Women In Hesiod's Theogony And The Odyssey

The definition of a woman, is an adult human female. It is fair to say that all throughout history, women have not shared equal rights as men. Their worth is questionable in many ways, but are females not human like men are? Yes, they are, but there seems to be a belief that men will always have the upper hand. Even in the 21st century women are still not taken as serious as men. Even though women are learning how to earn more respect, and fight for equal rights. In both Hesiod’s Theogony, and Homers the Odyssey; both men chose to represent women in Greek society in a degrading way. Showing their views on what they believe a women’s worth was in Roman and Greek societies. Most women were not viewed as people who can make their own decisions;
Hesiod’s representation of women in the Roman and Greek society showed that he came off as a misogynist (a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women). He viewed women as being a punishment towards men, as he states from a poem saying “out of Zeus’ anger came Pandora” (Poetry). Hesiod also describes women as “precipitous traps, more than man can handle” (Womody). Which was also shown a bit in his writing of Theogony, talking about how the gods were created and basically looked up to Zeus as if no mortals or gods even really mattered. Homers representation of Greek women in the Odyssey was similar to Hesiod’s because women were represented as less equal towards men, even if it is their own child. Homer lets the women in his stories seem like they are not able to stand up for themselves. Homer makes Odysseus wife seem like a widow and less powerful than her son. Also women as well as goddesses were represented less than men; making Homer come off as a bit sexist. Unlike Euripides representation that completely shocked many viewers and readers. Considering Medea was not only one of the most vengeful plays from a females view, but it showed the little bit more respect women in Greek society had than in Roman societies. It is clear that Euripides made women seem more superior than they were known to be. Showing that women were looked upon as the bearer of children and the mother of their child. Children were noble and needed for men to know that they will have someone to take over their legacy; so women were more respected. Also Euripides let his female character get revenge, be jealous, and all at once get away with murder. That alone showed that the women in the Greek society were not ones to be messed with, and also treated with a bit more respect. Compared to Hesiod’s and Homers representation on women. Even though every author had