Preview

Similarities Between The Odyssey And Euripides

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
551 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Similarities Between The Odyssey And Euripides
Homer's The Odyssey and Euripides' Medea offer a glimpse into how women were treated and expected to behave in Ancient Greece. The Odyssey introduced us to Penelope, Odysseus' wife. Although Odysseus is presumed dead for many years, she remains loyal to her husband. Long after Homer's death, Euripides uses epic poetry and theater media to portray women through Medea in Medea in a time before mass-media. Medea was taken from her homeland in Asia to marry Jason. However, her marriage fell apart and Medea was left to handle the fallout. Both Medea and Penelope were strong women figures but for different reasons.

Penelope expressed her strength by keeping faithful to her husband. For years, she was pestered and taken advantage of by the suitors.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Women in Ancient Greece were often seen as inferior and unintelligent, they quite rarely made impacting decisions. Women were not allowed to own property or have a job that could earn them real money, they legally belonged to their father or husband. Despite the lack of power women had in Ancient Greece, Homer did not take that into account while writing. In The Odyssey, women are critical to Odysseus’ trials, and successes.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One day, in the far away land of Olympia, lived two gods named Zeus and Poseidon. Zeus and Poseidon are brothers, but Poseidon prefers not to be seen by other mortals or gods. Therefore, he was already mad Zeus for bringing him to Olympia, but little did they both know that it was about to all go down hill. Just before Zeus pulled Poseidon out of the ocean, he saw a mortal girl named Ara. Ara is a very beautiful woman and most people are attracted to her. Besides the fact that Zeus has already had three affairs, he had to win over the heart of Ara. That leaves us where we are now with Zeus and Poseidon. Poseidon is now out of the ocean and refused to go into town.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus is sent to Troy to help fight the Trojans in order to win back Helen. In order to help the Greeks Odysseus must leave his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. Odysseus was gone for many years and in that time face many problems as well as when he was back in Ithaca. Medea is a sorceress who falls in love with Jason and helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her father and escape. Medea and Jason safely reach Greece are married and have two children, but Jason leaves Medea to marry a new bride and become king. Medea is the protagonist of Euripides’s play Medea she is comparable to Odysseus from Homer’s epic The Odyssey in that they both are faced with many problems, but the way in which they handle the situations sets the two apart.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At last, Odysseus broke down and wept into Penelope, his faithful and loyal wife, who he had yearned for twenty years. Few men can return after twenty years to find their wives still faithful and loving the way Odysseus had. The two hugged for what seemed like forever, and rejoiced, for the battle and difficulties were now behind them. For the first time in twenty years, Odysseus and Penelope enjoyed a blissful night and exchanged an endless number of stories. It was as though twenty years had come and gone, and nothing had changed. They were still the power couple everyone dreamed to be.…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people have noticed the similarities between The Odyssey by Homer, and O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen Brothers. Both characters exhibit perseverance at great lengths and many other things throughout their journeys. There are many things in common between the two main characters. Both are away from their homes for a long time and are leaving loved ones behind. Their journeys were very similar but different at the same time. Two things may be very similar but things are bound to be different.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within each passage, both Homer and Atwood depict Sirens with immense differences through the use of tone. The Odyssey has a strong component intensity and urgency throughout the entire piece. Starting with, “… Our trim ship speeding toward the Sirens’ island,” setting the stage for later on when Homer’s, “Heart inside [him] throbbed to listen… [to] their urgent call,” concludes the passage with a powerful tone of clear intensity. Meanwhile, the second poem, Song of Seiren, includes an urgency only within the song, “Help me! Only you, only you can,” the rest of the poem has an air of nonchalance and indifference. This is due to the differing points of view of each poem. The Odyssey is told by Odysseus, a male sailor who barely skims by the…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Jean-Pierre Vernant’s, The Universe, The Gods, and Men, women are primarily portrayed as seductresses. These women create problems for Odysseus in Homer’s story, The Odyssey. Some examples of this would be through women like Calypso, who held men against their will, Circe, a dangerous woman who practiced sorcery and the Sirens, who lure men to their death. All together these women caused many problems to Odysseus and other men.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Odyssey” is a story about a King named Odysseus, who goes off to lead a war and is separated from his family and kingdom for 20 years. While he is away for so many years his son grows up into a man and helps his mother; Odysseus’ wife, Penelope rules the kingdom. After many years of Odysseus being gone, suitors or “wooers” arrive trying to win over the queen. When Odysseus gets back he brutally slaughters everyone who was involved with the suitor’s plans, including the innocent servant women, who were working in his castle at the time.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most of the women in the book of Odysseus were deceiving to the men and trying to betray them but there was one woman who was not like that, Penelope---- Odysseus wife. She waits on him patiently and faithfully for him to return home no matter how hard it got. “Oh, yes indeed, she remains in your halls, her heart enduring the bitter days and nights. But the honor that was yours has not passed to any man” (Odysseys, book 11,…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, who is the main character in the Odyssey by Homer. She is the daughter of Icarus and Peritonea. She gave birth to Telemachus the day Odysseus was called to fight at the Trojan War. She waited for twenty years for her husband to return. Even when she was told that…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Helen In The Odyssey

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Odyssey is mainly about men and their heroic triumphs and mighty deaths, which cast a shadow over the strong women. Most of the women are thought to be either motherly figures or romantic interests, but in truth, they are so much more, just like in present day society. Perhaps the most strong of all mortal characters is Penelope, the loyal wife of Odysseus. Although she is bombarded with suitors who stay at her house, she has managed to not give in.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although it is clear women in Homer’s The Odyssey are hierarchically lower than men, and have to follow societal norms and the orders of men, women also have the power to disrupt and distract Odysseus’ journey home.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Greeks had a poor and dark view on what happened to them once they died. They did not have a place where they their souls went to rest in peace. Instead, they went to where they were tortured for the rest of their immortal lives. This is shown in both epics, The Odyssey by Homer and The Aeneid by Virgil. In the Odyssey Odysseus into the underworld and you get his count on the awfulness of Hades, and too Aeneas goes to the underworld and you see the different parts and find out the meaning of each section. Both texts have similarities and differences on the interpretations of the after lives of greeks. Throughout time Greeks have changed their understandings of…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Both Fifth century B.C. playwright Euripides and Roman poet and dramatist Ovid tell the story of Jason ditching Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female matron's traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to injustice by beginning a crusade to avenge all who harmed her which she is prepared to see through even if it means resorting to the most contemptible methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less extreme figure whose humble goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these differences, both Medeas create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in regrettable situations.…

    • 1553 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not only was the point of view of the story teller important in reading both The Odyssey and The Penelopiad, but the perspective regarding the time period in which the stories were written also provides much insight regarding the credibility of the events. The Penelopiad portray opposing views of the events that took place between Odysseus and Penelope. The Odyssey is told from a perspective consistent with the mindsets of that time period regarding a woman’s place in society. While in The Penelopiad, the novella is told from Penelope’s point of view, and includes more modern perspective and feminist ideals regarding roles of women. Atwood takes the modern perspective head on as “The novel unravels the influence of society, including family,…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays