Women in The Odyssey
If Godly Odysseus Can’t Handle Women, How Can I?
ENG201 – 0
World Literary Masterpieces I
Dr. Elizabeth S. Oldman
October 10, 2013
Conflict is the cornerstone for every tale, epic and anecdote, and has been even before written word. Without conflict, in essence, there is nothing to talk about, no interest, no engine to drive the characters towards an ending. Said conflict can come from many source; however, the most common conflicts can come from some form of a breach of decorum or propriety. This is defined as “correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners” or “behavior that is accepted as socially or morally correct and proper” by Merriam-Webster. In a literary sense, this is when a character doesn’t meet the expectations of their position or role that is considered “normal”. Typical gender roles are a huge standard that is more or less understood by the general population of a culture. There is an idea of how men act in comparison to women and the differences between them.
In Homer’s machismo filled, male-centric The Odyssey, basically a Rambo for the 8th century B.C., it is in fact the women he meets along his journey that are the sails of this warship. The two women who really stand out the most to me are Calypso and Circe: both powerful beings and powerful women. They brought about some of the most memorable turning points in the plot for me, mainly because it had the most emotion that was softer, going against the grain of constant battle, conflict, and overall chaos. Because of the powers these two have, they hold the ability to turn the tides of the epic almost as much as any of the gods who interfere with the protagonist, Odysseus.
Calypso is the greater example of a break in decorum, because Circe does actually fall back into the weaker role more expected of a woman in the presence of a man of Odysseus’ stature. What’s even more interesting to expand on my
ENG201 – 0
World Literary Masterpieces I
Dr. Elizabeth S. Oldman
October 10, 2013
Conflict is the cornerstone for every tale, epic and anecdote, and has been even before written word. Without conflict, in essence, there is nothing to talk about, no interest, no engine to drive the characters towards an ending. Said conflict can come from many source; however, the most common conflicts can come from some form of a breach of decorum or propriety. This is defined as “correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners” or “behavior that is accepted as socially or morally correct and proper” by Merriam-Webster. In a literary sense, this is when a character doesn’t meet the expectations of their position or role that is considered “normal”. Typical gender roles are a huge standard that is more or less understood by the general population of a culture. There is an idea of how men act in comparison to women and the differences between them.
In Homer’s machismo filled, male-centric The Odyssey, basically a Rambo for the 8th century B.C., it is in fact the women he meets along his journey that are the sails of this warship. The two women who really stand out the most to me are Calypso and Circe: both powerful beings and powerful women. They brought about some of the most memorable turning points in the plot for me, mainly because it had the most emotion that was softer, going against the grain of constant battle, conflict, and overall chaos. Because of the powers these two have, they hold the ability to turn the tides of the epic almost as much as any of the gods who interfere with the protagonist, Odysseus.
Calypso is the greater example of a break in decorum, because Circe does actually fall back into the weaker role more expected of a woman in the presence of a man of Odysseus’ stature. What’s even more interesting to expand on my