In HomerÃÂs masterpiece, The Odyssey, women are depicted in a certain way. They each display some part of three characteristics: Loyalty, wisdom, and beauty. Two women that represent these three qualities are Penelope and Athena.
The Greeks value loyalty very high in women. You can tell throughout the book that itÃÂs just fine for men to run off and be with whomever they please, but women must be loyal to their husbands. That is just the Greek culture. Right from the start, anyone can tell that Penelope is extremely loyal. As soon as her husband leaves for Troy, she never even sets eyes on another man, not for years, and is struck with grief every moment he is not with her. Then, when he finally does come home, she is the happiest she has ever been in the Odyssey. ÃÂThe more [Penelope] spoke, the more a deep desire for tears welled upÃÂ he wept as he held the wife he loved, in his arms at last.
Odysseus and Nausicaä by Charles Gleyre (19th cen...
c. 1563
Helen Dennis / 20071117.10D.46197 / SMLJoyÃÂ ÃÂ (259-262.23). Even though everyone says that her beloved husband is dead, she refuses to believe it. And while he isnÃÂt home yet, the suitors try to marry her ÃÂ but she is firm in her position. She even expresses her loyalty verbally: ÃÂ[my] pain [and] my tears have streaked [my bed], year in, year out, from the day Odysseus sailed away to seeÃÂ DestroyÃÂ I hate to say its name!ÃÂ (471-473.19) Penelope is always waiting for him to come home from Troy. She never stops believing in Odysseus. This proves she is loyal because if she wasnÃÂt, she would have married a suitor years and years before Odysseus finally got home ÃÂ and if she didnÃÂt, then when Odysseus came disguised as a beggar, she wouldnÃÂt have been nearly as interested.
Wisdom is also...
Women in Homer
This essay manages to overlook many of the more interesting women in the epic. What of Circe, the enchantress who could turn men into swine? What of the sirens, whose sweet voices could lure any man on to his doom? What of Calypso, the nymph with whom Odysseus stayed for so long, yet remained loyal in his desire to go home? And what of Nasicaa, who was in many ways a suitable match for the wily Odysseus?
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