Angelica Kauffman painted prolifically and was one of the most famous female painters of not only her time but of all time, depending of course on who one asks. Her work in historical genre often depicted scenes or characters from Homer’s epics, the Iliad and The Odyssey. In her position in 18th century Europe, primarily in England, the context of this paper is to argue why she would use Homer’s epics and characters as those through which she painted images of the virtuous female. The intention of this essay is to argue that Kauffman used Homer’s epics as the literary foundation for her artwork on the virtuous woman because of the similarities between the war-torn Troy/Greece and the expectations both of and on women left behind.
Historical Background The way in which to identify why Kauffman would have chosen Homer’s works as an indicator of virtue in women is to connect it to the historical background of the works in Kauffman’s time. This involves a look at the violent revolution that occurred just a decade after these works by Kauffman were painted and the suggestion that for Kauffman, the paintings may have been something of a premonition based on the science and cultural acceptance of the woman’s body and of sexuality at that time. In short, Kauffman may have saw a need for virtue and used Homer’s classic but frightfully violent, conflict-driven epics as a means of displaying that need.
Kaufmann’s French Context The period during which Kauffman painted these works
In the first section of Odyssey, mortal women are presented to us as controlled by the stereotypes and expectations of the culture of the day, and it is only within that context that we can consider the examples Homer provides of women to be admired or despised. He provides us with clear contrasts, between Penelope and Eurycleia on the one hand, and Helen and Clytemnaestra on the other.
The book the Odyssey of Homer by Richmond Lattimore an epic, is embedded with Female gender roles as with male gender roles. The perception and expectation of how women are expected to be are prevalent within more than 300 pages. This book is evident to the gender roles that are the norm in our society. Female gender roles can be connected within the Odyssey of Homer and the media. Regardless of the Odyssey of Homer being published in 1967, these roles still remain strong today. It seems nothing has changed these past 40 years. Female gender roles can be connected within the Odyssey and the media.
Religion, literature, and art have historically illustrated a virtuous woman as a submissive, fragile being. Her moral purity is desirable compared to the contrasting dangerous depiction of a woman that deviates from this male contrived ideology. Sexually liberated and independent characteristics in a female figure are often accompanied by malicious and cunning intentions. When femininity is used as a seductive tool of destruction, the concept of the femme fatale, or fatal woman, is introduced. Her attraction is irresistibly detrimental. Written works often utilize this archetype as a literary device to symbolize a threatening temptation. This concept is represented in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Odyssey. Both exploit luring women
INTRO: Despite difference of around 400 years between them Greek poet Homer and tragedian playwright Euripides explore many of the same themes in their works the Odyssey and Trojan Women (written by each respectively). Both works are inspired by the events of 12th Century BCE Trojan War that Homer previously explored in the Iliad. The two examine the worth of cunning over brute strength, the dangers of temptation and the role of women in their respective time periods. Despite having extremely similar central ideas, the techniques employed by each are markedly different. These differences arise as the result of changes in socio-historical contexts and format of each work’s presentation, for example the critical shift of the 5th century which saw the rise of sophistry and a certain scepticism in regard to Athenian leadership and the very existence of the gods.
For the Greeks, Homer's Odyssey was much more than just an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and men, it served as cultural paradigm from which every important role and relationship could be defined. This book, much more so than its counter part The Iliad, gives an eclectic view of the Achean's peacetime civilization. Through Odyssey, we gain an understanding of what is proper or improper in relationships between father and son, god and mortal, servant and master, guest and host, and--importantly--man and woman. Women play a vital role in the movement of this narrative. Unlike in The Iliad, where they are chiefly prizes to be won, bereft of identity, the women of Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and
Many people regard Homer’s epics as war stories—stories about men; those people often overlook the important roles that women play in the Odyssey. While there are not many female characters in the Odyssey, the few that there are, play pivotal roles in the story and one can gain a lot of insight by analyzing how those women are portrayed. Homer portrays the females in contradictory ways: the characters of Athena and Eurykleia are given strong, admirable roles while Melantho, the Sirens and Circe are depicted in a much more negative way. Penelope—the central female character—is given both negative and positive attributes.
Don’t you love the idea that women are often portrayed as objects of sexual desire? In The Odyssey, written by Homer, men were put on a pedestal and were seen as the stronger gender. In the Ancient Greek society, once a woman became married, they would lose the little freedom they had and is under the control of their husband. The concept of gender roles was determined by the prevailing cultural norms. In addition, the way women are treated by men has an impact on the audience's view of women and men. Furthermore, the portrayal of women in The Odyssey not only shows how women are treated as an object in the culture of Ancient Greece, but it also reveals how the audience values women in the Greek Culture.
After reading the ancient Greek stories entitled The Iliad and Medea, authored by Homer and Euripides, respectively, I realized a startling and disturbing truth involving society during ancient Greek times. It seems as though no matter how similar the circumstances, or how similar the action undertaken and the reason for undertaking such an action, women in ancient Greek society were never, ever, regarded as being heroic. While a man who chose to commit selfishly rageful atrocities during this period was considered admirable, honorable, and was revered by others, the same truth did not apply to women, even if they were essentially forced into a similar situation. This conclusion was reached after an in-depth comparison of the
Brains over brawn, who will win this battle?Homer's tale of Odysseus' adventures in “The Odyssey” show that being intelligent and cunning can be far better than having physical strength. Being physically strong certainly has its advantages, but not in all circumstances. Strength in intelligence shows new meaning of strength. Odysseus is amused with himself when he defeats Polyphemus. His great skills with a bow outweigh the others abilities. Knowledge of the placement of his bed win his beloveds heart.
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,
My parents enrolled me into Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in 2014 creating a pivotal moment in my life. Discovering that the school has a policy about service hours made me anxious, since I am quiet and a reserved individual. At that moment, I realized that my journey was not just making respectful grades. It turned into finding myself through faith. Nonetheless, I decided to be open-minded, and see how my journey evolves.
The death penalty has been an issue of controversy, causing many states in America to repeal it and call it inhumane. However, the truth is that many citizens are strongly divided on the issue and have strong opinions on whether the death penalty should indeed be kept and reinforced or whether it should just be abolished altogether. When analyzing this issue from a sociological perspective, conflict theory is best used as an argument against the death penalty. This sociological conflict theory is heavily tied in with class conflict a conflict that outlines how socioeconomic factors affect a group of disadvantaged people more so than those that are better off financially. It is because of the disproportionate number of lower class minorities that end up on death row that makes the death penalty an inhumane and cruel way of punishing individuals for crimes that they have committed.
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?"
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.
So it was there sitting around this long medieval table. Macbeth ", hallucination." Lady Macbeth, trying to hide her relationship with this whole issue. I, holding him together, but dying almost on hold, enjoying the wine with my cup, shows the situation in a nutshell.