Women In The Iliad

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.

Helen displays her flirtatious attitude to Hector, however it could also be inferred that she is unsatisfied with Paris and Menelaus. During her argument with Aphrodite, she claims she does not want to be looked at poorly by the Trojans for serving Paris is bed. This shows a sudden desire to be socially accepted and looked beyond just her beauty or as a nuisance by the Trojans.

Helen and Aphrodite fight about Paris, how Helen feels disgraced and shamed to be seen around him. She claims the women would scorn her for sleeping with someone as pathetic as Paris, as he does not stand and fight and he is seen as the lesser prince if considered a prince at all. Aphrodite, who cherishes and favors Paris, claims he is honorable and manly, but only because he chose her as the most beautiful. Nonetheless, when it came down to it, Aphrodite would not leave Olympia to be with Paris either, he was simply not worth it. Through the rest of The Iliad, many characters point out how selfish and unmanly/unhonorable Paris is, and how he should be more like Hector and stand and fight.

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.

Throughout Western thought to 1600, women are portrayed as second-class citizens, their roles in society were inferior to those of the dominant groups in society. Women during this time filled traditional roles of caretaking, birthing and manual labor. They were tools used in society in the form of property or as a source for bearing children, preferably boys. Women were compared to other luxurious items such as gold, and horses and often praised for their beauty. Although many texts portray women in these subordinate roles, some were referred by name but often times not. Overall women weren’t given access to many positions or resources in society due to the way they were perceived by those dominant in society.

Throughout this time, they were meant to be loyal to their husbands, and could not speak up and defend themselves. This expectations are illustrated at many points in the story. For instance, when there were suitors waiting at Odysseus’ palace to marry Penelope, she waited for Telemachus to make them leave. She went downstairs to tell the bard to sing a different song, and Telemachus said “Mother, why begrudge our singer/…?/ .../ You should go back upstairs and take care of your work,/ Spinning and weaving.../ Speaking is for men,” (1.366-378). These words show many stereotypes women were tied to, such as not being able to fight for themselves, and not being able to do whatever the. Another representation of the lack of power of the females was exposed in the underworld. While odysseus was talking with the spirits, he had the opportunity to talk with Agamemnon, who has had been assassinated by his wife. Agamemnon explains “As I lay dying with a sword on my chest,/...my wife, turned her back on me,/...Nothing/ Is more grim or more shameless than a woman/ Who sets her mind on such an speakable act/ As killing her own husband” (11.341-346). She was insulted because she did not want to have any type of relationship with her husband, and this shows how tied they were to the idea of loyalty. She was not being shamed because she killed a person, since many men in the story killed sons and daughters and fathers

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

The women in Homer’s Iliad and the women in Genesis both exhibit the accepted societal values in a woman through their duties as wives, which typically consists of obedience and the ability to sustain their husband’s lineage. Rebekah and Andromache both assume their roles as wives, but sometimes act in ways outside of what was considered normal in their society. Though both Rebekah and Andromache maintain the classic role of a wife, they occasionally contradict the expectations of how a woman should behave by making decisions traditionally made by men. Through revolutionary behaviors demonstrated by both women, they grant themselves more authority and power in decision-making, which in turn affects the fate of each woman’s family. Both

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 Greek literature has demoralized them and showing them in a maligned light. The women are portrayed as frail, cruel, insensitive, or as seductresses. These characteristics have been integrated into today’s society and [have] built the standards and defined the moral outlook of women. However, in Greek mythology, powerful and strong women are not as well celebrated, such as Athena. Homer’s The Odyssey construes the positive and negative role of women through the epic poem. The women in the poem are depicted through the contrasting actions of Penelope and the maids, in addition with the opposite personalities between the goddess Athena and the nymph Calypso.

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.

Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression,

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.