Goddess, Seductress, or Wife
By looking at interactions of men and women in The Odyssey, readers can understand the role of women in this epic. Certainly, the male characters play the most significant roles in this poem, but without the support of the females in The Odyssey, Odysseus, the main hero to this epic, would not have made it through his journey. Keeping that in mind, women in the epic were seen as strong individuals. Most women in this poem were resilient, strong-willed and were given the respect they deserved. The women formed important roles in Odysseus’ epic, within his story there are three main types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the wife. Each particular female character added value to the role of women in society. …show more content…
The goddesses play very demanding, controlling roles in The Odyssey. The most powerful was Athena, as she makes things happen during the entire story. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is the most prominent example of the supportive role. As she is the Goddess of war and battle, so she understood Odysseus and the struggles he has been through. This is why she tried to help Odysseus in the most difficult situations. Athena was Goddess that was confident, practical, intelligent, and very crafty. She was a master of disguise, which was very important in Odysseus' world. Athena embodied strength, bravery, and justice. She was a strong leader and a very clever decision maker. The reader understands, that she was the major reason that Odysseus was able to return home safely. Athena demonstrated the most intelligence and valor out of all the characters, not just the females, in The …show more content…
She proves to contain a complex, conflicted character, layered with submissiveness and frailty, yet later on she is found to be framed with strength, independence and cunning. Overall, Penelope has all the man-made qualities of an ideal Greek woman: loyalty, submissiveness and fertility. For many years she waits for her husband to come home. Sometimes, she seem to be rather submissive, but in reality she is very strong and clever. For all those years she had to fend off the suitors. Penelope had to delude all the suitors for a long time by making the excuse that she had to weave a burial shroud for Laertes. All day long she sat weaving, and later at night she pulled her work apart. Penelope showed her wisdom and cleverness during the whole epic. Even after Odysseus came home, she was cautious enough and wise enough to the possibility of him being an imposter. By using her wits, she setup a trap that only Odysseus would be able to solve. She asked about the secret their bed
By looking at interactions of men and women in The Odyssey, readers can understand the role of women in this epic. Certainly, the male characters play the most significant roles in this poem, but without the support of the females in The Odyssey, Odysseus, the main hero to this epic, would not have made it through his journey. Keeping that in mind, women in the epic were seen as strong individuals. Most women in this poem were resilient, strong-willed and were given the respect they deserved. The women formed important roles in Odysseus’ epic, within his story there are three main types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the wife. Each particular female character added value to the role of women in society. …show more content…
The goddesses play very demanding, controlling roles in The Odyssey. The most powerful was Athena, as she makes things happen during the entire story. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is the most prominent example of the supportive role. As she is the Goddess of war and battle, so she understood Odysseus and the struggles he has been through. This is why she tried to help Odysseus in the most difficult situations. Athena was Goddess that was confident, practical, intelligent, and very crafty. She was a master of disguise, which was very important in Odysseus' world. Athena embodied strength, bravery, and justice. She was a strong leader and a very clever decision maker. The reader understands, that she was the major reason that Odysseus was able to return home safely. Athena demonstrated the most intelligence and valor out of all the characters, not just the females, in The …show more content…
She proves to contain a complex, conflicted character, layered with submissiveness and frailty, yet later on she is found to be framed with strength, independence and cunning. Overall, Penelope has all the man-made qualities of an ideal Greek woman: loyalty, submissiveness and fertility. For many years she waits for her husband to come home. Sometimes, she seem to be rather submissive, but in reality she is very strong and clever. For all those years she had to fend off the suitors. Penelope had to delude all the suitors for a long time by making the excuse that she had to weave a burial shroud for Laertes. All day long she sat weaving, and later at night she pulled her work apart. Penelope showed her wisdom and cleverness during the whole epic. Even after Odysseus came home, she was cautious enough and wise enough to the possibility of him being an imposter. By using her wits, she setup a trap that only Odysseus would be able to solve. She asked about the secret their bed