ipl-logo

Sexual Fidelity In The Odyssey

1293 Words6 Pages

Classics 101 Kristen Brenda Walker Friday 8.40 g15w1964 Due: 08 April 2016 Tom Dichmont The Odyssey Discuss the subject of sexual fidelity/infidelity as it occurs in Homer’s Odyssey, using examples from the text. (Refer to several relationships in your answer.) Introduction In the Odyssey by Homer the famous Epic poet, sexual fidelity as well as sexual infidelity are recurring themes throughout his work. There are a significant amount of relationships that express this theme. This essay will focus on the relationships surrounding sexual fidelity and sexual infidelity that dominate the work of Homer. There will also be some evidence of minor relationships in the Epic poem in that reiterate how often sexual fidelity and …show more content…

She is a beautiful women who does not want to accompany Odysseus to her palace as she does not want to seem unfaithful to her pending husband. “For already you are being courted by all the best men”, here Athene is showing us that the princess has many potential suitors, yet she has remained loyal to her chosen man (Homer, 1967:5.34). When Odysseus meets Princess Nausicaä it is one of the few times that Odysseus himself shows sexual fidelity for his wife Penelope (Cliffnotes, 2016). Although, Odysseus acknowledges that the princess would make a lovely bride, he declines the offer of becoming her husband as he says that he would like to return home to his own wife. The goddess Artemis is one of the few goddesses known to be chaste and protect the virtuous countryside, she is a symbol of sexual fidelity (Homer, …show more content…

Penelope however is put under scrutiny by her own son Telemachus when he tells Odysseus about the suitors who have been seeking her hand in marriage (Cliffnotes, 2016). Telemachus plants the seed of doubt in Odysseus mind whether or not Penelope is a faithful women. Odysseus kills all the maids who he believed betrayed him by sleeping with the suitors, this is another example of how prevalent sexual infidelity is in the Odyssey (Homer, 1967:22.213). Odysseus once again shows signs of sexual infidelity when he sleeps with the goddess Circe in order for her to return his men back to their human form as she had turned them into pigs (Homer,

Show More
Related
146 Words | 1 Pages

Even some women were crushing on Odysseus and even held him captive Athena guided Odysseus through most of the journey. There is much cheating in the Odyssey among royalty and gods/goddesses When Odysseus finally returns back to his hometown, he is unrecognizable and rejected among his people Penelope has her doubts and holds and archery contest to prove his worth, which

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

Penelope, his wife, is greatly affected; as many greedy suitors disrespect her and move into their home to try and win her hand in marriage. Throughout ‘The Odyssey’, the greed and folly of men play a huge part in increasing the difficulty and severity of Odysseus’s situations and ultimately change his fate and the directions of his journey. The greed and folly of men are largely represented by Penelope’s suitors. In the very first book of The Odyssey, the disgusting actions of the suitors were introduced to the readers.

Read More
522 Words | 3 Pages

“The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

The respectable male characters such as Odysseus treat women well, but mostly for their appearance and marriage potential. Near the beginning, after washing up on the island of the Pheaecians, he meets a girl and says, “Mistress: please: are you divine, or mortal? If one of those who dwell in the wide heaven, you are the most near to Artemis, I should say,” (8). To

Read More
1322 Words | 6 Pages

Parent-child relationships are very prevalent in works of literature especially in the pieces written in Ancient Greece and Rome. Some examples of these are the works we have read in class such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Electra plays, and Aristophanes’ the Clouds. Although mother-daughter relationships are important throughout each of these works; father-son relationships are even more so. The father-son relationship is one of the most important aspects of these societies especially in the Odyssey written by Homer. The significance of all of the father-son relationships depicted in the Odyssey itself is for the purpose of exploiting its themes of family, xenia and tradition.

Read More
1255 Words | 6 Pages

In spite of the fact that Homer’s Odyssey is an epic story of a man’s gallant journey, women play a huge part throughout. Their unique yet controversial personalities, intentions, and relationships are vital to the development of this epic and adventurous journey of Odysseus. The poem by Homer was written at a time when women had an inferior position in society, yet that didn’t stop them from being any less influential. All of the women throughout the Odyssey possess different qualities, but all of them help to define the role of the ideal woman.

Read More
1235 Words | 5 Pages

The Archaic and Homeric writing periods are, arguably, massively different form one another in both writing styles and stance on society. Societal views on women changed drastically between the two writing periods in Ancient Greece, from blatant misogyny to a sort of passive non-belligerence. Through these texts, we can surmise how society, specifically men, felt about women and their positions in life, as well as the issues that these women experienced and even brings to mind the question of how they were expected to react to situations versus how they were made to act. Even so, The Theogony and The Odyssey allows the reader to explore how these two authors and their time periods felt about their women.

Read More
1217 Words | 5 Pages

Lulu Oliveri Ms. Fernandez English CP - Pink class 19 May 2023 Penelope is the Ideal Greek Woman and Wife Penelope is the exemplary Greek woman and wife, embodying the core values of her culture. In the epic poem The Odyssey written by Homer, Penelope waits at home while her husband Odysseus is away fighting the Trojan war. In the twenty years he is away fighting and making his journey home, more than one hundred suitors are living in her home and attempting to coerce her to marry them. She allows the suitors into her home because of the Greek value of Xenia and throughout the poem she keeps this up.

Read More
381 Words | 2 Pages

A major plot storyline, and one of the most explored temptations in The Odyssey, is Penelope and the suitors. There is temptation on both sides; Penelope certainly has waited a long time for Odysseus, and has to combat affairs with the suitors, and the suitors are lusting after Penelope. If permitted, they would have succumbed to the urge to wed her. Telemachus and Pallas

Read More
1764 Words | 8 Pages

Then she can marry the one who offers most, the man marked out by faith to be her husband.”’ (Homer Book 16, lines 432-435). This shows that the suitors were betraying Odysseus by trying to win Penelope as their wife. Odysseus’ house had already been taken advantage of by the suitors, so when the suitors moved on to try and marry Penelope against her will, this was a large act of betrayal. Another act of betrayal was committed by Odysseus’ crewmates.

Read More
1110 Words | 5 Pages

It is observed in the epic poem that the Greek’s believe in hospitality, loyalty, and growth. Hospitality is observed throughout beginning with the hospitality Penelope gives to the suitors to the hospitality Odysseus receives from Alcinous to return home. Loyalty is observed through Penelope and how she refuses to take a husband by the time she and Odysseus agreed upon. Finally, growth is observed throughout the epic poem with Odysseus, his journey, which teaches our society now that the Greek’s believe in growing with time. This personal growth shows that the Greek’s value the person as well as the Polis.

Read More
1041 Words | 5 Pages

However, for a woman in Homer’s society, who belongs to either her father and her husband, she is the head of the household for 20 years in the absence of Odysseus. She does not preserve peace in the household, but she takes actions to prevent the destruction of ranks of the household by delaying her marriage so that when Odysseus come back home, he can reclaim the kingship, or when Telemachus is old enough, he can take the throne which is rightfully his. In the position where women have no power, she uses her intellectual strength to control the suitors. Penelope promises the suitors that she will choose one of them to marry after she finishes weaving the shroud for Laertes because it is shameful if she does not do anything for her father-in-law. The suitors eagerly comply to her request without knowing what Penelope plans to do.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

The Greek gods and goddesses are the ultimate representation how Greek culture. Since the gods and goddesses did not mention Odysseus’ lack of sexual fidelity, this shows that the values for men in Greek culture were not infringed upon. Sexual fidelity and how it is dealt with by the story’s most important characters in The Odyssey show the morals of Greek

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

Penelope comes up with a lot of ways to say no to the suitors about having affairs with her. By these actions the reader can infer that Penelope will not have affairs with the suitors because she loves Odysseus and no one

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

These women influenced the conditions of the journey by guiding Odysseus in different directions, and aiding him crucially. Their authority showed the idea behind an old proverb, which states, “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”. Throughout The Odyssey, the women exemplified their power during the course of Odysseus’ journey.     Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, bravely held down the front in Ithaca while her husband struggled to find his way back home. In Book 18, Penelope spoke to the ever-so-desperate suitors about what Odysseus “told” her before he left.

Read More

More about Sexual Fidelity In The Odyssey

Related Topics

Open Document