Odyssey Role Of Penelope Essay

Professor Esposito takes an interesting and rather unexpected perspective when analyzing The Odyssey. In his lecture, he argues that Odysseus, although the protagonist, isn’t the real hero of the story. Instead, it is Penelope, his wife, that is the real hero who essentially drives the entire narrative. When first reading through The Odyssey, Penelope’s role in the story seemed very unimportant. However, as I look back, it is clear that she is the unsuspected protagonist of the story. Professor Esposito

Odysseus; Culture of the Ancient Greeks Homers epic poem, The Odyssey, tells the tale of the Greek hero, Odysseus’s ten-year struggle to reach home after the Trojan war. While this poem mentions many mythological themes, Homer includes factual information about ancient Greeks and their way of life. He details their culture though the plot and characters of the story, using his skill as a poet to inform readers about the achievements, values and culture of the Greeks. Religion, xenia and loyalty

most farfetched idea in the Odyssey are the strong and independent females presented. These women defied the gender norms of their time, by being presented and strong and independent spirits who challenge a patriarchal society. These roles are then divided even further between mortal women and goddesses, who differ in their influence to the story and their expected behavior. Although, these heroines play a large role in the story’s narrative, the women in the Odyssey are confined to limited plot

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

Penelope of the Odyssey and Alcestis of Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females    Although there is some disagreement concerning the Greek’s definition of the ideal female, there is little disagreement that two women represented this Greek ideal. The character of Penelope of Homer's Odyssey 1 and Alcestis of Euripides' Alcestis 2, came to represent the same ideal of female excellence. The Greeks referred to this ideal female as a sophron woman. The qualities possessed by a sophron woman are tangible;

Role of Men and Women in a Patriarchal Society Patriarchy has been evident throughout history and it is no wonder that stories in which a male protagonist or men overall would be seen and treated differently for their actions, especially towards women and multiple lovers, and women would be more criticized for the same actions done by a man. The Odyssey by Homer, an ancient Greek author best known for writing the Iliad and the Odyssey, is a good example of the difference on roles of men and women

In the well-known epic The Odyssey we follow the ancient hero Odysseus as his faithful wife Penelope waits for his return to Ithaca. From the poem we know that Penelope looked after their home and weeps for the day her husband to return alive and no longer be tempted by other suitors to contemplate infidelity with her marriage. This is all we know about Penelope during the epic since the story is more focused on Odysseus being the hero. Only recently e have asked the idea of telling the poem by the

Demeter and Penelope. Although placed in different stories like The Odyssey and Homer’s Hymn to Demeter, both characters share qualities that makes them similar to one another. Furthermore, both powerful female characters experience an impactful loss that turns their life upside down. Demeter, a goddess of fertility, must struggle as she goes in the search for her daughter Persephone as she has been kidnapped by the God Hades and taken to the Underworld. In the other side of the coin lies Penelope, who

Humanist and feminist, Margaret Atwood retells the famous myth, The Odyssey, in Penelopiad. Atwood creates voices for the women who did not have an important role in Homer’s epic poems. The writer also creates two levels of myths: “the Homeric myth of ‘faithful Penelope’ and cultural myths about women as either submissive and domestic, or as duplicitous schemers” (9 Homwells). In Penelopiad, Penelope retells the story in her point of view and although she is the main narrator, the twelve maids often

into temptation? Is faithfulness an important value in your life? Many moral decisions in today and past cultures’ are debatable and unfavorable for many. The Odyssey, by Homer, makes readers question the extent of their own resistance to temptation and faithfulness to others. In the novel The Odyssey, temptation played a substantial role in the decision making of many characters. First, Odysseus’ crew gave in to curiosity and temptation many times. Odysseus tells how, “Temptation had its way with