Women as Property in the Trojan War

¶ … Iliad is the tale of two male warriors, Hector and Achilles. Hector, a Trojan prince, fights nobly to defend his doomed city, even though the most powerful gods stand against him. Meanwhile Achilles, the Achaian warrior who knows he is fated to die in battle, must fight his own nature as well as his enemies. Women appear only in minor roles; there are no fully developed female characters among mortals or gods in The Iliad. When female characters do appear, they are typically portrayed in one of three ways: as property, as betrayers of men, and as devoted wives and mothers.

The idea of women as property lies at the very center of the Trojan War. The Achaians are fighting to reclaim Helen, wife of Menelaos, from Paris, son of Priam of Troy. Paris, in turn, believes it is his right to have Helen, pointing out that she was a "gift" to him from the goddess Aphrodite. Helen also seems to believe herself a pawn among powerful men and gods, with no hand in her own fate. "I know your heart is most heavy with this world of trouble about us -- all for my shame and his infatuation," she tells Hector (Book VI, 80). Disputes over the "ownership" of women also cause trouble within the Achaian camp. As The Iliad opens, the Achaians are suffering a plague because Agamemnon has taken Chryseus, the daughter of a priest of Apollo, as a war prize and is refusing to ransom her back to her father. When Achilles insists that Agamemnon return Chryseus to her father, Agamemnon takes Achilles' female war prize, Briseis, to make up for his loss. Achilles immediately withdraws himself and his army from the war. Later, when Agamemnon realizes his mistake and tries to apologize, he not only offers to return Briseis to Achilles, he also offers him, "seven women skillful in women's work" (Book IX, 105). Clearly, these warriors see women as chattel.

Women in The Iliad are also portrayed as betrayers. This is most clearly seen among the immortals. In Book XIV, for instance, the Trojans, who are temporarily supported by Zeus, are on the brink of driving the Achaians back to their ships. Hera, Zeus' wife who supports the cause of the Achaians, tricks Zeus and places a spell on him to lure him into an enchanted sleep. She then urges the god Poseidon to rally the Achaians to victory, which he does. When Zeus awakes and accuses Hera of treachery, she lies, "It is not my doing that Poseidon Earthshaker plagues Hector and the Trojans and helps the other side! I suppose his own temper moves him…" (Book XV, 175). Athena, too, plays the role of a betrayer in Book XXII. Achilles has rejoined the war and has challenged Hector to a duel. Hector flees in terror. Taking the shape of Hector's comrade, Deiphobos, Athena appears at his side and promises to help him battle Achilles. Hector takes heart and faces Achilles, realizing only too late that, "All is lost!…Deiphobos was at my side I thought -- but he is in the city and I have been deceived by Athena" (Book XXII, 261).