Women In Homer's Iliad And The Woman In Genesis

Agency is a term describing one's ability to reason and to act freely. Back in the time of the Trojan War, women were not considered to possess full agency as Aristotle once illustrated in his Politics “The deliberative part of the soul is entirely missing from a slave, a woman has it but it lacks authority.” In Book 3 of the Iliad, Homer illustrated the enticement of Aphrodite luring Helen to the bed of Paris and Helen’s corresponding resistance. From Helen’s dispute with Aphrodite, we can see that women in the Homeric world attempted to achieve agency through defying their fate of being materialized as mere sex partners, but eventually all the attempts were conquered under the mental compulsion from gods.

In the text Mythology by Edith Hamilton, women are portrayed as being property and objects. During this time women were seen to be not as "good" as men. They saw perfection in relationships between men and young male adults as the best relationships to have. However, homosexuality was frowned upon. Men were considered knowledgeable and educated, but women were seen as a burden placed on man by the Gods. When it came to women nothing was valuable about them but their beauty. When a woman was beautiful she was wanted by many men: a man would do almost anything to have the possession of a beautiful woman and have her as his property. It was as if a woman’s role was to only be a man’s beautiful possession and to procreate the lineage of a

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?"

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.

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 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:

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

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.

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.

The role of women in ancient Greek life was insignificant compared to that of Greek men. A woman's job was to take care of the children and to cook and clean unless she had servants or slaves that would do it for her. Yet, in Greek mythology, women were often written as major characters. Well-known Greek plays contain many well-written, complex, female characters. Female individuals in Greek mythology were often seen as very powerful and fierce and were depicted by “her wits, her beauty, or her bad deeds.”

Since the beginning of time, women have always been looked down upon mentally. During the time period of The Odyssey and Lysistrata, women were known as less powerful gender. They have never had much say about what goes on around them. Some women were recognized as a sex symbol. In The Odyssey, some women were goddesses that just wanted sex and other women had to stay at home to help raise their kids and do all of the feminine work. Compared to The Odyssey, in Lysistrata, women denied sex against their men to get what they want. In addition, they did not have many political rights and a say so on what goes on in their country. In comparing both of these stories, women show similarities toward each other.

Unlike Thetis, Andromache’s values are clear. On the rampart in book six, she makes an impassioned plea to Hector for reason and peace. "Pity me, please!" she says, "Take your stand on the rampart here, before you orphan your son and make your wife a widow." (ll. 230-231) When her fears are realized and Hector is struck down by Achilles, she laments, "Hector, what help are you to [Astyanax], now you are dead?" (l. 571) This single statement lays bare the true folly of pride: How can one justify the preservation of honor at the cost of the destruction of all that one fought for in the first place?

Women have always been recognized for their strong influence on the actions of men. Because of his love for Delia, Samson told his secret of his power and ended up losing it. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to commit murder. More recently, Eleanor Roosevelt strongly influenced the decisions that Franklin D. Roosevelt made. Women of Homer's epic, The Iliad, were considered primary instigators of the Trojan war. The characteristics attributed to women in ancient Greek mythology may have been key to the outbreak of the war. But many ask why Homer would choose to reflect so deeply on the feminine roles of this war fought by men.