The Role Of Women In Homer's Odyssey

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An individual 's characteristics are the key to their conduct and this is true in Homer 's Odyssey, which takes place in 700 BC in the Mediterranean, near Greece. The epic story is about a man who has left his home 20 years earlier to fight the Trojan War. The focus of the epic and his mission now is to make his way back home to Ithaca. On his way, Odysseus shows some great and bad strengths and qualities that influence the course of his journey home to his wife, Penelope.
The goal of this essay is to evaluate Odysseus’s conduct with the nymphs, the sirens, and his wife, Penelope. The role of women in the Odyssey is paramount and very well represented. In fact, there are more female characters in the Odyssey than a typical Hollywood movie would ever have.
I personally do not believe that Odysseus was some kind of a woman-hating monster who used women to get what he wanted in life instead his mission in life was to get home to Penelope his wife and son Telemachus but was forced into some very difficult situations and circumstances along the way. For example, when he is almost completely seduced by Calypso and inevitably stay on her island for several years due to lust and lavish opportunity delaying his journey home.
Odysseus gets a bad reputation I believe because the way he handled Calypso, who fell madly in love with him while he is visiting her island. I can see him writing off Calypso as she is not entirely human, and as such, since she treats his men terribly, Odysseus