The role of women in the Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey.
Men have always been the central of actions on the Greece history, but women also played a very significant role, which could not be shown by anyone except them. The Odyssey and Gilgamesh are good examples on this. In general, these two stories portray women as being mother, goddess, or even seductress, and in some points, they had power over men, either to control or to guide them. Women in these two epics were also treated differently depending upon who they are, and how much power and influence do they have. Meanwhile, others disagree on this, believing that women in these works were portrayed as an object of desire, and a comic relief, they were excluded from everything, and their …show more content…
Women also in this epic appear either as mother, or seductresses, and sometimes a combination of both. Let’s start with Penelope, the beautiful woman who chooses to wait her husband for 20 years, she is absolutely the most powerful women in the odyssey, she even have more power over Odysseus than anyone else. The power of love that she had given to Odysseus forces him to return to Ithaca, and more important to her. No matters what obstacles were putting in her way, she was able to defeat them for the sake of her husband. Some believes that Penelope had acts as a seductress, and used her beauty and charm to seduce the suitors, but without intending to fulfill any promises of love or sex. As I observed before, Penelope can be considered to present both the character of mother and seductress. The second important female character in the odyssey is Athena the goddess of wisdom and intelligence. She was described as confidant, clever and practical; she was always respected because of her heroic deeds. She also had controls over men that most women in the Odyssey do not, and not any men, they were Odysseus and Telemachus, who she guides and advice whenever they were putting in a hard situation, and whenever they feel tired and weak they goes and ask her help. This proves my argument that women had sometimes had more power than men, and no one can argue this definite
Men have always been the central of actions on the Greece history, but women also played a very significant role, which could not be shown by anyone except them. The Odyssey and Gilgamesh are good examples on this. In general, these two stories portray women as being mother, goddess, or even seductress, and in some points, they had power over men, either to control or to guide them. Women in these two epics were also treated differently depending upon who they are, and how much power and influence do they have. Meanwhile, others disagree on this, believing that women in these works were portrayed as an object of desire, and a comic relief, they were excluded from everything, and their …show more content…
Women also in this epic appear either as mother, or seductresses, and sometimes a combination of both. Let’s start with Penelope, the beautiful woman who chooses to wait her husband for 20 years, she is absolutely the most powerful women in the odyssey, she even have more power over Odysseus than anyone else. The power of love that she had given to Odysseus forces him to return to Ithaca, and more important to her. No matters what obstacles were putting in her way, she was able to defeat them for the sake of her husband. Some believes that Penelope had acts as a seductress, and used her beauty and charm to seduce the suitors, but without intending to fulfill any promises of love or sex. As I observed before, Penelope can be considered to present both the character of mother and seductress. The second important female character in the odyssey is Athena the goddess of wisdom and intelligence. She was described as confidant, clever and practical; she was always respected because of her heroic deeds. She also had controls over men that most women in the Odyssey do not, and not any men, they were Odysseus and Telemachus, who she guides and advice whenever they were putting in a hard situation, and whenever they feel tired and weak they goes and ask her help. This proves my argument that women had sometimes had more power than men, and no one can argue this definite