Being a Woman
Being a Woman
Contents
1. Introduction
2. “The Hymn to Demeter” vs “Odyssey
3. Homeric representation of gender roles
4. Conclusion
Introduction
Homer is a famous and mysterious figure in the ancient literature who made a significant contribution in the development of literature of all times. His personality and existence is the subject for numerous discussions since some specialists consider that he did not live at all but despite these arguments the importance of works, which are known as works by Homer, is not less significant.
Homeric works are characterized by description of ancient Greek traditions, beliefs, stereotypes. At this respect the attitude to women and their role in the society seem to be very interesting to analyze in the context of his works, such as “The Hymn to Demeter” and “The Odyssey”. These two works represent a gradual evolution on the role of women in society that will be discussed in terms of this paper.
“The Hymn to Demeter” vs “Odyssey”
On comparing two works by Homer, “The Hymn to Demeter” and “The Odyssey”, it should be said that they represent the transition of views from initially matriarchal prevailing to the new patriarchic views where the role of women becomes more dependable on men. Nonetheless, there may be found a lot of common features that make both works similar.
In fact “The Hymn to Demeter” depicts women to a certain extent dominating and controlling people. obviously in this work the traces of the matriarchal epoch are very strong because the Goddesses, namely Demeter, are so influential that even Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon feels a kind of apprehension from her part. She is so influential that “she would have destroyed whole race of men and would have deprived Olympians of splendid honor of gifts and sacrifices” (The Hymn to Demeter). The reason is that at that epoch women Goddesses as well as women at large were traditionally associated with fertility consequently in such a context Demeter’s
Contents
1. Introduction
2. “The Hymn to Demeter” vs “Odyssey
3. Homeric representation of gender roles
4. Conclusion
Introduction
Homer is a famous and mysterious figure in the ancient literature who made a significant contribution in the development of literature of all times. His personality and existence is the subject for numerous discussions since some specialists consider that he did not live at all but despite these arguments the importance of works, which are known as works by Homer, is not less significant.
Homeric works are characterized by description of ancient Greek traditions, beliefs, stereotypes. At this respect the attitude to women and their role in the society seem to be very interesting to analyze in the context of his works, such as “The Hymn to Demeter” and “The Odyssey”. These two works represent a gradual evolution on the role of women in society that will be discussed in terms of this paper.
“The Hymn to Demeter” vs “Odyssey”
On comparing two works by Homer, “The Hymn to Demeter” and “The Odyssey”, it should be said that they represent the transition of views from initially matriarchal prevailing to the new patriarchic views where the role of women becomes more dependable on men. Nonetheless, there may be found a lot of common features that make both works similar.
In fact “The Hymn to Demeter” depicts women to a certain extent dominating and controlling people. obviously in this work the traces of the matriarchal epoch are very strong because the Goddesses, namely Demeter, are so influential that even Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon feels a kind of apprehension from her part. She is so influential that “she would have destroyed whole race of men and would have deprived Olympians of splendid honor of gifts and sacrifices” (The Hymn to Demeter). The reason is that at that epoch women Goddesses as well as women at large were traditionally associated with fertility consequently in such a context Demeter’s