The Position Of Poverty

Listen, my lords. You have fastened on the house, in the long absence of its master, as the scene of your perpetual feasts, and you could offer no better pretext for you conduct than you wish to win my hand in marriage.

That being the prize, come forward now, my gallant lords; for I challenge you to try your skill on the great bow of King Odysseus. And whichever man among you proves the handiest at stringing the bow and shoots an arrow through every one of the twelve axes, with that man I will go, bidding goodbye to this house which welcomed me as a bride, this lovely house so full of all good things, this home that even in my dreams I never shall forget.’Question: how did the quest of Achilles affect women? consider penelope, elec tra, chrysothemis, hecuba, helen, lysistrata.Answer: Achilles was not a wonderful blessing for women.

Electra and Chrysothemis were the sisters of Iphigenia. Iphigenia was promised as the bride of Achilles so she would go to Aulis where she was sacrificed to Artemis. Helen’s husband Paris killed Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow. Hecuba’s daughter Polyxena was scrificed on the grave of Achilles to satisfy his ghost. This sacrifice was one of the sacrileges that delayed Odysseus’ return to Penepole. Lysistrata was encouraged by the disgusting example of Achilles to stop the war.

Question: What are the strength and weakness of Penelope in Odyssey and of that time period?Answer: Her great strength was her constancy. Her husband had left her well provided for. She was beautiful, and talented as well. Her main weakness was that she cried a lot while her husband was gone.Question: Why was Penelope an exceptional Greek women? ThanksAnswer: Penelope waited for her husband to return from the war even 20 years. This is in spite of the fact that she had plenty of money and could have chosen another husband easily.

In fact fifty or more suitors wanted, and expected her to do this. But she remained loyal to her husband. The first ten years was not so hard because there was news from Troy and Odysseus was always par of it. The second ten years was harder because Odysseus was hidden on the Island of Ogygia and everyone thought he was probably drowned.

Question: what is an OdysseyAnswer: An odyssey is a long wondering or series of travels like the journey the Odysseus took on his way home from Troy. An Odyssey does not have an interesting destination; the interest lies in the adventures along the way.Question: How is Penelope diffrent from the role of women in Acnient Greek timeAnswer: Penelope is a queen who possesses considerable property. She also determines who will be king. During the classical period there were no queens and women were not allowed to own property in most of Greece. When Clytemnestra was killed, the practice of determining the king by who the queen married, was ended.

Question: what is the role of the women in the OdyessyAnswer: The suggestion is that the Odyssey is the allegory of a heroic journey through life. Many of the women, then, represent the natural challenges that a life faces. Some of the women, such as Syclla and Charybdis are monsters representing natural forces. Other women, such as Circe, Calypso, and Ino are goddesses representing spiritual qualities.

These goddesses, as well at Athena, hark back to a time when women held more power. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, represents an ideal of constancy in mortal women.Question: penelope’s role in the odysseyAnswer: One important role is that she anchors the kingship of Ithaca. At the time of the Trojan war kings were determined by a matrilinial scheme. Penelope was the queen and Odysseus became king by marrying Penelope.

If Penelope were to give up on Odysseus then the man she married would become king of Ithaca. The wooers were hoping she would choose one of them.She was also an example of the benefit of familial love. It was the case that during the Trojan wars many of the soldiers won women as prizes. The women thus won were no better than slaves. If they were valued for sex then they were used for sex.

Some women were valued for their skills such as nursing, or cooking. These women became servants in the warrior’s home. Before the Trojan war Agamemnon and Clytemnestra were king and queen of Mycenae. They were separated by the Trojan war for over 10 years.

You can only imagine how Clytemnestra must have felt when Agamemnon returned with Cassandra, one of the most beautiful and intelligent women in the world, as a prize. There was no familial love here. And if Agamemnon was to remain king he would have to keep Clytemnestra happy because of the matrilinial nature of his kingship. It is no wonder Clytemnestra killed him.

Now compare this situation to the one with Odysseus and Penelope.Penelope could have chosen a husband from one of the wooers. Her new husband would be king. He would then take care of her and kill Odysseus if he returned.

Odysseus could have stayed with Calypso forever. But since Penelope and Odysseus shared a familial love for one another, she confounded the wooers, and he came home with gifts, but no women prizes.Another role Penelope had was to recognize Odysseus. Because Penelope and Odysseus loved one another, their intimacy allowed her to know things about Odysseus that other persons did not know. She provided the test of the bow not to find which wooer was best, but to find which one was Odysseus.