Treatment Of Women In The Odyssey

Men and women were treated very differently. All throughout history, women have been oppressed, while men are praised. Women generally had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women’s most significant professions. Men always got the better jobs, they got payed better, and they were more respected. In Greek culture, women were controlled by men. In Medea, the women are treated a lot better than they are in The Odyssey. Men are treated about the same in both stories. They are powerful and well-respected, unlike women. In Euripides’ Medea women are treated better than they are in other Greek stories. Women in mythology are commonly portrayed as devious, manipulative, deceitful, and

She is swapping gender roles and handling the situation like a man would. Jason doesn’t play as big of a role in the story as Medea does. He is considered the main antagonist. He causes the tragic events of the story to unfold. In other Greek stories, men are the main protagonist characters and women are either antagonists or not main characters. Jason is just cold-hearted, heartless, and selfish. He was misogynistic and xenophobic in ways. He always told Medea that she was crazy because she was a woman from an outside country. In The Odyssey, women are treated way differently than they are in Medea. Women from The Odyssey are often used as pawns, whether in human affairs or those of Gods. They are shown as either faithful and submissive mortals or deceitful temptresses. For example, Penelope was treated like property. She was very intelligent, wise, and loyal. Odysseus is very unfaithful to his wife. He has an affair with Circe in order to save his crew members who were turned into pigs. Afterwards, Odysseus has an affair with Calypso and becomes trapped on her island because she did not want him to leave. When Odysseus comes back, Penelope doesn’t recognize him and cannot be sure that Odysseus is who he really says he is. Odysseus got mad at Penelope for speaking up. This isn’t fair to her, she gets cheated on and when she speaks up, she gets yelled at. On Odysseus’ journey,