Roles Of Women In The Odyssey

Odysseus the great leader and crew mate is not such a good person because he is constantly cheating on his wife penelope. Odysseus is not a good person because he rapes and sleeps with alot of different girls. In the book The Odyssey Odysseus was not loyal to penelopy because he cheated on penelopy with a woman from circe, and calypso.

Although The Odyssey is a poem about Odysseus’ trek home after The Trojan War, gender roles are an important part of the story and female archetypes that are still used today. The five main female characters who fit into these archetypes are Penelope, Athena, Calypso, Scylla, and Charybdis. Each of these women fit into the archetypes of the maiden, the temptress, the monster or villian, and the nurturer. Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that “the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject” which seemed to reflect the Greek society’s thoughts at the time. In ancient Greece, women had little to no rights and lived in a patriarchal society.

Even Kirke and Kalypso help Odysseus tremendously with information and supplies. It is the Role of the woman goddess and not the male god to pity and proffer help to the suffering mortal.

Penelope, Lysistrata, and Medea were clever female characters. Penelope believes that the shroud is unnecessary because her husband will return to her. Due to her station in society, however, she can't simply refuse to remarry. By delaying her suitors until Odysseus' return, she shows some amount of cleverness.

It is no hoax that women have always been treated as the lesser gender, the gender that is not as strong or not able to do all of the astonishing things that men are capable of. The Odyssey is no exception to this age old sexism. Throughout The Odyssey, women are seen as terrible creatures that cheat and lie, whom men have no sense of trust or respect, and are accused of manipulating those around them. During both the time of The Odyssey and modern civilization men have had most of the power overall, but as it shows through many situations in The Odyssey women still, through their own deceptive ways, are able to gain what little power they can over the men in charge and create their own power. Throughout the years, women have learned

The cultural role of women in the Odyssey In Homer’s Odyssey the cultural relevance of a preferred woman’s role in society generally stands out in the roles of the female characters of Athena and Penelope simultaneously rejecting the negatively viewed characteristics of Calypso and Circe. The entire structure of Ancient Greek culture boasts its men in more superior roles than that of women. Greek society was largely built upon an idea that good women were only around to faithfully serve and support their husband and that it was very important not to stray from those essential traits. Athena is a very involved character from the beginning of the book when she wants to help Odysseus get back home to Ithaca. However, as fate would put it

Have you ever noticed how women are depicted in media, such as in The Odyssey? The Odyssey is a story that revolves around the main character Odysseus and how he went to war, though it is mainly about his 20 year journey back home. Also, he was helped and tested by many people, gods, and monsters . This includes gods like Athena that helped him, or tempted by people like the witch Circe, and monsters like the sirens. In The Odyssey the role of women is complicated; they are depicted as either loyal, and wise or malicious, manipulative, Seductresses.

Throughout The Odyssey, there are many characters. Some human, some gods, and some gods, and some monsters. In the story, I feel women are portrayed as very strong, independent, capable human beings. I feel they can take care of themselves and don’t need anybody else. Examples of that would be when Penelope waited for Odysseus for 15+ years.

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

Some say in a way Odysseus is a hero, Because he stays faithful to his wife Penelope and children, he also tries to keep them safe. Odysseus has been travelling away from home to complete his missions and journies for almost twenty years, He keeps himself safe by thinking about wife and children at home waiting for him to reach home. Odysseus has the chance to live forever and live an eternal life and runs into it

Where women in the Odyssey treated all that fair? Throughout the book there have been many occurrences of women. I believe that the women in the Odyssey were seen as objects rather than people. Some examples of this are Helen of Troy and Penelope, Odysseus's wife.

She turned away many suitors while Odysseus was away showing she has the traits of loyalty and strength. She even

Penelope: In the opening chapters of The Odyssey Penelope is angry, frustrated, and helpless. She misses her husband, Odysseus. She worries about the safety of her son, Telemakhos. Her house is overrun with arrogant men who are making love to her servants and eating her out of house and home, all the while saying that they are courting her. She doesn't want to marry any of them, and their rude behavior can hardly be called proper courtship. She has wealth and position; she has beauty and intelligence; most of all she has loyalty to her husband. But against this corrupt horde who gather in her courtyard shooting dice, throwing the discus, killing her husband's cattle for their feasts, and drinking his wine, she is powerless.

Athena and Leucothea, two of the most influential women in the story, play a prominent role in the story, for they help Odysseus complete his journey! Athena and Leucothea work together to save Oddyseus’s life when he is drowning out at sea. Odysseus had just gotten off the island of Calypso and was on his way home when Poseidon, the God of the sea created a massive storm and almost killed Odysseus. Poseidon was furious with Odysseus because he had blinded his son Polyphemus. Luckily, a mortal named Leucothea comes to his rescue. As Odysseus is drowning, Leucothea yells over the storm, “‘Strip off those clothes and leave your craft for the winds to hurl, and swim for it now, you must, strike out with your arms for landfall there, Phaeacian land where destined safety waits. Here, take this scarf, tie it around your waist—it is immortal.’” (Book #5) Athena then plays a role by helping him get through the storm to the land safely. If it weren’t for these two powerful and wise women, nobody would have heard the story of Odysseus and his completion of

The second woman who was responsible for problems that Odysseus faced was Circe. Firstly she turned all but one of Odysseus’ men into pigs and delayed Odysseus’ progress. “Now they had pig’s heads and bristles and they grunted like pigs; but their minds were as human as they had been before,” (Page 131) this quote depicts Circe’s cruelness towards Odysseus’ men. Secondly Circe again stalls Odysseus from completing his journey back to Ithaca. “You are worn out and dispirited, always brooding on the hardships of your travels. Your sufferings have been so continuous that you have lost all pleasure in living.” (Page 136) This quote shows how Circe convinced Odysseus and his men to spend more time on the island. Thirdly Circe made Odysseus and his men take a different route, via the prophet Teiresias, rather than going straight back to Ithaca. “But Circe has marked out a very different route- to the Halls of Hades and the dreaded Persephone.” (Page 139) This makes the rest of Odysseus’ crew very upset. “When I told them they were heart-broken. They sat down where they were and tore their hair out.” (Page 139)