Homer's Chauvinistic View Of Women In The Iliad

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Register to read the introduction… Messengers are always conveying the messages, never making the originals. It is a humbling position. We know that Hermes is the messenger of the gods and that he is a man. However, in the Iliad, all the messages are conveyed by Iris, a woman. "Away, Iris! / Quick as you can to the grand sea lord Poseidon. / Go, give him my message, start to finish-- / and see that every word of it rings exactly so" (15.198-192). This quote shows the typical attitude towards women in the Iliad. Zeus is giving orders to a woman and she follows through. Zeus was also said to make Hermes the messenger of the gods as a punishment, because it is a undignified position. Coupled with the other evidence of Homer's chauvinistic view of women, I find it hard to believe that Iris, a woman, being the messenger in the Iliad is more than mere coincidence. It seems just another reminder of the view of women in this

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