Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Feminism and the Power Struggle of Women in Ancient Greece...

Feminism and the power struggle of women in Ancient Greece Women are a very prominent part of the Greek society. Their role has influenced and shaped the Greek society to a very large extent. Women have been shown in many different lights in the Greek works of Odyssey and Iliad which we have covered in our class. The works that I will be citing in this essay, namely Homer’s poems Odyssey and Iliad talk about many prominent women such as Helen of Troy, Penelope and also many other Goddesses. Homer’s poems talk about the various traits of Greek women and portray their characteristics by describing their traits and the events they were involved in. Through this essay, I would like to illustrate how women were treated as objects of desire for†¦show more content†¦179, The Odyssey: The Story of Odysseus). Penelope is informed by the Queen of Ithaca that she has to weave a shroud for her dead husband before she remarries. In order to escape remarrying, Penelope cleverly kept weaving the same shroud that she weaved during the day, at night as well, which made the weaving of the shroud a never-ending activity. Another such incident penned by Homer, is the famous bow-stringing incident. Penelope’s husband Odysseus had a unique way of stringing his bow. When Penelope was swarmed by suitors, she tested each one of them by asking them to string the bow the same way her husband would. She was very confident that no one would be able to do that and believed in her husband’s unique ability. I personally feel that Penelope’s story is a great example of what kind of loyalty and faithfulness a woman should have towards her husband. Human beings are social animals, and we all have weaknesses; but overcoming these weaknesses is what makes our character stronger, and this is the point of Penelope that I admire the most. Unfortunately for Penelope, Odysseus was not as faithful as she was. On his long journey back home, Odysseus comes in contact with the witch Calypso and the sea nymph Circe. Although Calypso and Circe are shown to be villainous, there is no excuse for Odysseus’s infidelity with them. Calypso and Circe have special powers due to which Odysseus comes underShow MoreRelatedFeminism in Lysistrata1781 Words   |  8 PagesInstructor Date of submission Feminism in Ancient Greek Culture from the Perspective of Lysistrata Lysistrata is portrayed as a hero by Aristophanes and just as Antigone had played a social role in politics, so is Lysistrata portrayed. Most ancient Greek writers were people who had established themselves in the society. They were people of class, and when they wrote about women, they mostly wrote about women from their own social class. Women were shown to participate only in the domesticRead MoreThe Fight For Equal Rights Essay1753 Words   |  8 Pagesfight for equal rights has always been an ongoing struggle for women. 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