Literature overview and analysis

¶ … role of women in "The Odyssey," by Homer, by discussing our well-defined thesis based on the Odysseus' temptations in life. The Works Cited five sources in MLA format.

Role of Women in Homer's Odyssey

The lexical meanings of the word epic are though many but all discuss the same notion. However, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, an epic is "an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero or a literary or dramatic composition that resembles an extended narrative poem celebrating heroic feats." Hence, Homer, a distinguished Greek literary figure whose poetic as well as heroic works considerably influenced the Western Literature of even today, produced intricate but moralistic epic legends of his times. Little is known about the "life history of this principle figure of ancient Greek literature, the first European poet," dates back to 700 B.C, residing in "Asia Minor" (Homer, Encyclopedia 7th Edition). Although Homeric Hymns are inaccurately credited to him, Homer produced Iliad and Odyssey, two epic poems with "dactylic hexameter and are of nearly the same length" (Homer, Encyclopedia 7th Edition).

Homer produced Odyssey after he unfolded the undertakings of the Trojan War that the Greeks fought and won the crusade that lasted for ten years with the help of their audacious and heroic warriors. The epic Odyssey revolves around the gallant hero of Homer's work, Odysseus, his daring moves on the field of battle, his manly style and the shortcomings of his character. Hence, our research, information and analysis throughout the paper will be based upon the following thesis statement:

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a hero's hero and a man amongst men, although his greatest weakness is the temptation of women.

The following passages of our research paper will discuss the Odyssey's protagonist, Odysseus by analyzing his actions as well as his temptation of women, thereby examining the way the role of women is Homeric society is depicted in Homer's epic.

What equips Homer's Odyssey with thrill and enlightenment apart from Homer's poetic manner to describe serious things in a lighthearted way is the hero Odysseus of Homer's epic (Odysseus, the Hero). After Achilles, Iliad's hero, Odysseus is the famous icon of Greek heroism. He certainly appears to be a hero's hero and a man's man, for Odysseus had all that it takes to be a hero and to perform accordingly; the prowess to fight on the battle field with courage, confidence, tolerance and most of all tactics. All the chapters of Odyssey provide sufficient evidence to its readers to consider Odysseus sensible and wise for he displayed the qualities of an intellectual man with "an inquiring mind and outstanding prowess and bravery" (Odysseus, the Hero). His muscular strength that made him a superior athlete (Odysseus, the Hero) strengthens our belief as well as advocates our thesis statement that considers Odysseus as the man amongst men. Blessed with the ability to weigh all the pros and cons and wait for the right moment to make a sensible and most expedient move makes Odysseus a rational individual (Odysseus, the Hero), unlike many heroic warriors like Achilles who are impatient and highly sentimental. The translucent example of his utter tolerant nature is when the hero dressed and disguised as a beggar leaves for Ithaca and patiently waits to reveal his real self at the right time (Odysseus, the Hero). The long poetic work of Homer is full with examples of Odysseus's valor.

However like all other human beings, Odysseus was not the perfect man. He displayed qualities that stood in the path of righteousness and ceased his way to quick victory. One weakness of character that he displayed, which procrastinated his expedition back to Ithaca was his inability to control his inflated ego (Odysseus, The Hero). Odysseus took pride in what he achieved however he was far from being humble about what he possessed. This is obtrusive in the event that followed on the Cyclope's Island. With exaggerated pride that he took in his accomplishment, Odysseus boasted his feat of saving all men on the island, which provoked Polythemus to throw massive rocks in the same direction in which Odysseus's ship was traveling (Odysseus, The Hero). This hurt the proud hero and compelled him to reveal his actual self to Polythumus that resulting in the irreparable loss of a good few human lives; lives of those innocent soldiers who complied with the orders given by Polythemus to harm Odysseus and his men (Odysseus, The Hero). Since, Poseidon created hurdles in the way of Odysseus, thereby injuring the arrogant hero's pride, he was made to admonish and execute those men who dared to challenge Odysseus (Odysseus, The Hero).

However, the biggest weakness that uncovered the dark facet of Odysseus's charismatic personality was his lust for women, strong sexual desires and the way he thought of the weaker sex. His attitude towards women and his strong temptation of the submissive sex reveals the depiction of the various roles that women were supposed to play and how they were treated in the world back then when Homer witnessed the evils and the injustices of his society. He greatly enjoyed the women sensuality and therefore preferred spending quality time with Circe for an entire year to going back home until his soldiers convinced him that he is needed in Ithaca. Considering Calypso immortal and the powers attributed to her, Odysseus stayed with her for seven years in order to both indulge into sexual activities and to please the woman so that she doesn't plan to hurt him or his people. This shows the biased and full-of-filth-and-disgust kind of an attitude towards women of men belonging to Homeric culture.

Hence, Homer in Odyssey uses seductresses as the possible motifs where motifs are "recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes" (Themes, Motifs and Symbols). Homer has used this role of women to express his notions regarding men of those days and to append a moral for the existing youth and the generations to come. Homer explains the pitfalls of temptations through the sensuality that men like Odysseus searched for in women to satisfy their immoral desires.