Homer's Odyssey takes place 10 years after the Trojan War, which would mean that the stories set in the epic are dated to around 1170 BC . We are living in times that are arguably unrecognizable by current standards in many parts of the world in terms of the models society adopts and the roles both genders play in contributing to society. Ancient Greece was a very patriarchal society where men were often considered the dominant sex. This is seen by the fact that women are often denied basic rights such as education in fields such as literature and philosophy, which were rather reserved for the men in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Rather, women were expected to be good housewives or daughters to their husbands or fathers, who were often the determining factor in their worth, as very little worth was placed on women alone. This allowed many women of the time to learn household skills such as cooking, weaving and sewing clothes. It is extremely important to understand the context of the time in which the epic is set to fully appreciate the way Homer plays with the idea of ​​gender roles and the balance of power throughout the book. One of the first characters and women we are introduced to in the epic, Athena, goddess of wisdom, courage, strategy, and skill, to name just a few feats. It is she who first mentions the situation with Ulysses. Although the assembled gods collectively condemn the man for his immodesty by blaming the gods for their misfortune, she speaks out by asserting that her "heart breaks for Odysseus" and, therefore, can convince the gods that he is in their interest in intervening and trying to guide him. Through this opening passage, Homer is able to portray Athena as a powerful woman by the way she instantly gives direction to the story, a theme that is constantly echoed throughout the epic. She almost becomes a vessel for transporting the story, as many crucial elements of the epic can only come together through her. For example, it is she who tells Telemachus that he must set sail and travel in search of his father's words, which in turn places Telemachus in his own psychological story of growth and discovery and when he is having trouble finding a crew to help her set up. Sail on, it's Athena who uses her disguise skills to disguise herself as a prince and gather a crew for Telemachus who is ready and waiting for her. Through these passages we can see her powers as an instigator of events and how well equipped she is to make her wishes come true. Her status is lower than most gods, but through her ability to speak and negotiations, she can get what she wants. This, combined with her godlike disguise abilities, makes her an extremely powerful and potentially even dangerous character if one were to. cross it the wrong way Another way women are depicted in the epic is as temptresses. They are often used as distractions, delaying Odysseus's journey or, in some cases, even attempting to completely destroy him and his crew. The best example of this is the goddess Calypso who uses her powers of seduction to imprison Odysseus for a period of 7 years, clearly delaying his return home. Calypso emphasizes what is arguably man's greatest weakness, which can be described as acocktail of temptation. and greed. Odysseus loses sight of his long-term mission and willingly allows himself to be seduced by the goddess in exchange for the comfortable lifestyle she can provide him as well as her tempting offer of immortality should she remain with her. However, homesickness would soon fill his heart and every day he would find himself wandering the beaches staring at the water dreaming of leaving the island. His temptation had been his downfall and for 7 years he cried on the island dreaming of one day seeing Ithaca and his wife again. After making him an offer, Odysseus responds by saying: “Nevertheless, I long – I long, all my days – to return home and see the dawn of my return. And if a god wants to destroy me once more on the wine sea, I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure. (5.159.243-245) Which captures the idea that he no longer voluntarily stays on this island, thus overturning the stereotypical balance of power between a man and a woman in Greece at the time, amplified by the high status of Odysseus as a well-established warrior and king, which makes it all the more shocking that he finds himself so powerless against Calypso. However, this image of Calypso as a powerful being coupled with her fierce reputation is quickly squandered as she is forced to submit to Zeus's wishes to let Odysseus return home as she falls in love with him and does not want him leaves. This passage is interesting because it gives the impression that the patriarchal society of Greece extends even to the gods. You can feel the feeling of being helpless as she is heartbroken by Zeus's wishes. Even the fearsome and powerful goddess Calypso falls victim to the wishes of the men who run the system and when she receives this order, she says "You are without equal." lords of jealousy, scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals, even when man has been made her husband. (5.132-34) It's an interesting double standard to point out that male gods always sleep with mortal women, but when female gods sleep with mortal men, they are looked down upon, even if the man is their husband. The standard is that Homer places the line on the husband, because it draws your attention to the fact that while Odysseus' wife Penelope stays at home trying to outwit the suitors and remains faithful to her husband whom she doesn't even know he's alive. Meanwhile, Odysseus is able to sleep with Calypso and other female characters in the epic without any consequences for his infidelity. This happens with a sense of entitlement that makes the reader not even aware of the gross scale of his infidelity that should, in theory, taint his heroic image. If the roles had been reversed and a woman had been unfaithful to her husband, the outcome would have been very different, which is again an interesting reflection of the patriarchal society in which the book takes place. After leaving the island, Odysseus once again finds himself facing more obstacles in life. form of women through Circe and the Sirens who try to lure sailors to their doom with their brilliant songs. It is a common theme that the woman is presented as distracting and mean, but at the same time we are introduced to Penelope who is arguably one of the most important characters in the story. She is the main driving force behind Odysseus's desire to return home and so the whole story essentially revolves around him. Penelope is an extremely powerful character in the story, but not in the sense of her power or personal strength. Although she is described as intelligent enough to fool the suitors for a time with her trick of undoing the shroud each night to give him.