Homer's Treatment Of Women In The Iliad

Throughout the Iliad, women are portrayed as objects of desire to men—both mortals and gods. At the beginning of the poem, the author, Homer, reveals multiple conflicts over women. The main struggle is over the beautiful Helen of Troy, who will be given to either the Greeks on the Trojans, depending on who wins the war. In this way, women are treated like objects that can be traded, or property that either side must own. Women are often depicted as longing wives or mothers who sit on the sidelines as they watch their honorable husbands fight to their death over another woman. Despite the fact that their role in direct combat is rather passive and nonexistent, women in the Iliad have a strong presence in the behind the scenes direction of the

Homer describes that when [Zeus] saw her, lust enveloped him” (274). Before Hera has even spoken a word to Zeus, his mind is already off the war and controlling the gods, and his attention is turned toward Hera. When Zeus asks what Hera is doing, she lies, telling him that she is “off to visit the ends of the earth And Father Ocean and Mother Tethys,” which Zeus falls for, and even brushes away the comment because he wants to whisk her away so they can “get in bad…and make love.” Zeus’ language toward Hera highlights the fact that he is mesmerized by her beauty and presence, and he explains that he has “never loved anyone more than he loves [her].” Meanwhile, Hera has “every intention to deceive,” and plays into Zeus’ desires while Sleep casts his spell. When Zeus falls asleep, he goes to Poseidon to tell him to help the Greeks while Zeus is sleeping. By tricking Zeus into manipulation, Hera is able to change the direction of the war. By the end of book 14, the greeks have pulled ahead of the Trojans, and the war favors the Greeks. When Zeus wakes up, he is enraged at Hera; a complete change in attitude from his previous attempts at seducing her. This change in attitude is also similar to the one experienced by Sleep when he heard of the Graces. Realizing that he was unable to monitor part of the war, and that he fell for Hera’s ploy, Zeus calls Hera a “scheming bitch”

Despite the fact that Zeus is supposed to be the highest god, and has a lot of control over that realm, it is surprising that he fell subject to someone else’s trickery, especially a woman’s. Throughout the poem, women are often watching the war from afar. There role in the war in negligible when looking at surface level events. However, Hera’s deception if the mightiest god in contrast to women’s passive role in the war reveals that women do have a role in the war, and play a role in many plot changing scenes. Additionally, the fact that Sleep was able to even make Zeus sleep, which seems like such a mortal action, is impressive. Even Achilles did not want to feast or sleep when he was mourning Patroclus’ death. However, Sleep was able to cast a spell on Zeus, making his power disappear for a while. Additionally, after Zeus wakes up enraged and Hera visits the other gods, Themis explains that all of the gods try to get to Zeus, but he “doesn’t even notice” probably because he's a man, and only shows weakness to women. Women certainly had the power to change the direction of the plot, while possibly not having the option to change the fate of the characters. In this way, Hera also humanizes Zeus. While he is supposed to be this all powerful god who has ultimate control, the fact that she got sleep to perform actions on Zeus, and very human actions shows that she brings him from an immortal status to