Women in ancient greek society were held to very high and specific standards that involved them being viewed as lesser to men. The roles that women fill in the odyssey are of traits that greek women would want to have, and more importantly, what men and other members of their community would expect them to have. Penelope and Princess Nausicaa show women who were listening to The Odyssey how they should behave. But, warning examples are also shown in the forms of Circe and Calypso women who whose demeanors were unwanted for women in ancient Greece.
The mortal women in the odyssey give examples of heroism without overshadowing the men in the story, they are kind and loyal to their husbands and hospitable to strangers. Odysseus's wife, Penelope …show more content…
Their resentment and rage has built up over hundreds of years, making them bitter and dangerous.These women are cunning and powerful and looked as examples of how women shouldn’t act, displaying emotions of greed and jealousy. Men like odysseus lack trust for goddesses because they are sly and have many hidden agendas. When Calypso offers Odysseus a boat to leave the island she has trapped him on for eight years he doesn't trust her. “ After all these years a helping hand? O goddess, what guile is hidden here?” A sense of mistrust has built up in Odysseus after spending years on the island of Oegiea, a mistrust that he wouldn’t feel if he had encountered a mortal woman. Years prior, he also met the goddess Circe who attacked his men and, “... flew after them with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty.” Circe used poison to turn the crew into pigs, poison in the ancient world was woman’s weapon, allowing them to engage in battle behind the scenes. Immortal women were feared and respected by men and women of greece but did not display traits a mortal woman would need to get married.
The representation of women in the Odyssey gives an outline of attributes women would need to have in order to do well for themselves. The kindness and generosity of Princess Nausicaa and the love and loyalty of Penelope are all things a female in ancient greece would strive for. Although the times have changed, 2,000 years later standards are still held for women and men, influenced by the media and society similar to how homer showed how ideal and non-ideal women acted in the odyssey, becoming another source of quintessential standards for women in ancient
The mortal women in the odyssey give examples of heroism without overshadowing the men in the story, they are kind and loyal to their husbands and hospitable to strangers. Odysseus's wife, Penelope …show more content…
Their resentment and rage has built up over hundreds of years, making them bitter and dangerous.These women are cunning and powerful and looked as examples of how women shouldn’t act, displaying emotions of greed and jealousy. Men like odysseus lack trust for goddesses because they are sly and have many hidden agendas. When Calypso offers Odysseus a boat to leave the island she has trapped him on for eight years he doesn't trust her. “ After all these years a helping hand? O goddess, what guile is hidden here?” A sense of mistrust has built up in Odysseus after spending years on the island of Oegiea, a mistrust that he wouldn’t feel if he had encountered a mortal woman. Years prior, he also met the goddess Circe who attacked his men and, “... flew after them with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty.” Circe used poison to turn the crew into pigs, poison in the ancient world was woman’s weapon, allowing them to engage in battle behind the scenes. Immortal women were feared and respected by men and women of greece but did not display traits a mortal woman would need to get married.
The representation of women in the Odyssey gives an outline of attributes women would need to have in order to do well for themselves. The kindness and generosity of Princess Nausicaa and the love and loyalty of Penelope are all things a female in ancient greece would strive for. Although the times have changed, 2,000 years later standards are still held for women and men, influenced by the media and society similar to how homer showed how ideal and non-ideal women acted in the odyssey, becoming another source of quintessential standards for women in ancient