Helen Walton

After helping Paris in his single combat with Menelaus, Aphrodite disguises herself as an old woman when approaching Helen. Homer’s contrast in word play when painting Aphrodites’ physical attributes portrays her to be creative in asserting power. The phrases “a withered hand” and “an old woman” and later on “beautiful neck,” “irresistible line of her breasts,” and “iridescent eyes” contradict each other (3, 412-413, 423-325). The beginning suggests that Aphrodite donned the disguise of an old woman whilst the latter suggests Aphrodite to be young and beautiful, which completely defies the original consensus of her being a crone. Aphrodite’s taking on an older human being disguise not only suggests a physical interpretation but also an intellectual one. Her disguise suggests that she is older, which also indicates that she is wiser, more experienced, and more knowledgeable. It suggests maturity and a possession of greater reliability. Furthermore, Aphrodites’ being physically attractive ties back to the fact that she’s a goddess, immortal and beautiful. Because Aphrodite is the child of Zeus, experienced, and beautiful, that causes her to be powerful and manipulative. They gives in to her metis. “Helen was afraid,” because of Aphrodite’s manipulations, leading her to sleep with Paris (3, 446). In…

city of Troy. This battle was ignited by the sudden abduction of Queen Helen of Sparta by Prince Paris of Troy. Helen and Paris were star-crossed lovers, in which, nobody could separate them. You could compare them to the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, where the Montagues and Capulets fought, again, sparked by the love of two young lovers. Back in mythological times, Zeus, the father of the gods and god of the sky and thunder, held a celebration after the recent marriage of Peleus and…

Within Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis, and Seneca’s Medea, a variety of atrocious acts take place, sparing no violence and certainly no mercy. Although Seneca and Euripides hail from much different time periods, many parallels can be drawn between the atrocious acts depicted within their works. While the scenarios that lead up to the atrocious acts that take place within Medea and Iphigenia at Aulis differ, many similarities can be found between both antagonists. In addition to the similarities,…

One of the greatest battles in history, the Trojan War, started in the 12th century. There was a wedding for Pelus and Thetis, the Trojan prince Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, obtains a golden apple from the goddess Eris. It is up to Paris to decide which of the three goddesses is the most beautiful, which will be given the golden apple. Hera, wife and sister of Zeus, offers power. Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, offers success in battle. Aphrodite, goddess of love, offers the most…

beginning of the epic, the King is seen as selfish and can even Pamela Witkowski Dr. Asma Sayed COMP 102 (AS05) 6 October 2014 Roles of Women in The Iliad and Gilgamesh Gilgamesh is the epic about a powerful King named Gilgamesh who searches for immortality after his best friend, Enkidu, is killed. At the beginning of the epic, the King is seen as selfish and can even be considered a cruel authoritarian leader; his people are not happy with him in power. The journey he forgoes is to look for…

The role of the gods is very simple; it is to control the mortals. A human’s life is determined the gods. Therefore, the mortals lose their free will. The epic depicts a world ruled by unpredictable gods. The gods provide no consistent moral code, they follow their own rules while the mortals follow the gods, which can sometimes led to tragedy. In the Iliad, we can the gods drive the plot with their interactions and by changing the fate of the characters. The human however do practice free will.…

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…

this Hector” (XXII, 260-1) together. Achilles obeys her plan to execute Hector without question. Athena is able to instill courage in the Achaeans, and use her combat abilities to fight in the war, all while maintaining respect from the gods and mortals. Athena’s actions during the war paint a strong androgynous type of women. Aphrodite is the polar opposite of Athena; she represents an overly emotional woman who acts on impulse rather than wisdom. Aphrodite is seen as the cause for the Trojan…

Szymborska utilizes a glimpse into the daydream of a young girl, an allusion to Helen of Troy, and the free verse style to represent the female desire to be desired. Subsequently, Szymborska choses to write about young girls in the stage of life where they have graduated from being cute children without a care, to gawky young adult girls with vast insecurities. The use of protagonists at this age creates…

Odysseus, a household name thanks to English class in high school. Students spend weeks analyzing his character and journey. Learning that Odysseus fits all the characteristics of the classic hero; strength, courage, nobility and his most distinguishing strait, intelligence. Many view Odysseus as the hero of the Odyssey but there is another character that has the same traits as Odysseus and that is Penelope, his wife. She is often forgotten in the shadow of her husband even though she is…