...infidelity, as he is now sleeping with Calypso, behind Penelope’s back. When Odysseus and Calypso “long in each other’s arms” and “lost themselves in love”, it reveals the adultery and the disloyalty of Odysseus towards Penelope, as he entwines himself in an affair with Calypso. Another example would be Odysseus’s involvement with Circe, the nymph or Aeaea, whom Odysseus made love to. According to the text, it states: Straightaway she began to swear the oath that I required–never, she’d never do me harm–and when she’d finished, then, at last,...
Words: 1190 - Pages: 5
...Gender Inequality in The Odyssey In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, female inferiority and gender inequality are recurring motifs. As a woman during this ancient time period (approximately 700 to 750 BCE), it was common to be regarded as “a man’s property”, or in other words, to be held to a double standard. In his poem, Homer demonstrates the inferior role of women compared to men, through multiple female characters. One specific character that significantly captures the idea and role of female inferiority is Penelope, Odysseus’s wife. Through close analysis of Penelope’s character and her relationships with men, it is evident that women in The Odyssey are held to a double standard. Penelope’s relationship with the suitors reveals female...
Words: 1259 - Pages: 6
...Father-Son Relationship in The Odyssey The Odyssey introduces the theme of father-son relationships to exemplify how influential fathers were at the time. Fathers act as role models to their sons and can determine their actions even if there is a physical and psychological space and difference between them, like Odysseus and Telemachus. The reader is able to gain greater insight into the nature of ancient Greek society by analysing these father-son relationships for their complexities and circumstances of their familial ties. With each father-son relationship shown, Homer offers a unique perspective about the roles that were available to both father and son. Book 1-4 Throughout the Telemachia, we learn that Telemachus has been forced to grow up without the influence of his father and has been directly affected by Odysseus’ absence. When he confides in Athena under the guise of Mentor, he proclaims that he does not have solid proof that he is in fact Odysseus’s son and doubts that he is still alive. However, the dialogue between both Athena and Telemachus initiates Telemachus’ spiritual development. So, when the pre-economy of Odysseus and Telemachus re-uniting is fulfilled – Telemachus will be in the position to assist his father in killing the suitors and to restore the natural order in the Ithacan society. Telemachus first asserts his male privilege by ordering Penelope from the public rooms of the palace, indicating to the suitors of his intention to assert his claim...
Words: 997 - Pages: 4
...the Gender role in The Odyssey, specifically focusing on the women's role and how women's treatment by men can be indicated as sexist. They are usually identified by their looks and treated based on how their physical appearance is, and whether they have power over any men. She makes it clear that throughout Odysseus’ journey to the underworld, he spots and gets a glimpse of different variety of women. She says that throughout the Odyssey, they do not state anything about the women’s accomplishments in their lifetime, but only about their important son's, good looks and pleasingness, and their affairs with gods. She also talks about how women are known for their action and activity towards their sons and husbands, but never for the action and deeds of their own, or how they are, nor what accomplishments they did for themselves. Helene states that it seems in the book Odyssey, the only achievements women could achieve was being pretty and attractive to they eyes of the men. She proves throughout her paper that even Homer made it sound as...
Words: 1092 - Pages: 5
...Penelope, Odysseus’ wife in The Odyssey, stands out as a woman beyond that claim. In Odysseus’ 20 year absence, she reigns over Ithaca, creatively staves off suitors, and raises a son, Telemachus, all while being faithful and devoted to him. Many of these obligations are not unlike what modern women grapple with. However, what sets Penelope apart is that she is accomplishing them at a time when women were seen as property and unable to have reigning duties. "The hero is the man or woman who has been able to battle past his personal and local historical limitations” (Campbell). Because of Penelope’s success in the face of adversity, she is a true heroine. Although inundated with suitors, she maintains her heroic loyalty to Odysseus in his absence. Contrastingly, her cousin, Clytemnestra, is unfaithful to her husband, Agamemnon, while he is fighting the Trojan War alongside Odysseus. Penelope knows that it is not conventional or acceptable to remain unmarried if one’s husband is considered dead, but her deep love and devotion to Odysseus keeps her inventing new means to avoid marrying any of the suitors. Because she is born to a prince and holds the royalty title, and anyone she marries will become King of Ithaca. For that reason, Penelope does not have to fear the same fate as Andromache, Hector’s wife in The Iliad. Hector was of royal blood, but Andromache was not; therefore, upon his death, she became someone else’s concubine. Penelope’s reason for not marrying is not...
Words: 705 - Pages: 3
...Kirke is introduced to the audience as a seductress, and a witch. She tricks Odysseus’ men and turns them into swines or pigs using her magic, and now she has lured Odysseus into her arms. For example, in the citation above Kirke is using her role as a women to seduce Odysseus into her bed. But, Odysseus is clever. He makes a deal with her, the deal is that his men are turned back into men if he sleeps with her. Kirke is now one of the bad guys. It seems like Kirke’s only weapon against Odysseus is her beauty, and her magic. This shows that the role of women were very limited. The only power they had over the men were their bodies. It is absurd that women in the Odyssey exist to satisfy men’s needs. They are also there to give birth to men’s...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...The role of women in The Odyssey Women weren’t taken seriously for much in human history. There were things that men were allowed to do, but women wouldn’t even dare to think about. Basically, they were puppets used by men and those who were rich. They were treated as the weaker gender, the gender who was not capable of doing a man’s job. In resume, they would be used and had to follow orders. In The Odyssey, Odysseus was known as an epic hero, a brave, challenging, intelligent man. No one actually saw him as the unfaithful husband. In his journey back to his sweet home, he had made love to two women. Those two women were Calypso and Circe, both beautiful and evil. His little adventures were seeing as sacrifices to save his crew. “And now...
Words: 485 - Pages: 2
...Demonstrations of Family Loyalty In ancient Greek societies where a woman’s most important role is that of caring for the home and family, the extent of a woman’s loyalty to her family is worthy of exploration. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, whose long absence from home tests her loyalty to him. In comparison to Penelope, Antigone from Sophocles’ Antigone is tested in family loyalty when a law forbids her to bury her brother. Jocasta from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, similarly to Penelope, is tested when her husband’s innocence in a murder case is called into question. While Antigone displays more action in her demonstration of family loyalty, Penelope exhibits the ideal way of showing loyalty to one’s family as her willpower and careful strategies are more successful than that of Antigone and Jocasta. Women in most ancient Greek societies had few rights compared to men, and were submissive to their male superiors, but both Penelope and Antigone’s actions in defense of the loved ones contradict this custom. Penelope is more passive in her actions, telling her eager suitors, “‘Young men, my suitors… go slowly… until I can finish off this web… This is a shroud for old lord Laertes, for that day when the deadly fate… will take him down’”...
Words: 685 - Pages: 3
...Although “The Odyssey” by the Greek poet Homer is considerably an epic quest of a Odysseus’s lionhearted adventure, Penelope played an incredibly large role in Odysseus’ success demonstrated in her motherly ways, faith, and wit. Motherly figures are consistent throughout “The Odyssey,” and are essentially viewed as pitiful beings, full of melancholy, rather than true “supporters" of their sons and husbands in long periods of absence, due to military needs or personal quests. In some illustrations, mothers are depicted as weak without a steady male figure to guide them. However, this role is broken through the perceived character of Penelope. Due to the fact that Telemachos was incredibly young when Odysseus was drafted, he is doubtful that...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...The Odyssey Haleigh Pavy O’ Brother where art thou is a great representation of the Odyssey. It shows great representation of the characters and mood and also of each other. It turns a fiction epic to a real life story. The Odyssey is a epic about how this king named Odysseus went over seas to the Trojan War. He was there for ten years, on his journey back he got cursed by a cyclops, he got all his men killed and he got stuck on circes island for seven years. Then after twenty years of being gone he finally returns home to suitors, impersonators, and he returns disguised as a beggar. O’ Brother where art thou is about how three escaped prisoners go off to find “treasure”. Everette who represents Odysseus really just wants to get home with...
Words: 502 - Pages: 3
...A Women's Role in The Odyssey "So by day she'd weave at her great and growing web- / by night, by the light of the torches set beside her, / she would unravel all she'd done.", stated Antinous in book two on page 21 of The Odyssey. By saying this Homer, the author of this epic poem, shows that women used their wits to out smart men. Women mortal and immortal show great influence over the men in the poem. The women not only seduced and guided the men in The Odyssey they were also over looked and forgotten. The Odyssey is mainly describing a mans long journey home after the Trojan War, but women play an important role in the story. Different roles women present in The Odyssey can be explained by looking at Athena, Calypso, Circe, and Penelope. Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, used her knowledge and abilities to guide Odysseus. Throughout all of The Odyssey Athena majorly impacts Odysseus and his son, Telemachus. In the book one of The Odyssey, with Zeus' consent Athena disguised herself as Mentes, one of Odysseus' old friends and seeks out Telemachus....
Words: 957 - Pages: 4
...Looking back over the expansive history of humanity, have the roles of men and women evolved? Not really. Women still work and watch over the house and such while the men go out to be breadwinners, but there’s still the underlying sexism that women are the ones who should be doing only the real woman’s work, raising the family, maintaining the house, etc. Men are still free to do as thy wish while no one bats an eye, whereas women are scrutinized for their non-conforming actions. This pushes females to morph, pressed by their situation, into more complex characters. A perfect example would be “The Odyssey” by Greek poet Homer. It’s very much an epic tale of male oriented heroic quests when, however, women play an incredibly large role as well. This epic tale revolves around Ulysses’...
Words: 1286 - Pages: 6
...Although women in Greece were typically disrespected, Homer integrates examples of women’s strength by incorporating clever and intelligent women in The Odyssey. In ancient Greece, the common belief was that under the law, women were completely under control of their husbands. This is evident because women who were the only child of their fathers wouldn’t inherit his property; but rather her husband. As a result, this became a defining stereotype that ruled over women in Greece. Also,because the Greek law requires women to be ruled by their husbands, the idea that women were unable to make their own decisions and were denied the basic rights that all men in Greece were granted is portrayed. Contrasting this common belief of Greek values;however, Penelope is illustrated as a powerful women by using her wits to trick the suitors. In The Odyssey, Penelope was able to hold off the suitors during her husband’s absence by unraveling the shroud she is weaving for Odysseus. While she claims she would eventually marry one of the suitors once she finished her loom, she prevents this by, “weaving at her great web-by night...she’d unravel all she’d done”(Homer 96). Throughout Penelope’s actions, the strength of women in ancient Greece is revealed because of her role in the household during Odysseus’...
Words: 475 - Pages: 2
...ODYSSEY QUESTIONS Sailing from Troy : 1. Describe the events on Ismarus. Odysseus and his men escaped when the Cicones attacked them and when to war. 2. What were Odysseus’s feelings when he was held captive by Calypso and Circe? Odysseus feelings when he was held captive by Calypso and Circe was that he was longed to be home. 3. Why did Odysseus not give in to the charms of Circe? In the passage it says, “Where shall man find sweetness to surpass his own home and parents? In far lands he shall not..” 4. Explain why Odysseus and his men were defeated by the Cicones. Because they didn’t listen to Odysseus and get back on the ship, they were outnumbered by the Cicones. The LotusEaters : 5. Fully describe what keeps Odysseus from reaching home? Zeus roused a storm against the ships making Odysseus and his men land at the coast line were the LotusEaters live. 6. Why did Odysseus not allow his men to eat “the sweet lotus”? Describe what happens to those who do so. Odysseus did not allow his men to eat “the sweet lotus” because it made them want to stay forever. Also because they never cared to report or return. 7. Explain what this episode suggests about the kinds of problems Odysseus has with his men. Odysseus’ men doesn’t listen to him they have a hard time staying focused. The Cyclops : 8. Describe Polyphemus and his home. Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon. He lives in a cave on the island of the cyclops. Were Polyphemus lives...
Words: 1672 - Pages: 7
...so he was justified in slaying the evil suitors. As Odysseus said to Eurykleia after killing the suitors, “they were destroyed by the doom of the gods and their own hard actions” (332). There are many qualities a person must possess to be a Homeric hero. First, they must by vengeful. They must also be physically strong, and have a slightly overblown ego. However, they must also be wise, smart, and intelligent. Lastly, they are required to be very affluent. Odysseus fulfilled all of these qualities, in the book The Odyssey. Odysseus’ successful journey of returning home and getting revenge on the suitors that wronged him specifically bring out some of the qualities of the Homeric hero. Odysseus also showed vengeance when he had to fight off many an enemy to save those he was fighting with. Odysseus avenged the death of his crew with "taunts" and blinding action of wounding the Cyclops, which almost get him killed. This event seems to be a snapshot of Odysseus’ role as the Homeric hero; he gets revenge for his fallen comrades using his strength and wit, and he shows his large ego by taunting the Cyclops and almost pays the price for it. The relationship the storyteller has with...
Words: 491 - Pages: 2
