Gender Roles In The Odyssey

The Odyssey's Portrayal of Gender Inequality

This essay will establish that the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer depicts the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, in which women did not have nearly as much importance or influence as men. The epic poem, The Odyssey is mainly about the journey of Odysseus trying to get home after the Trojan War. Even though the poem is centered around Odysseus, a man, there are various different women who play very important roles in the poem. However, the female characters are not displayed the way the male characters are. The male characters are often shown as this person who has their individual identity and personality that defines them. The women, unfortunately, are portrayed as secondary characters who

However, one might argue that the goddess of wisdom Athena and how she is depicted in the poem goes against this trend. In The Odyssey, she is a powerful figure who helps Telemachus and guides Odysseus throughout his journey. That is her whole purpose in the poem and it somewhat agrees with the claim of women being characterized by their relationship with the male character. However, this claim can not be fully applied for Athena because throughout the poem, Athena is displayed as a powerful goddess and there are no instances in the poem where she steps down from that position. It is very clear that she has power and authority over Odysseus and Telemachus as she is the one advising them and they are the one listening to her. Moreover, she does not fall for a man and is overshadowed by them, as the other female characters are. Thus, one might claim that Athena and how she is depicted contradicts the claim of women gender inequality in ancient Greece and The Odyssey. While from surface level this argument might seem reasonable and true, if one reads and looks at the poem in depth they can find the reasons why it is not. In The Odyssey whenever Athena goes to help Odysseus and Telemachus she always disguises herself as someone else. At the beginning, “She was disguised as a friend, leader of the Taphians, Mentes” (Book 1, 105) when she first appeared to help Telemachus. However, that was not the only disguise that she took. One of the other important disguises she took was she “came to him likening herself to Mentor in voice and appearance” (Book 2, 267-268) . The disguises of Mentor and Mentes were the most important disguises Athena took to advise and help Telemachus. If one takes a closer look at the two most important disguises we can recognize that both of them are male disguises. There are some woman disguises that Athene