"The most powerful characters in The Odyssey are women." Argue for or against this proposition using examples from the text; please limit evidence to two or three episodes only.

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"The most powerful characters in The Odyssey are women." Argue for or against this proposition using examples from the text; please limit evidence to two or three episodes only.

The word powerful can be looked at in several ways; it can be regarded as strength, knowledge, control, and beauty. All these forms of power are repeatedly illustrated within The Odyssey. A key observation with respect to power is that women are undoubtedly the most powerful characters in The Odyssey. Their characteristics parallel many of aforementioned definitions of power. Athena is a key example of a woman that is ultimately the personification of power. Furthermore, Circe possesses many traits that would unquestionably classify her as extremely powerful as well. This essay will evaluate these women with respect to their power and influence within the story to convey that women are essentially the most powerful characters in the Odyssey.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, plays an important role in showing that women are the most powerful characters within The Odyssey.

She plays an important role in the formulation of the plot, and is not your typical Greek goddess. She is beautiful, and intelligent, but shows a difference from other Greek gods, as she helps people rather than hurts them. The power that she has is untouchable, as no one else in the poem is capable of carrying out the role she played. She literally puts the story together, and right from the very beginning of this poem, it is evident that she is the definition of power.

Athena is practicly mentioned in every book, but the episode where she is most powerful would be right in the beginning of this epic poem when she pleads with her father Zeus, the king of gods, for Odysseus to be freed from his captivity. Zeus...