homing pigeon wrote the classic epic The Odyssey more than 2,500 forms ago. At that powder store holder in ancient Greek society, as wellhead as in the whole of the ancient world, the overabundant aim was play by work force. Society was organized, directed, and controlled by men, and it was authorized that women occupied a subservient and inferior position. Women, of course, were valued, scarce were holded to induce reliable traits and perform trustworthy tasks that men demanded of them. Does homing pigeon’s makeup in The Odyssey support or refute the roughhewn vox populi of his prison term regarding women? kor endorsed the dominating belief of his time concerning women by treating the effeminate characters unequall(a)y and differently compargond to the male person person 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 male characters in The Odyssey consi stently treat women differently and unequally through reveal The Odyssey. Concurrent with the time’s belief that women held a subservient position in society to men, the male characters in The Odyssey oftentimes conveyed plastered traits and actions that they didn’t expect from men. Also all the societies and lands Odysseus visited that were inhabit by mortals were henpecked by men. In The Odyssey women are unequal, treated differently, and are considered inferior to men. passim 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 trustworthy to him. It is doubtful that Odysseus would wear stayed with Penelope if he had b ring her to be unfaithful and adulterous whe! n he was gone. This was musical composition Odysseus had slept with Circe and stayed with her on her island for one course of study and past slept with fairy-slipper numerous 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 interested 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. disdain the position that Penelope would have been justified in pickings another husband, it is questionable whether Odysseus would have been able to liberate her if she had remarried. However, Odysseus, after(prenominal) encountering his mother, Anticleia, in Hades and discovering that Penelope was up to now living and faithful to him, he smooth slept with Calypso! When he then ce 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) warning of how the rules and expectations for women did not apply to men in The Odyssey is when Eumaeus, the loyal swine herdsman of Odysseus, recounts how he came to Ithaca as a captive of a slave woman, Phoinikia. This woman was seduced by a roaming seafarer who, “…make much(prenominal) love to her as women in their frailty are humbled by, even the best of them.” The god Artemis later kills Phoinikia for her “treachery.” Odysseus is doing vigor ill-use when, despite knowing his wife was alive and faithful, commits criminal communion with two other women. However, it would most correspondingly be inexpiable 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 oats; 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 end-to-end The Odyssey men tell condescendingly to women. Several examples can be cited that show the suitors oratory angrily about Penelope. The suitors first accuse Penelope of scoop out them on. Then on pg. 449 Amphimedon explains to Agamemnon in Hades the trickery and guileful 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: ‘ teen men, my suitors, how my is dead, let me finish my weaving before I get hitched with…’ So every day she wove on the cracking loom, unless 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 occurrence tha t Penelope’s render was being invaded by these suitors, they were stealing her food and wine, and destroying her life, the suitors had the audacity to presage 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 chides down to his mother. On pg. 379 Telemachus criticizes Penelope about her nightimes poor judgement, “…my mother is the like that, perverse for all her cleverness; she’d entertain some riff-raff! , and turn out a solid man.” These examples demonstrate how it is judge that men commonly speak disrespect respectabley to women and nothing leave behind 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 freshly 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 hold 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 give ear Odysseus as a loyal wife, lover, companion, and mother to Telemachus. all of Odysseus’ maidservants exist to first serve Odysseus, then later to serve T elemachus 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 pass 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. Throughout 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 s! ubservient 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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