THE ODYSSEY BY A WOMAN

4 Pages 1064 Words

Many times throughout “The Odyssey” women are given the characteristics of men and men the characteristics of women. Contrary to the fact that kings and rulers are males, the females obviously possess more power and control leading one to believe that “The Odyssey” was written by a woman.
The author sets the tone by introducing Odysseus, the main character as a damsel in distress and Athena as the “knight in shining armor”. (I, 1-119) Odysseus is being held on the island of Ogygia by the nymph Kalypso after his ship and crew were destroyed leaving him shipwrecked on her island. Athena seems to feel empathetic for Odysseus and asks Zeus, king of the gods, to send Hermes to order Kalypso to allow Odysseus off the island of Ogygia (I, 53, 64). Athena was definitely the one who has to save the day, as a male author would most likely not think the same thing.
Penelope establishes dominance over the suitors by keeping them at bay for almost four years. She told the suitors that it would be dishonorable not to have a shroud to bury Lord Laertes, Odysseus’s father in when he died and that she must finish it before she can choose a suitor to marry (II, 103-107). Everyday she would work on a loom weaving the shroud and each night by torchlight she would unravel what she had woven (II, 110-111). Penelope was labeled cunning by the leading suitor, Antinoos, because of this deceit and trickery (II, 93). The female Penelope obviously possesses a lot of control here keeping over a hundred men at bay by deceiving them.
In book V, where Telemakhos is returning home, Zeus has Athena act as a “body guard” for him (V, 28-30). The suitors were planning to kill Telemakhos when he returned home by ambushing him between the islands of Ithaca and Same (IV, 875-882). Athena escorted Telemakhos home to avoid the suitor’s ambush, therefore serving as his “bodyguard”. This definitely shows complete control of the situ...