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Sexism In The Iliad

1013 Words5 Pages

In the Iliad, there are continuous examples of women being treated as an object or being treated materialistically. Women are treated as they are inferior to the men and the gods. The dictionary definition of being sexist or sexism is; prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. Essentially women are shown to have no power in the Iliad due to the dominance of the men and gods. The book is centrally based upon male dominance, and on how the women are constantly put down by the gods or overruled by them. Treating women with inferiority is a warning sign of a possibility of something being sexist. With inferiority playing a huge role throughout the book that makes the Iliad a sexist work. A work like …show more content…

Basically saying they’re worthless and have no meaning to them, the gods, because they are just considered an object or a prize. Treating women as a prize or materialistically would be another way that makes the Iliad a sexist work. The ignorance of the males in the book pave the way to show that women are just objects and basically have no emotions. Later in book 6 around line 344 Helen begins to refer to herself as a dog and wishes she had died at birth. Due to the fact of not having her voice “heard” by men basically ignored, the sexist theme of the book comes to the surface once again. In book 1 Agamemnon and Achilles are having a conversation about Agamemnon’s wife and how he’d be okay with giving her up as long he got another “prize” even though he says, “…she is no inferior in beauty, in looks, or in character, or in her skills in hand work.” (1, 114-116). Agamemnon doesn’t see his wife as his soulmate but just an object he’s willing to give up because of an argument with Achilles. “Nonetheless I am willing to let her go if that is what’s best.” (1, 117-119). Agamemnon shows no actual feelings towards the situation except for the fact that he’s okay with losing his beautiful as long as he gets a brand new one. The role of women as prize meant that no

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