Roles Of Women In The Odyssey

Because the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Work and Days are from the same civilization and writing in a similarity ages, even though they are not the same topics, the details which relative to culture, belief and sociality from the three books will not be much different. Frist, the role of women and their status in society. As we all know, except matriarchal society, women did not have much power in the ancient time, this made their social status and the roles will not very good. In the book 1 of the Iliad, Agamemnon says, “Find me then some prize that shall be my own, lest I only among the Argives go without, since that were unfitting; you are all witnesses to this thing, that my prize goes elsewhere.”(Bauschatz, 4-5) The prize means beautiful …show more content…
Even though she is Chryses’s daughter, she also was regarded as a prize, and just god could took her back, this shows women did not have a good social status in the ancient time. In the Odyssey, women also play the similarity role, which is the prize, just like Odysseus says in book 9 of the Odyssey, “I destroyed the city there, killed the men, seized their wives, and captured lots of treasure which we divided up.”(Bauschatz, 23) They destroyed the city, burned down houses, killed the men, and took their wives, why not just killed their wives with men? Because the women just considered as part of wealth, and can be priced, no one will burn their own money. In the Work and Days, because it is not a heroic book, it just talk about daily life, no war described, no loot happened. Women cannot be …show more content…
In the Iliad and the Odyssey, loot wealth and wives will not be spurned, instead, that is the way of heroic, just braves can get good prize, the only way weaker has is to be killed. In the Iliad, Achilleus told Agamemnon if he gave the girl back, they will four times over will repay him. (Bauschatz, 5) which means want the wealth, fine, let’s find another city and loot it. In the Odyssey, it is pretty much the same. For example, Odysseus says “I was carried by the wind from Troy to Ismarus, land of the Cicones. I destroyed the city there, killed the men, seized their wives, and captured lots of treasure which we divided up.”(Bauschatz, 23) Odysseus just said this in public, and no one has any objections. But in the Work and Days, Hesiod did not agree with loot, and he said, “Property is not there to be grabbed; what is better is God-given.” (Bauschatz, 56) He thinks human should made the wealth by them own, not just rob