A Plotting Princess: Female Roles in The Odyssey and Antigonê Karen Rustad The fairy tale Snow White is a story about two women. One, the evil stepmother, schemes against her stepdaughter in order to assuage her envy and increase her power. She, of course, is thwarted by the end of the story. The other, Snow White, is a pure, innocent damsel entirely devoid of will. Nevertheless, by the end her prince saves her and she lives happily ever after. While Snow White is a European fairy tale, its
Female characters and their Importance In a time period where men dominated the social and economical roles of society, some Important female characters rose to power. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, women played very important roles in society showing how to come to power and influence the rest of their culture. Penelope, Athena, and Circe all used specific strategies for success. The power they exerted shocked the people not only of Ithaca but all over the world. To begin, in the book The Odyssey
The epic poem 'The odyssey' was recorded in the 8th century BCE or c.750 BCE which was during the Homeric time period. The Odyssey began 10 years after the Trojan war ended which is during the Mycenaean time period. Homers telling of the odyssey has the main audience of males that lived in this time period as females and males were not equal in Homeric society. Male characters were more important and written with more description than the female characters which was shown throughout the epic poem
The Odyssey features several female characters of importance. Whether their role was to assist Odysseus or act as an antagonist, they are still powerful and interesting characters in their own right. Odysseus needed the assistance or incentive that many of them provided, and the challenges the adversaries provided helped strengthen his character. Early in The Odyssey Part 1, one of the mentioned antagonists is Calypso. Calypso was a powerful nymph Odysseus previously faced in an earlier adventure
not normally portrayed in ancient Greece. Few writings, such as The Odyssey by Homer, help illustrate women as almost equals to men due to their variety of personalities, wisdom and intelligence. For example, in The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus encounters numerous of female characters throughout his journey that impacts his journey back to Ithaca and ultimately led to his arrival of Ithaca after twenty years of being away. These female characters are portrayed with diverse characteristics such as being
Female characters from various stories play a significant role in shaping its outcome. In the epic poem, The Illiad by Homer, women stir up further violence and conflict, the same thing they seem to be condemning. The epic poem takes place in the ninth year of a brutal war between the Archaens and the Trojans. The only way either side can make maximum further advancements is through the assistance of divine power. Gods and goddesses govern the fate of the battle, as their immortality and divine powers
Given the number of prominent, powerful, female characters, Homer portrays women as empowering because they give demands or make someone do something with the help of their powers. Homer is trying to show that women do have the potential to accomplish many things on their own. In all honesty, you will come across things were you have to make tough decisions or either get surprised. Further, you just have to believe and take things one step at a time. This came across Penelope, she had
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. One of the female characters in “Odyssey” is Athena. Athena is the daughter
The Deceptive Females of Homer's Odyssey Homer's Odyssey is probably the most famous and well-known epic of all time. This tale relates the adventures of the archetypal hero, Odysseus. Odysseus' long journey home takes him to many different places where he encounters many different monsters and creatures, but there are certain recurrent elements throughout. The most common themes in the Odyssey are forgetfulness, willingness to risk pain for pleasure, and sexual temptation.
workplaces everywhere. Certainly, Homer’s Odyssey cannot be compared to modern times as a feminist piece, it is usually portrayed as the exact opposite. In fact, Homer shows that women are responsible for many problems that arise in the epic. Yet, despite this there are still many powerful female characters. Additionally, most female characters play large roles. This differs greatly from Homeric times, in which women would not have as much power as female characters in the epic possess. Ordinarily