In the time of Ancient Greece a man named Home wrote one of the most influential works of human history. This Epic tale has been acclaimed for it's influence on modern literature and its historical description of life during his time period. One important theme from this Ancient Epic is Homers description of women during the Dark Ages. he women in Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and relationship towards men. All women in this epic are different, but all of them help to define the role of the ideal woman.…
* Calypso was a beautiful goddess-nymph. She was a dominating goddess that dreamed of marrying Odysseus. Odysseus stayed on her island for 7 years. Calypso offered him immortality but Odysseus refused. Calypso helped Odysseus because once he regained his old power she also gave him the power of timelessness, nature and death.…
Out of all of Odysseus' difficulties whilst trying to get home yo Ithaca, women were the source of a few. Calypso was hindrance to him as she kept home captive on her island for several years. However, after Zeus sent Hermes to ask Calypso to let Odysseus go, she helps him to continue on his journey. Calypso assists him with things such as building a raft to bring him to his next location. The sirens also cause problems for Odysseus as he has to take special precautions whilst sailing past their island. Odysseus and his crew have difficulties with Circe as they search her island. She misleads his crew and turns them into pigs along with the many other animals she keeps with her. Odysseus looses men whilst sailing past the cliff that inhabits the six headed monster Scylla. She is able to steal men off ships passing by with each of her heads. Even the whirlpool Charybdis is a problem for Odysseus as she distracts his men. While they are distracted Scylla snatched men from the ship.…
Calypso would be the main women to hinder Odysseus and source many difficulties for Odysseus as she captured him and kept him on her island for 7 years. Without Athene mentioning this to Odysseus there probably would not have been an epic poem. Calypso caused Odysseus many difficulties as he longed to go home and…
Each of the sources suggests certain aspects about the roles that women played in Ancient Greek society. Three things it suggests about women are that not all women were of the same social status, women were generally used as slaves or laborers, but were still a vital part to Grecian society.…
Odysseus is held captive by Calypso, a nymph, for seven years on her island—where she falls madly in love with him but he is not taken by her at first. Over the course of the seven years, Odysseus is drawn under Calypso’s powers and becomes unfaithful towards his wife and has an affair with Calypso—one of many. Odysseus acting out in this manner can be seen as a way of being lost because this is Odysseus being confused of how he feels towards Calypso, but he…
Odysseus has many experiences with female characters such as Scylla, Circe, Sirens, and Calypso. In order to overcome these obstacles Odysseus had to go threw many difficulties. He ended up having affairs with Calypso and Circe. To overcome these obstacles he left them for Penelope. When Odysseus was stranded on Circe’s island he tried to escape waiting for boats to save him. He came in contact with many other female characters also after he escaped.…
Odysseus is trapped on the island Ogygia by the goddess Calypso who wants him to be her husband.…
Many people regard Homer's epics as war storiesstories about men; those people often overlook the important roles that women play in the Odyssey. While there are not many female characters in the Odyssey, the few that there are, play pivotal roles in the story and one can gain a lot of insight by analyzing how those women are portrayed. Homer portrays the females in contradictory ways: the characters of Athena and Eurykleia are given strong, admirable roles while Melantho, the Sirens and Circe are depicted in a much more negative way. Penelopethe central female characteris given both negative and positive attributes.…
The Odyssey, by Homer, is an epic poem based on the story of an ancient Greek hero, Odysseus, and his twenty year journey—ten years spent fighting in the Trojan War and the other ten spent traveling home. In the poem, Homer presents the theme of the role and nature of women. Men were the dominant gender in ancient Greece, and women, who were inferior, were only valued for their beauty and their ability to reproduce. However, in this poem, Homer both exemplifies and defies those standards by presenting certain female characters with qualities that show the various stereotypes in ancient Greek society. Through several of the female characters, Homer portrays women in three different ways. The first type of woman is the bad, disloyal woman, such as Cyltemnestra and Melantho the maidservant. Other women are portrayed as the manipulative seductress, such as Calypso and Circe. The third type of women is the good, faithful, intelligent woman. These women include characters such as Queen Arete, Nausicaa and, above all, Odysseus’ wife Penelope. Homer uses these characters to depict the several ways in which women were viewed by society.…
At the time of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, society treats women differently from men, though the women possess as many or more admirable qualities than their male counterparts. This applies to Odysseus' wife, Penelope, as well as Arete and Circe, all of whom embody power, an important characteristic in Ancient Greek society. The impressive yet often overlooked traits of Penelope, Arete, and Circe reveal the true natures of these powerful women and their influence over Odysseus in his journey throughout The Odyssey.…
Calypso fell in love with Odysseus and wants to marry him. She was possessed by her ‘love’ for Odysseus. Although Odysseus did not love her back she would not give up on keeping him there. Ogygia is Calypso’s island that she rules over. She uses her irresistible body to keep him there. Since she is a Goddess, she has the power to make him immortal. Odysseus refuses her offer because if he took the offer to become immortal, he would have to stay on the island with Calypso for the rest of his life. Calypso kept him in the back caves trying to get him to forget his life and stay with her. It was starting to work until Athena showed up and talked sense into Odysseus.…
The common view in ancient societies was often that this was a world of men; that women were inferior. There is often debate on the role of women in society, but in reality, women play an important role in any type of society, whether it be good or bad. Women in ancient Greece, China, and the Roman Empire were able to exercise influence into their culture despite the discrimination toward them. Although each society was different, women shared similar influences in their power, and restrictions in the aspect of marriage. Although most of these ancient cultures viewed women similarly, of these three locations, the women in the Roman Empire had it best.…
On his way home to Ithaca, Odysseus gets shipwrecked on the nymph, Calypso’s, island. She didn’t want him to leave, but, instead, to be her lover forever. If not for Athena, Odysseus would have been held miserable by Calypso’s infatuation with him. Instead, when Athena saw Odysseus’ melancholy she wanted to help him. So when the time came, she begged son of Cronus, Zeus, “Have you no care for him in your lofty heart? . . . If now it pleases the gods then wise Odysseus should return home” (pg. 80). Because of her willpower to help Odysseus, She convinced All Mighty Zeus to force Calypso’s hands off of Odysseus.…
The Iliad and The Odyssey are tales written by Homer centered on the drama of the Trojan War. First poem deals with the time during the end of the war, while the latter, which occurs roughly ten years later, explains the disastrous journey of Odysseus fighting his way back home. The character of women in the Odyssey is to exhibit the many and diverse roles that women play in the lives of men. These functions vary from characters such as the goddess ' that help them to the nymphs who trick them. Women in the Iliad exhibit their significance in the lives of the ancient Greeks because they are so prominent in a world so dominated with military relations.…