manages to live without her husband for years. Remaining faithful the entire time to her husband Odysseus she discloses to her maid, “Eurynome, don’t try to coax me, care for me as you do, to bathe myself, refresh my face with oils. Whatever glow I had died long ago… the gods of Olympus snuffed it out that day my husband sailed away in the hollow ships,” (Homer ll 18.201-206) presenting to the reader that she lost all desire for anyone else when Odysseus’ left for war. This further substantiates the Greek view of how women should remain loyal at all times forsaking others. Lastly Penelope is rewarded for her lasting devotion to her husband with his return. In these characters and their specific roles in the Odyssey the Greeks’ insisted upon their women to accept such roles in their culture of certain hypocrisy when compared to that of their female counterpart. Without Athena’s support Odysseus would have never reached Ithaca and Telemachus would not have been pushed into becoming a man. Without Penelope’s loyalty, devotion, and support Odysseus’ efforts in his journey home would have held little merit of reward. What is most important to note is the male character of Odysseus plays the most prominent role in the epic but

      Homer's "Odyssey" depicts women as strong subjects-they are real substantive characters. Women in this poem are tough, strong-willed and are treated with the respect and seriousness they deserve.  Homer characterizes the women in his poem as the real counterparts of men-they have real feelings, real plans and are able to accomplish them on their own.

In Homer's composition, The Odyssey, the roles women play are very significant. The best examples of the true nature of women occur when Odysseus encounters Circe and Calypso. These two characters illustrate the thoughts and feelings of how women how a woman feels and how they think. As the quote states, Circe and Calypso illustrate how women really can be crafty, intelligent, sneaky, disloyal, and cruel. In contrast to battles with men, Cyclops, or animals, sexual battles with women are sometimes much more difficult to win.

Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.

The gods are constantly involved with mortal women and are not shamed for it, Zeus’ being especially guilty of this. However, Calypso argues that when an immortal women such as herself sleeps with a mortal man she is berated and the man is whisked away. She refers to the gods as “scandalized” in result of her involvement with Odysseus, yet they are unimpeded to sleep with any women they desire. Calypso wishes the power to be held to the same standard as the gods, but the etiquette of a goddess is to not freely become involved with mortals, as it is of a god. Calypso angrily must give up Odysseus, and in book six he finally makes his way onto another island after a near death experience awash in the sea. On this island lives Princess Nausicaa who also must undergo gender roles. The goddess Athena, disguised as a friend of the princess, convinces Nausicaa that she should take a trip to the river to wash and bathe her clothes as a plan to get her and Odysseus to meet up. Odysseus finds Nausicaa at the stream, and first she is scared because he is dirty and very fatigued. He then talks to her, and she offers him help. She asks that he accompany her back to the palace where he can get help of her parents, the king and queen. He is about to ride in the Nausicaa's wagon, but then she asks that Odysseus must follow behind, telling him about what would possibly happen if the were to ride

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.

     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 were very important to the Greeks, and they showed this value in many ways. In The Odyssey Homer shows us the different ways women were looked upon through female characters, such as Penelope, Naussica, and Anticlia.

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

Prompt: Compare and contrast the role of women as portrayed in The Odyssey. Consider how they are loyal, strong—or weak, hospitable, etc.

Women are portrayed as seductresses. Odysseus and his crew arrive on the island of Circe, lured in by the sound of her voice. Homer describes her as "Low she sang/ in her beguiling voice,

In Odyssey, goddesses help Odysseus by providing physical things that he needs to complete his journey, such as Calypso's cloth for sails, Circe's rations, and the favourable winds that both goddesses raise to help Odysseus on his way. As in the Iliad, goddesses lend encouragement to heroes. Here, in a more peaceful setting, the encouragement is of a more subtle nature than in the Iliad, such as Athene's encouragement of Telemachus before he approaches Nestor in the beginning of Book 3 [p50].

Though Athena is a female, she is not known for her beauty or stature, but for her wisdom. Whenever Athena creates her plan to rescue Odysseus, everyone is thoroughly surprised because no one had yet to think of one. The rest of the gods at the assembly had known that Odysseus had been trapped but were not sure of how to rescue him without facing Poseidon’s wrath. The gods did not expect a plan from Athena because she is a female, she is not supposed to be smart or have an opinion. Athena exceeds everyone’s expectations and uses her wisdom to rescue Odysseus. Additionally, Athena proves herself when she gives Odysseus the plan to disguise himself once he reaches Ithaca. Athena constantly saving Odysseus shows her critical thinking which she applies to show her wisdom. Most people do not expect that from her because she is a woman and she cannot be thinking superior to men, but Athena proves that wisdom is one of her prized traits. Because Athena is a female, most people would think of her as beautiful, but she proves her important trait to be wise.