Odyssey

3 Pages 737 Words

The Odyssey features many great women of classical fiction, and they represent the spectrum from the benevolent and chaste Penelope to the malevolent and chaotic Sirens. Yet despite their allegiance to good or evil, all of them play a major part in helping our protagonist Odysseus complete his circutious journey home. Although they were valued, the human women, were expected to possess certain traits and occupied a subservient and inferior position. The goddesses were also known for their beauty but possessed a little more power.
The most important aspect of a women was her appreance and the children she bore. It meant everything in the Ancient Greece times. If important men and gods consider a woman beautiful, or if her son is a hero or important king, the woman is successful. During the book you will read nothing about a women’s accomplishments in her lifetime. Their only role and only power they posses is their strong influence on men. The whole reason Odyssey had first left his home, was to help retrieve Helen and bring her to her home. To the men a women is a trophy that is to be placed upon the shelves and paraded around like a prize. Women in the Odyssey are very often seen and spoken about as sexual creatures. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is one such woman. Penelope was a women of beauty and grace, her suitors all waited for the day she would pick a new husband and as they did she approached them and used her powers to have them bring her gifts on the last night before her beloved husband arrived. “The suitor’s knees went slack, thier hearts dissolved in lust-all of them lifted prayers to lie beside her, share her bed.” For their beauty they were praised and loved. Throughout the book, everytime a women is mentioned there is a phrase or word that describes her for Penelope it was usually radient. For Athena the goddess, it was bright eyed. Every women was introduced or spoken about in a sexual way a...