Throughout Homer’s Odyssey, the reader watches the change and strength of Odysseus, who serves as a classic example of a Homeric Greek man: strong, brave, eloquent, and wise.
But the Odyssey does more than paint a picture of what Greek men were supposed to be like; it shows the modern world the role that women played in Greek society at the time. This can be seen most clearly through the role Penelope plays in The Odyssey versus the role of women and wives in modern, Western society.Penelope, Odysseus’ wife serves as the most important female in The Odyssey, and shows the reader the role that women played in the household during this era. Odysseus fights to return home in order to be reunited with his wife, which shows that she is important enough that he is willing to risk his life for her. Odysseus is away from home, thought to be dead, and many suitors are itching to take his place, marrying Penelope and taking over the property that Odysseus owns.
Penelope, faithful to her husband, refuses to marry any of them, and waits instead for her husband, which shows her loyalty to Odysseus. This action shows that Homer believed that one of the main traits a woman should have in a marriage is to be faithful to her husband, even when it is hard for her. Penelope’s refusal to remarry shows not only loyalty, but a certain level of being subordinate: she does not want to risk moving on with her life if Odysseus is still alive. Additionally, Penelope is left at home with her and Odysseus’ son, Telemachus.
Although he is technically the man of the house, Telemachus is too immature and weak to be able to stand up to the suitors, and they take over his power. Still, Penelope refuses to remarry. In fact, she tricks the men by saying that she will chose a suitor once she is finished weaving a shroud for Laertes, her father-in-law; every night, however, she undoes the work she has done. Her trickery and cunning nature here shows that Homer believed that women could be manipulative, although it wasn’t always in a bad way.Penelope refused to remarry for the sake of her husband, both because she was loyal to him and did not want to risk him coming home and seeing her remarried (which would also, to a certain extent, provide Telemachus with a new father and male role model).
Penelope’s actions, although they could be seen as manipulative, were ultimately brave; she did what she had to for her husband, which shows that, in this era, women were expected to back up the men in their lives, regardless of what would make them (the wives) happy.Since the Odyssey was written, women have become more independent and their roles in marriages have become more equal to that of men. According to a 2010 report from the United States Department of Labor, 58. 6% of women above 16 were ‘labor force participants,’ and made up 47% of the United States labor force. Between 2008 and 2018, women are thought to be responsible for 51% of the increase in the labor force.
These figures show that women are already a significant portion of the labor force, a number that is expected to rise; they are leaving the more traditional roles of being homemakers (which Homer spelled out in the Odyssey).Additionally, these numbers show that women are not as reliant on men; because women are working, they are able to better support themselves and do not need to just stay home and take care of the children, which would not have happened in the time of the Odyssey. Outside of the work force, women have much more independence than they did in the times of the Odyssey. In the story, Odysseus leaves Penelope home for twenty years, and expects her to be there when she returns, and, because she is a loyal wife, Penelope does not remarry despite any emotional pain she is in due to Odysseus being far away.According to an article by Willard F Harvey, Jr, Ph.
D, the main reason that women leave men is due to “emotional cruelty,” which can be caused by a lack of empathy, understanding, or physical abandonment (which is exactly what happened in the Odyssey). As opposed to Penelope, these women see that their husbands are absent. Although they may still love their husbands, they do what is best for themselves and leave as to avoid further emotional pain.It is not that the women stopped loving their husbands or that they are no longer loyal; the women who leave husbands due to abandonment are simply watching out for their own emotional well being, which is something very few, if any, women would have done during the time of the Odyssey. Through the changing roles of women in the work place and the reasons women typically leave their husbands, one can see that there are drastic changes between the role of women in society between the time of the Odyssey and modern day society.
