ipl-logo

Theme Of Gender Inequality In The Odyssey

992 Words4 Pages

Gender inequality is not a new topic. Throughout history, women have faced significant sexist discrimination starting with being denied basic rights enjoyed by men. In many societies, women have been categorized as inferior to men. Greek poet, Homer, consistently highlighted this ‘women are inferior’ theme throughout his writings of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Even though this degradation of women has currently been brought to light in the 21st century, it continues to remain a serious issue. Women are still subjected to falling short of equal status with men on a daily basis. Throughout The Iliad women are treated like property. Women are not people but rather a prize to be won or lost, bereft of individual identity. In the opening of The Iliad, Agamemnon captures Chryses’ daughter, Chrysies. In an attempt to win his daughter back, Chryses offers Agamemnon a ransom. Agamemnon, however, declines the ransom causing Chryses to seek help from Apollo. Apollo hears this cry for help and sends a plague to …show more content…

During his trip to the underworld, Odysseus encounters numerous types of women. Homer tends to describe these women by detailing their attractiveness, successful kin, or scandalous sexual affairs with gods, but never by their own accomplishments. It appears that the only accomplishment Homer’s women can achieve is being remarkably attractive. For instance, Odysseus’ queen, Penelope, is admired because of her beauty and status as a newly single queen. The suitors show no inkling of respect for her. They refuse to stop using Odysseus’ wealth to better themselves. Since she is a woman, however, Penelope lacks the power to control or banish these men. Through Penelope, Homer tells the Greeks how a picture-perfect wife should act toward her husband. Even though Odysseus has been gone for twenty years, Penelope still follows his wishes and fulfills his desire for her to stay

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
739 Words | 3 Pages

The treatment of women has always been different in different societies, cultures, and time periods. In the Odyssey, the treatment of the female gods is different than the treatment of mortal women because the gods are a powerful being, but the mortal women are property and owned by their husbands. If a women marries a man who she has more money then, they will live in her house, but he will be in charge of everything, including herself. In book 21 and book 3 show the power of the mortal women compared to the power of the goddesses. In the Odyssey, the mortal women are treated and used differently from the way that the goddesses are worshiped because of the gender and societal roles that each group of women are assigned.

Read More
1148 Words | 5 Pages

There are different ways for women to be portrayed in the Odyssey. They can be disloyal, sexual, and loyal woman that gets used for these things. Could you ever grasp a point of how you would feel if you were the one being portrayed? In the first section of the Odyssey, women are presented to us as controlled by the culture of the day, and it is only within that area that we can consider the way Odysseus provides women to be admired or despised throughout his journey.

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

In many societies today, individuals are led to believe that the concept of women possessing their own strength or independence is abnormal. As a result, women experience the world in a constrained way in comparison to men, even if they are in higher classes of society. However, these extensive aspects of females are contradicted in some ancient Greek literature. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer portrays women as a vital and powerful force through the characters Penelope and Circe, who counter the normality of misogyny in Homer’s time. Penelope’s character displays how some women are able to exceed society’s standards and show strength and cleverness when it is necessary.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

In Homer’s Odyssey, the over one-hundred suitors at Odysseus’s home of Ithaca threaten to overthrow the former king they assume dead. Their violence and careless living in his home impose on Penelope and Telemachas’s safety and privacy, causing Odysseus to hurry back home. However, the suitors present an even bigger threat: they threaten to destroy and absolve Penelope and Odysseus’s marriage. Faithful Penelope, though, delays her decision by promising to make a choice of a suitor after she finishes weaving a funeral shroud for Odysseus and undoing her work every night. If Penelope had given in to the suitors, they would live under the thumb of their suitors with Odysseus barred from his own home.

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
704 Words | 3 Pages

Penelope, wife of Odysseus is the paradigm woman. After the Trojan war, there is no news of Odysseus. No one knows of his whereabouts or what his plans were. Odysseus stays lost at sea for nearly twenty years, yet Penelope still says faithful and has no skeptic thoughts. Suitors come to wed Penelope and amass Odysseus’s treasure, however when asked when she would marry she says the time would come soon; it never did.

Read More
181 Words | 1 Pages

Athena is now seen by all to be a caring and compassionate woman. She helps Odysseus throughout his struggling period regardless to the fact that helping him creates struggles of her own. The Phaiakian people have a history of not respecting the queens of their land because in the past women who have held these positions

Read More
233 Words | 1 Pages

Penelope plays a key role in The Odyssey because without her unwillingness to accept a suitor, Telemachus would never have gone on his journey to find his father. Fifteen years after the Trojan War ended, Penelope's husband Odysseus, still hadn’t come home. Throughout this time many suitors had come asking for her hand in marriage. She decided she would choose one suitor to marry once she finished weaving her father-in-law’s burial shroud.

Read More
635 Words | 3 Pages

Women have been oppressed in male dominant societies since ancient times and still are in some present-day societies. Homer’s The Odyssey gives insights into the Greek culture through the story of Odysseus and the challenges he faces in attempts of returning home to Ithaca. The epic poem revolves around men, or in particular, their hardships and accomplishments while rarely providing women’s perspective of life. Millay’s “An Ancient Gesture” empathizes with Penelope’s difficulties and admires her fortitude, while the poem addresses Odysseus’s fault with his lack of understanding and empathy.

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

The role of women in Odysseus' voyage is very important. It's by virtue of women that this whole story even led the way it did. It was because of beautiful Helen that the Trojan war began, and because of Odysseus' love for Penelope that Odysseus needed to come back to Ithaca, and the famous Athena was an immortal goddess that made his voyage home possible. These three women shape the story of Odysseus. The women in this story are aimed to the point, and are have very meaningful roles in Odysseus' life.

Read More
98 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Odyssey,” Homer provides a rather large cast of female characters, especially by comparison to the rest of Greek culture. In Homer’s depiction of women, most are characterized positively. The reason I say this is because even the “evil” goddess characters are characterized beautifully. Circe, Calypso, they are all characterized as beautiful characters, rivaled only by the Goddess of Love and Affection, Aphrodite. By comparison to the rest of Greek society, however, Homer was praising women beyond standards.

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

In the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Oresteia, and Oedipus the King these great works, we can see, the Greeks’ views on gender that Greek was a patriarchal society. In the Iliad, Agamemnon got a fair-cheeked girl named Chryseis as a prize after a war. However, under Apollo’s pressure, he needed to send her back. Therefore, Agamemnon took Achilles’ prize, Briseis, who had been awarded to Achilles because of anger. Agamemnon was angry because he considered beautiful Chryseis as his property and prize.

Read More
268 Words | 2 Pages

Homer’s The Odyssey tells the story of a man’s journey to return home but women play a significant role in the epic nonetheless. In particular, female characters Penelope, Circe, and Athena all play vital roles in Odysseus’ journey to Ithaca. To begin, Penelope is crucial because her character allows the reader to keep informed with the happenings in Ithaca. Penelope is depicted with cunning and wit traits similar to those of Odysseus although she is subjected to being downgraded and forced to follow the norm for women.

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

Women are weak, helpless, and have no real purpose other than to serve men and take care of children. . . or so they were perceived in history. In the Odyssey, one can see that Homer’s portrayal of women challenges the depiction of women during that time period. Throughout the book, many women intervened in Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, for better or for worse. One will see Penelope, Athena, Circe, and other women impact Odysseus’ expedition home.

Read More

More about Theme Of Gender Inequality In The Odyssey

Open Document