The Status Of Women In Homer's The Odyssey

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.

The cultural role of women in the Odyssey In Homer’s Odyssey the cultural relevance of a preferred woman’s role in society generally stands out in the roles of the female characters of Athena and Penelope simultaneously rejecting the negatively viewed characteristics of Calypso and Circe. The entire structure of Ancient Greek culture boasts its men in more superior roles than that of women. Greek society was largely built upon an idea that good women were only around to faithfully serve and support their husband and that it was very important not to stray from those essential traits. Athena is a very involved character from the beginning of the book when she wants to help Odysseus get back home to Ithaca. However, as fate would put it

      Penelope and Helen are the real human women who can steal men's hearts with their own feminine ways and they never let their man go.  Helen stole the heart of Paris and later married Menelaus-the love that Paris had for Helen began the long Trojan War.  Even with her shaded past, Helen is able to live her life as a proper adjusted middle-class matron.  Penelope and Odysseus were only together for a few years before he was sent off to war and, while he was gone for over twenty years, his love for her lasted.  Penelope is the symbol of marital fidelity, of trust, honor  and devotion.

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.

In Homer’s The Odyssey female characters have a surprising amount of power over men. In Ancient Grecian times women were usually thought of a being less than men, only performing domestic tasks and serving them. In contrast, The Odyssey portrays many females as strong and having a lot of power over men. One specific example is the witch, Kirke. She exerts her power by tricking Odysseus’s men, making choices for herself, and finally helping Odysseus get to Ithaca in the end. In her actions we can learn that through womanhood there are powers that are even stronger than that of being a man.

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?"

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

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

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 form an important part of the folk epic, written by Homer, The Odyssey. Within the story there are three basic types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the good hostess/wife. Each role adds a different element and is essential to the telling of the story.

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

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.

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.