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Women's Roles In The Iliad Essay

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Matilda Dao
English II 4th Period
Ms. Sterling
6 November 2015
The Role of Women in the Iliad Since the beginning of time, women have been considered inferior to men. In The Iliad, it seems that the society is dominated by men. Women make few appearances in the book, but are crucial to the plot. When referring to the aspect of war, it’s obvious that men are the ones that participate, with the exception of some female goddesses. Some are used mainly for a comparison to the male characters. Though the women play very small roles, they play a big part in humanizing the men affecting their actions.
Women are overshadowed throughout the course of The Iliad, but still …show more content…
Since Chryseis’s father demands her be sent back, Agamemnon wants to take Achilles’s war prize, Briseis. This causes Achilles to leave the battle against the Trojans. Agamemnon says, “I will take your beautiful Briseis, and I will come for her myself to your quarters - for your prize! to show you how much stronger I am than you are.” Achilles was infuriated, and he “was of 2 minds, whether he should draw his sword from thigh, to push through the crowd and strike down King Agamemnon, or whether he should calm his temper and keep himself in check.”Briseis and Chryseis were portrayed as war prizes with no control over their destinies. The women were used to show that the men were great warriors. Chryseis’s father and Agamemnon fought over her as if she was property. Her role is important because she is the main reason why Achilles and Agamemnon argue in the first place. If her father did not want her back, there would be no conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles. Briseis is the reason Achilles becomes so enraged throughout the book. Once Agamemnon took her for himself, Achilles became humiliated and had no war prize to show how much of a strong warrior he

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