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Phoenician Women In The Odyssey

1025 Words5 Pages

Transitioning from the archaic period to the classical period there is a shift from the gods being the main characters of the plays, to being the overseeing forces that make events happen in humans lives. In Hippolytus and The Women of Trachis, Aphrodite and Zeus are seen as responsible for making sure humans meet their fate. Phoenician Women shows this concept in its purest form by solely having human characters and the gods being only conceptual. The characters in tragedies make sense of the terrible things that happen to them through the belief that the gods made it destined to happen. Without this rational, humans would have no way to justify such tragic events. For this reason, there was a necessary shift from the way gods were portrayed …show more content…

In the Homeric hymns, Aphrodite is portrayed as more human like because even she is overcome with the sickness of love (Aphrodite 45-50). However, in Hippolytus a very different image of her is shown, one of her being completely in control of what is happening. Aphrodite’s power over love is also referenced in Women of Trachis and Medea. In both situations it is stated that those who fall under the power of Aphrodite, can not be held accountable. Therefore, there is this shift from her being the character that acts foolishly because of love, to being the one controlling the story. In this way, Greeks can view Aphrodite as a deliverer of fate and can continue to remove the blame from their foolish love filled actions and put it on …show more content…

Throughout the play, Zeus is referred to as if he is controlling everything that is happening. Such as when Epode assures Dienara about Heracles or when Dienera thanks Zeus for good news of Hercules (Women of Trachis 140, 200). Never once does Zeus appear in the actual scenes. In fact, Zeus never appears as an actual character in any tragedies. However, every event that occurs in Hippolytus is thought to be because of Zeus’s will. Zeus is the deliver of fate throughout the play. When Hyllus declares everything that has happened is Zeus’s doing, he is silicifying the theme that Zeus acts as fate in the eyes of the characters (Women of Trachis 1278). Throughout the play, the characters turn to Zeus to explain why everything is happening. Greeks seem to be comforted by the idea the gods are controlling their lives because it takes blame off of humans for tragic

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