Two Godesses and A Woman Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout history, women have been looked at as the lesser gender, mortal or immortal. They are always stereotyped as not equally important as men. I strongly resist with this idea, especially in the news The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Homer suggests that the women characters in the book are more important than the characters of men despite their stereotype. He portrays this with the characters of Penelope, Kalypso, and Kirke. They are important because they are a large part of the story. The virtually important woman in this book is Penelope, mainly because of her craftiness and intelligence. Her guile and intelligence make her important because they put her at a much-needed kind advantage over the suitors. An example of her guile and intelligence is the instance of the plow she wove for Laertes. When Antinoos is talking to Telemakhos about how Telemakhoss mother, Penelope, tricked the suitors by weaving and unweaving the shroud to revoke marrying a suitor, he says, We have mens hearts she affected them we agreed. So all day she wove on the great loom- but every night by torchlight she unwove it and so for three years she deceived the Akhains.(2111-114). As a result of doing this, Penelope delayed having to marry one of the suitors for almost quad years. It gave Odysseus more time to get home. Another example of Penelopes guile and intelligence is when she tested Odysseus when she was first reunited with him. She tested him by copulation Eurykleia to make up his bed...