Homer portrays the goddesses as these powerful, cunning beings. So, one would think that he is an amazing feminist and I agree, to an extent. When it comes to the goddesses Homer is a very big supporter of women. He shows us their power by having Athena guide Odysseus through his travels. She is also the one who helps him fight off all the suitors. The goddesses are on a pedestal, they're angelic creatures and that's how Homer portrays them. Even when they are do wicked things, they're doing it with smarts. Plus, in the end, someone always benefits. Although, Homer's like of women doesn't go much further than the goddesses, so maybe when it comes to them he is only on their side because of their standing in ancient greek society.
On the flip side of that, Homer betrays regular women as helpless or just good for sex. Odysseus' wife is at home just waiting around for him and refusing to be with anyone else. This shows how Homer sees women as very weak and how much they depend on their man for normalcy in life. During his travels, Odysseus sleeps with many women making it seem like, really that is mostly all their good for. Or that was is what they're supposed to be used for; sex and reproduction, not much else. Some might see Homer as a great feminist, but once it comes down to it, he only sides with the goddesses because of their power. Everyday women, to him, are nothing to get excited about.
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4 comments:
I dislike how you use Penelope's loyalty as a sign of Homer trying to show woman as the weaker sex. I think it acutally shows her as stronger because she resisted sexual temtation with the other men and left her heart only to Odysseus after she made that promise in marriage. She is loyal and to me that is a good trait.
agreed with carolyn. Odysseus is a total man-whore. that's not very strong.
and i personally think that penelope is pretty strong because she has to deal with everything going on at home.
of course, there is no physical tasks..but there is so much emotional strain.
Although I would agree with you to a certain extent, I also don't since everyday regular women are also portrayed to be pretty strong. An example would be Helen since she was able to trick Telemachus, Menelaus, and their guests into drinking a wine that would make them happy for the whole night instead of morning about the griefs or Troy and the journey home from Troy.
I agree with you Carolyn, but Homer portrays Odysseus as a strong character who is so dominent he can have sex with women and still have a faithful life. Yet, Penelope is so controlled by her husband that even when he is away she doesn't have sex with other man. That's just how I interpreted Homer's view of the situtaion, I don't agree with his view though.
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