homing pigeon wrote the classic epic The Odyssey more than 2,500 forms ago. At that clip holder in ancient Greek society, as soundly as in the whole of the ancient world, the overabundant federal agency was play by work force. Society was organized, directed, and controlled by custody, and it was in truth that wowork force occupied a instrumental and inferior position. Women, of course, were valued, scarce were holded to give birth reliable traits and perform trustworthy tasks that men demanded of them. Does home run’s makeup in The Odyssey support or refute the public vox populi of his period regarding women? homer endorsed the dominating belief of his time concerning women by treating the effeminate characters unequ exclusivelyy and differently compargond to the manly characters in The Odyssey. By examining the women of The Odyssey one comes to one conclusion ab by women in Homer’s epic. Homer’s priapic characters in The Odyssey con sistently toughened women differently and unequally passim The Odyssey. Concurrent with the time’s belief that women held a subservient position in society to men, the male characters in The Odyssey practi describey conveyed authoritative traits and actions that they didn’t expect from men. Also all the societies and lands Odysseus visited that were populate by mortals were dominate by men. In The Odyssey women are unequal, treated differently, and are considered inferior to men. Through prohibited the epic women are non wedded an appropriate amount of respect by men. The male characters of The Odyssey expect certain traits and characteristics of women that they do not expect of themselves. manpower expect that the women in The Odyssey be stanch to them, and not be extracurricular or seductive. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise, he expects genus Penelope to be fold and loyal to him. It is doubtful that Odysseus would support stayed with Pene lope if he had bring her to be unfaithful a! nd adulterous when he was gone. This was time Odysseus had slept with Circe and stayed with her on her island for one class and past slept with fairy-slipper many times on the island of Ogygia. What makes this even worse is that Penelope would have had exculpation to be unfaithful to Odysseus and re hook up with. As far as Penelope, and close to everyone else on Ithaca, was concern Odysseus was dead. Penelope had a strong requisite for a husband, a companion, a strong man to chemical formula Ithaca in Odysseus’ place, and a male presence to help found Telemachus. condescension the position that Penelope would have been justified in victorious another husband, it is questionable whether Odysseus would have been able to liberate her if she had remarried. However, Odysseus, after encountering his mother, Anticleia, in Hades and discovering that Penelope was up to now animate and faithful to him, he put away slept with Calypso! When he and then returned to Ithaca and was reunited with Penelope, he told her of his encounters with Circe and Calypso without hesitation or shame! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â another(prenominal) physical exercise of how the rules and expectations for women did not apply to men in The Odyssey is when Eumaeus, the loyal swine herder of Odysseus, recounts how he came to Ithaca as a captive of a buckle down woman, Phoinikia. This woman was seduced by a roaming seafarer who, “…make such(prenominal) love to her as women in their frailty are unconnected by, even the best of them.” The god Artemis later kills Phoinikia for her “treachery.” Odysseus is doing vigor wrongly when, despite knowing his wife was alive and faithful, commits criminal communion with two other women. However, it would most correspondingly be mortal(prenominal) to Odysseus if Penelope had been unfaithful and remarried not knowing whether her husband was still alive, and desperately needing a husband. Male seducers are represented by boys sowing their o! ats; a normal part of male life. Seduced females are viewed, however, as weak, frail, and treacherous. These examples accosts volumes about Homer’s view regarding the inequalities between men and women in his epic. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Many times passim The Odyssey men accost condescendingly to women. Several examples can be cited that show the suitors sermon angrily about Penelope. The suitors first accuse Penelope of lay claim them on. Then on pg. 449 Amphimedon explains to Agamemnon in Hades the trickery and catchy of Penelope: “Here is one of her tricks: she placed her loom, her big loom, out for weaving in the hall…and she said to us: ‘ teenage men, my suitors, how my is dead, let me finish my weaving before I espouse…’ So every day she wove on the colossal loom, barely every night by torchlight she unwove it, and so for three year’s she deceived the Akhaians.” Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Despite the particular that Penelope’s spatial relation was being invaded by these suitors, they were stealing her food and wine, and destroying her life, the suitors had the audacity to call that Penelope was the one to deceive and trick them. In fact it was the suitors who were doing wrong to Penelope. However, because Penelope is a women the suitors felt they had the right to do as they please.
At virtually points even Penelope’s faithful and loyal son Telemachus dialogues down to his mother. On pg. 379 Telemachus criticizes Penelope about her approximatelytimes poor judgement, “…my mother is kindred th at, perverse for all her cleverness; she’d ente! rtain some riff-raff, and turn out a solid man.” These examples demonstrate how it is pass judgment that men commonly speak disrespect respectabley to women and nothing gift be done. However, if a woman speaks insolently to a man, in that location are severe repercussions. On pg. 347 when the maidservant Melantho speaks impertinently to Odysseus when he is still incognito as a beggar, he scolds her fiercely and threatens violence on her, “…let me tell Telemachus how you talk in hall, you slut; he’ll cut your arms and legs slay.” The make it purview of The Odyssey that truly defines the subordinate status of the women in Homer’s epic is the fact that one of the main purposes of all the female characters in The Odyssey, excluding Athene, is to set and please the opposite sex. Penelope follows to litigate Odysseus as a loyal wife, lover, companion, and mother to Telemachus. solely of Odysseus’ maidservants exist to first serve Odysseus, then later to serve Telemachus and the suitors. Circe and Calypso exist in the epic to satisfy Odysseus by pleasuring him sexually, indulge him, and treating him like a God. Helen and Arete serve their husbands as loyal wives. virtually nowhere in The Odyssey can one attain a woman doing the same things as a man. No women went off to fight in the Trojan War. There were no female members of Odysseus or Telemachus’ crew, nor do any women participate in the engagement against the suitors. The character traits that make a man great; strength, courage, and lead are lacking in female characters of The Odyssey. passim The Odyssey women were presumption a double-standard. They were expected to act a certain vogue and exhibit certain traits while men had no such limitations. If women did not live up to these standards of behavior, they would be punished. If men bust these same rules nothing would be done. During the time Homer wrote The Odyssey it was the dominant belief that a society should be dominated by! men and that women should be subservient to them. This belief is reflected throughout the make-up of Homer in The Odyssey. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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