The Portrayal of Women in Homers Odyssey Essay - 1817 Words

Does Homer exhibit gender bias in the Odyssey? Is the nature of woman as depicted in the Odyssey in any way revealing? Upon examining the text of the Odyssey for differential treatment on men and women, it becomes necessary to distinguish between three possible conclusions. One, differences in treatment reflect the underlying Homeric thesis that women are different but equal in nature, Two, different treatment of men and women in the text reflect a thesis that women are different and unequal in nature -- arguments about misogyny fall in here but a host of other interpretive possibilities are possible too. Three, the different treatment reflects simple ignorance. How much do we attribute what we discover to male authorship -- or†¦show more content†¦Male seducers are represented as boys sowing their oats -- part of normal living. Seduced females are viewed as weak and treacherous -- a treachery that woman in her frailty is unable to avoid. This is a very bizarre message . The overt and easy emotional character of men and women is possibly one of the reasons many find this poem so enduringly human. Whatever our weaknesses and failings as humans men and women both are deeply moved by thoughts of home; memories of old love; lost friends; lost youth; and death. Men weep -- Odysseus prodigiously throughout the poem -- the poem is drenched in tears (squeeze text)-- and laughter too. The emotional overtones here are easy and free -- its an attractive and I think healthy world in that regard. there are contemporary understandings of human nature that view the capacity for easy emotional discharge as a key to thinking well, thinking rationally. Our intellectual capacities can be stopped up, occluded by, unfinished emotional work. A good cry, a good laugh, a good scream, is just what the doctor ordered. Retentive individuals, cultures, genders, tend to act differently -- irrationally in some areas. An alternate tack is to confront the unequal in nature charge -- misogynist in particular claim head on. Far from evil -- women in the Odyssey -- Penelope in particular -- present and offerShow MoreRelatedEssay about Portrayal of Women in Homers Odyssey719 Words   |  3 PagesThe Portrayal of Women in  Homers Odyssey In the first section of Odyssey, mortal women are presented to us as controlled by the stereotypes and expectations of the culture of the day, and it is only within that context that we can consider the examples Homer provides of women to be admired or despised. He provides us with clear contrasts, between Penelope and Eurycleia on the one hand, and Helen and Clytemnaestra on the other. In Penelope’s case, it is made clear that her freedom of actionRead MoreAn Essay on the Illiad868 Words   |  4 Pageshis culture’ and thus both The Iliad and The Odyssey are directed sources of their own period. 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