Homer's Odyssey is set 10 years after the Trojan War, which would mean that the stories taking place in the epic date back to around 1170 BC. This is a time that is probably unrecognizable by today's standards in many parts of the world in terms of the models adopted by society and the roles that the two sexes play to contribute to society. Ancient Greece was a patriarchal society where men were often seen as the dominant gender. This can be seen from the fact that women are often denied basic rights such as education in areas such as literature and philosophy, which were reserved for men in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Women on the other hand were expected to be good housewives or daughters to their husbands or fathers who were often the determining factor of their value as there was very little value imposed only on women. This led many women of the time to learn domestic skills such as cooking, weaving, and sewing clothes. It is extremely important to understand the context of the era in which the epic is set to fully appreciate how Homer plays with the idea of ​​gender roles and balance of power throughout the book. One of the first characters and women we know is introduced in the epic Athena, goddess of wisdom, courage, strategy and skill, to name just a few feats. She is the one who first raises the situation with Ulysses. Despite the assembled gods collectively condemning man for their shamelessness in blaming the gods for their misfortune, she speaks out claiming that her "heart breaks for Odysseus" and as a result manages to convince the gods that it is in their best interests to intervene and try to guide him. headquarters of Ithaca. Through this opening passage, Homer is able to portray Athena as a powerful woman through how she instantly gives direction to the story, a theme that is constantly carried forward throughout the epic. It almost becomes a means to move the story forward as many crucial factors of the epic are only able to come together through its action. For example, she is the one who tells Telemachus that he must set sail and travel in search of news of his father, which in turn puts Telemachus into his psychological story of growth and discovery and when he is struggling to find a crew to help him leave setting sail is Athena using her disguise skills to disguise herself as a prince and gather a crew for Telemachus who are ready and waiting for him. Through these passages, we can see her powers as an instigator of events and how well equipped she is to carry out her desires. She has a lower status than many gods, but through her ability to speak and matters of negotiation she can get what she wants, this combined with her divine abilities of disguise make her an extremely powerful and potentially even dangerous character if one were to do so . rub her the wrong way Another way women are portrayed in epics is as temptresses. They are often used as a distraction, delaying Odysseus' journey or in some cases even trying to completely destroy him and his crew. The prime example of this is the goddess Calypso who uses her powers of seduction to effectively imprison Odysseus for a period of 7 years clearly delaying his return home. Calypso highlights what is probably man's greatest weakness which can be described as a cocktail of temptation. and greed. Odysseus loses sight of his long-term mission and willingly allows himself to be seduced by the goddess in exchange for the comfortable lifestyle she can offer him and her temptingoffer of immortality if he were to remain with her. Soon, however, homesickness would fill his heart and every day he would find himself wandering the beaches staring at the water dreaming of leaving the island. His temptation had been his downfall and for 7 years he cried on the island dreaming of one day seeing Ithaca and his wife. After making the offer to her, Odysseus responds by saying, "Nevertheless, I long, I long, all my days, to return home and see the dawn of my return. And if a god shall cast me shipwreck once more upon the sea as dark as the wine, I can bear this too, with a spirit ready to bear.” (5.159.243-245) Which captures the idea that he is no longer willing to remain on this island, therefore, tipping the stereotypical balance of power between a man and woman in Greece at the time which is amplified by Odysseus' high status as an accomplished warrior and king, which makes it even more shocking that he finds himself so helpless in the situation with Calypso However, this image of Calypso as a powerful being coupled with her fierce reputation is quickly wasted as she is forced to submit to Zeus' wishes to let Odysseus return home despite her falling in love with him and not wanting him to leave is an interesting one because it gives the impression that the Greek patriarchal society also extends to the gods. You can feel the feeling of being helpless as she has her heart crushed by the desires of Zeus, even the feared and powerful goddess Calypso falls victim to the desires of the men who run the system and when she is given this order she says "You are incomparable lords of jealousy, be scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals, openly even when she has made man her husband.” (5.132-34) It is an interesting double standard to point out that male gods always sleep with mortal women, but when deities sleep with mortal men are despised, even if the man is their husband However, the most delicate double standard the standard is through Homer who inserts the joke about the husband as this draws your attention to the fact that while the wife of. Odysseus, Penelope, stays at home trying to outsmart her suitors and remains faithful to her husband who doesn't even know he is alive. Meanwhile, Odysseus manages to sleep with Calypso and other female characters in the epic without any consequences for his infidelity. . It happens with a sense of entitlement that makes the reader not even aware of the gross extent of his infidelity which should, in theory, taint his heroic image. If the roles had been reversed and a woman had been unfaithful to her husband, the outcome would have been very different, which again reflects the patriarchal society in which the book is set. After leaving the island, Odysseus finds himself encountering further obstacles in the world. form of women through Circe and the Sirens who try to lure sailors to their doom with their brilliant singing. It is a common theme that the woman is presented as distracting and evil but at the same time, we are introduced to Penelope who is undoubtedly one of the most important characters in the story. She is the main drive behind Odysseus' desire to return home and what the entire story essentially revolves around. Penelope is an extremely powerful character within the story, but not in the sense of her personal power or strength. Although she is described as intelligent enough to deceive suitors for some time with her trick of untying the shroud every night to buy more time for her husbands return the real power she has is her effect on Odysseus. Her place in his heart is one of the main motivations for returning home and is strong enough for him to reject the comfortable lifestyle with the goddess.