Roles Of Female Characters In Homer's Odyssey

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.

     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.

A common theme shown throughout the text is that “Beauty may be dangerous but intelligence is lethal.” The Odyssey by Homer reveals intelligence in women and how they hide behind their beauty to manipulate men and gain power. Women today are viewed as independent and able to fend for themselves. In ancient Greece, which The Odyssey was set in women had less influence in society. Homer describes how women have two sides to them: how they are viewed upon first sight and how their future actions make their view differ from first meeting the women. It doesn’t show that second real side of the women just how the characters would predict based off of original interactions. They are viewed and judged on how kind and beautiful they are; as well as their Xenia (the way they treat their guests). Their actions and mindset during their actions reveal secret intelligence and trickery making the representation of women powerful but hidden.

Because Ulysses angered the Gods, mainly Poseidon, he was told he would never return home to his loving wife Penelope and his homeland of Ithaca. Throughout the poem, many women play very important roles that make this story what it is, an epic journey. If even one of these women were not there it would have altered the whole story greatly. From start to finish Penelope is always on Ulysses mind and in his heart. Penelope is the loving and always faithful wife of Ulysses.

Women form an important part of the folk epic, written by Homer, The Odyssey. Within the story there are three basic types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the good hostess/wife. Each role adds a different element and is essential to the telling of the story.

In contrast to all of these women, the most significant type of woman in ancient Greek society that is portrayed in the poem is the good, intelligent and faithful woman. Among the mortal women in the poem, a few who represent this type of woman are Queen Arete, Nausicaa, and Penelope. Queen Arete and Nausicaa are very helpful to Odysseus when he arrives to their land. Nausicaa finds him and guides him to find his way to Queen Arete and King Alcinous. Once he finds his way there, Queen Arete is very hospitable, and she helps him find his way home to Ithaca. Penelope, however, is the most significant female character in The Odyssey. Through her actions, she proves to be a very wise and clever woman. She continuously stays faithful to her husband for twenty years of his absence. Over the whole period of Odysseus’ absence, she leads the suitors on by devising plans to keep them there, continues to receive gifts, and gains wealth while she waits for her husband’s return. Even after his return, she is wise enough to be cautious and test him to be sure that he is really her husband. After this all occurs, she becomes famous for her wisdom, intelligence, and cleverness. When Agamemnon is speaking to one of the suitors in the Land of the Dead, he says, “what a fine, faithful wife [Odysseus] won! What good sense resided in [his] Penelope—…The fame of her great virtue will never die. The immortal gods will lift a song for all mankind, a glorious song in

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.

In many rituals and myths males are depicted as more superior and strong. They were known for their strength and powers while women were considered sneaky and cunning temptresses that use their sexual appeal to confuse men. The attributes of women were justified as subordinated to men. In the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer explains these concepts in order to distinguish between the two genders roles. The Iliad focuses mostly on the barbarian archetype, its squeal, the Odyssey, is a poem of scheming. Throughout the Odyssey, many women are used as a symbol of temptation that tried to attract Odysseus. Cassandra is one of the goddesses that was raped, which angers the female goddesses and prevents Odysseus and his crew from safely going home. There were many women of temptations which posses a burden throughout the poem.

Kaylynn McGuire December 2, 2014 Dr. Elaine Phillips World Literature 1:00-2:25 Research Paper The Odyssey: What were the roles of women and how did they differ from Ancient Greece to Ancient Rome? In an amazingly well written epic poem such as The Odyssey, a tale of a male hero, how can one describe the life as short-coming in details as the life of women? Homer, in writing both The Iliad and The Odyssey, hinted at the lifestyle bore to women.

In “The Odyssey”, the protagonist Odysseus must face a series of obstacles throughout a 20 year journey back to his homeland of Ithaca. A surprising number of obstacles involve women in some way or form, either as a mortal or a goddess. The women present some form of danger Odysseys must work his way around. “The Odyssey” presents women as dangerous beings, an interesting contrast of the ancient greek view of women of their era. Through characters such as Helen, Calypso, Kirke or the sea monsters, we see how each provides some sort of danger that must be surpassed by the protagonist Odysseus and how “The Odyssey” portrayal of such women provide a commentary by Homer on the social view of Greek women of the era.

In Homer’s the Odyssey, females are displayed as meaningless and valueless to their society and were only seen as unnecessary stay at home housewife’s. The Odyssey illustrates an epic poem of a man named Odysseus and his crew sailing to the island Ithaca and come across dilemmas that lead them to other islands and other complications. Odysseus’s crew dies on their voyage home and while Odysseus survives the obstacles thrown at him, he comes home to suitors taking over his household and wife. Thinking Odysseus is dead the suitors try swooning over his wife to take his house and land. With the help of the goddess Athena and his son Telemachus, Odysseus successfully kills the suitors and retakes his place in his home and wife.

In everyone’s life, there is a woman who is very clever and smart. In The Odyssey, written by Homer, women are portrayed in many different ways. The prominent portrayal of women is that women can often be manipulative. Three women in The Odyssey that show this trait include Penelopeia, Calypso, and The Sirens.

In the Odyssey, there are a few main female characters, but who is the main and most involved? Athena is the main female character, and this is why. Although some might say Penelope is the main female character because of how she tricks the suitors and remains faithful to Odysseus for 20 years, Athena takes the cake when she uses her cunning, cleverness, and incredible ability to shapeshift so that she can help Odysseus and his family. Athena takes the form of Mentor to help Telemachus realize that he needs to stop acting like a child. She also takes the form of a man and defends Odysseus in his disguise. When Odysseus and Telemachus are killing the suitors, Athena is fighting right next to them. Therefore, because of these reasons, we can

In The Odyssey, Homer uses Athena to help Odysseus throughout his journey, thus making the story more interesting. Usually while helping him she is in a disguise as another human. An example would be when she takes the form of “a small girl child” (111). However, Odysseus knows it is her even if she is not in her

How much love, will you spend your whole life waiting. Life is short, if someone would spend and love the same person all the time. Then that person should be the luckiest and happiness in the world. One of theme of The Odyssey is love, Penelope waited for her husband Odyssey to come back home for twenty years. She loved her husband the whole time. The poet is trying to portray a female image. She not only looks beautiful, but also has a beautiful mind. She is smart, virtuous, and loyal. She is a woman with a Penelope faith. She never gave up and waited for her husband. Penelope was always looking forward to having her husband back home, for a whole family reunion. In this modern society, sub-division is a very common thing. This is a funny