Intro:
In ancient Greek life, women were viewed as children bearers who were meant to stay in the house. They were given little political and economic freedom as the men were to control those aspects in life. As an exemplification of ancient Greek life, the Odyssey shows that even though the women did not take on the role of the subservient housewife, they would still display signs of being not highly values. With the exception of Zeus’ daughters, the women of the Odyssey do not get their way. Regardless of whether or not she is a mortal or goddess, the women lack the love, presence, sympathy, or credit they deserve.
Outline:
A. Mortals
1. Penelope
– Did not see her husband for 20 years; did not have sex for that time.
– Did not decide to choose a suitor for the easy way out.
– Was as deceptive as Odysseus in delaying for his return but will not be the one called “brave”
2. Nausicaa/Arete
– Wants Odysseus to stay and marry into the family but is not fated to marry him.
3. Maids
– Could never win; example: Melantho
– Could not fight against the myriad of suitors, so they decided the join their side by having sex with them and
providing them with food.
– Got hanged upon Odysseus’ return for betraying him when he was away.
B. Goddesses
1. Calypso
– Holds Odysseus as a sex captive for 7 years
– Rants to Hermes about the unfairness for taking away her lover; she genuinely loves Odysseus and wants him to
stay by making him immortal but he does not.
– The episode with Calypso shows that Athena’s orders to her father is favored over Claypso’s
2. Circe
– Her plan to turn Odysseus into a pig is foiled when Hermes (Athena) gives him a herb to prevent from doing so.
– Uses Odysseus as a sex captive but has to see him leave after a year
C. Favored by Zeus
1. Athena
– As a higher god, she has control and interference over more things, but is highly backed by her father when
going against Poseidon’s wishes.
– Zeus listens to her favors as compared to Calypso because of their father-daughter relationship.
2. Helen
– In the small scene we get of Helen from the Odyssey, she controls the dinner conversation. She can easily cover
up her mistakes with a pill that clears the memories of Odysseus and those at the table.
Hi Catherine,
I think your thesis is really intriguing and completely backed up by the majority of the female characters in The Odyssey. I also think your decision to include a part about women that are favored by Zeus and that hold more power is interesting since it shows that perhaps not ALL women were powerless. It’s even more interesting that immortality and mortality doesn’t really effect this as much as we would expect.
Male dominance was justified by the Greeks in the mortal realm because of political/economic structures. But why do you think male dominance was justified in the world of the gods?
Your thesis is very strong and has good supporting evidence. But perhaps you could add an explanation to it. Women are under appreciated in this way because… This further analysis could help strengthen your argument.