The Odyliad: The Roles Of Women In The Iliad

Women in the Iliad Throughout “The Iliad” many women figures were written in the text to explain their roles. The women could have been seen as a non important figure. The women such as Helen, Briseis, Andromache, Athena, and many more, are picked up throughout the story helping the men and starting the battles between them. Men were mostly the main characters in the stories, but the women portray it with them helping men, the ones’ who started the battles between one another, and how women were different in other epics. For women during the time of the Iliad, mostly women were for being the husbands lovers and being able to take care of the household. But not in this text, women were of many reasons why the Trojan war became a war. They …show more content…
Other areas in which the women are different than “The Iliad”, is in “The Odyssey”. Women in “The Odyssey” are more of a help, rather than a main part of the book. Penelope is a smart, creative woman who is saving herself for Odysseus. He puts her off and wants nothing to do with her. She is not giving up and talks with no one. In “The Iliad”, Andromache is Hectors wife and she is also very similar in how she acts, but Hector looks up to his wife. He needs for her to be supportive and she gives him military advice. “ Who will soon be your widow. It won’t be long before the whole Greek army swarms and kills you. And when they do, wit will be better for me to sink into the earth. When I lose you, Hector, there will be nothing left, no one to turn to, only pain” (Iliad 6. 430-435). The love that Andromache has for Hector is spotted easily and she tells us that she is nothing without him. That is how she shows her love for Hector. Penelope shows her love by not sleeping with any other men. Odysseus never seems to want to be home and wants to a hero’s journey without showing compassion. “Because you’re so intelligent and self-possessed. Any other man come home from hard travels would rush to his house to see his children and wife. But you don’t want to hear how they are until you test your wife, who, as a matter of fact, just sits in the house..” (The Odyssey 23. 343-348). Athena tells this to …show more content…
Women were responsible for the fighting and the deaths because the men would fight and argue over them. This epic story does tell how not only one mortal or goddess can create issues, but many can cause drama. Not only in “The Iilad”, but in other epics such as “The Odyssey”. Women were always around and were in need of the men, and it seemed as if the men also needed the