Odyssey Role Of Penelope Essay

Penelope may not have as exciting of a life as some of the other characters in Homer’s The Odyssey, but she makes up for it by being very clever, which makes her a good match for her husband, Odysseus. Penelope plays a very important role in Odysseus’s journey home, in fact, she is the main reason for his return to Ithaca. When the suitors begin invading her house and asking, then demanding, her hand in marriage, Penelope knows she must handle them herself. Being a woman in ancient Greece, she does

hough women play a central role in The Odyssey written by famous author Homer the portrayal and characterization of said women highlights the negative portrayal of women at the time as well as shows double standards that still plague our society today. All of the women are characterized with few traits, most of which only describe their looks, while the reader is constantly reminded of all of Odysseus good traits, most of which have nothing to do with his looks. Even Penelope, who is portrayed as the

of the Odyssey delineates a journey as both a transformative and life-changing experience that does not necessitate physical travel. Such characters as Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope, and Athena have undergone physical, imaginative, spiritual, and emotional travel, which has had a telling influence on their lives. The journeys have played a critical role in shaping, transforming, and developing the characters. This paper will detail the journeys undertaken by various characters in the Odyssey. Odysseus

In The Odyssey, women play many different roles. The goddesses are very powerful and controlling, while most mortal women are subservient and seen as inferior to men. However, there are a few key women in The Odyssey who prove to be both intelligent and strong, unlike their stereotypes. Athena is a goddess in The Odyssey. She is very powerful and makes crucial decisions throughout the book. Athena controls many variables in Odysseus’s life, such as changing the way he looks to help him get through

living within the society 's norms fulfilling mostly guided roles like housework. While some works of the time presented women as mere housewives, others often put them in the position of political leaders, heroines, and murderers. The women that receive major roles in the stories such as Penelope in Homer 's The Odyssey, Lysistrata in Aristophanes ' Lysistrata, and Clytemnestra in Aeschylus ' Agamemnon are major characters with important roles, thus breaking the traditions of normal culture during this

aThe Odyssey: The Limited Role of Women The Odyssey, by Home, recounts Odyseseus’ long journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. While Odysseus and his men are cast from island to island, his wife and son, Penelope and Telemechus, must deal with suitors overrunning the palace in Ithica. Ancient Greece was an entirely patriarchal society, where a woman’s value was based only on her looks and fertility. All throughout the story, Homer perpetuates the stereotypes that defined a woman in that

novel ‘The Odyssey’ . In an interview, Atwood explained her beliefs on the gender roles surround The Odyssey thus incorporating this as well as other materials into ‘The Penelopiad’ by stating: “There is an argument that has been made quite thoroughly that The Iliad and The Odyssey were written by two different people, and that the person who wrote The Odyssey was a woman.’ Atwood then carries on to explain her argument stating how several people have made the argument of how ‘The Odyssey’ was written

In Homer's the Odyssey and subsequent adaptations, Odysseus had gone to fight the Trojans, and he had stayed away from his hometown Ithaca, while his wife Penelope and their son Telemachus have to deal with various suitors try to get her hand in marriage. However, Penelope manages to avoid the suitors hoping that her heroic husband would return, and Odysseus is a cunning man who managed to return to Ithaca even after being captured. Athena the protecting goddess facilitates Odysseus’s plan to

In looking at Odysseus’s society in Homer’s The Odyssey, it is hard to believe there are still similarities in gender roles between then and now. With 2016 being an election year, now more than ever, gender roles are prevalent in today’s society. Some people believe, that the one of the major reasons Hillary Clinton is unfit to be President, is that she is a women. Only 22 women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Modern society claims we have made major strides in women’s rights and gender equality

Throughout the Odyssey women play a substantial role in the epic poem; in the story women play both positive and negative roles, sometimes a little of both, some the women in the book also play a role of seductresses. Since the epic poem is mainly about Odysseus’s ten year journey home to Ithaca and his wife and the obstacles he encounters and has to overcome on the way many of those involving women, women that are positive in the Odyssey are Penelope, Athena, Nausicaa and Helen who help Odysseus