Woman in Greek Novels (oydessey and Lysistrata)

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes. In Greek culture, it was socially known and accepted that women took the back seat in many ways and situations. Men were always the most dominant gender; women were appreciated for their fertility, however, much inferior. Money, government decisions, wars, fighting; basically, men occupied all of the important roles and decisions. In some works of ancient Greek times, however, women were uncharacteristically accented and highlighted in roles of importance, control, power, and intelligence. Two of these renowned works are The Odyssey by Homer, and Lysistrata by Aristophanes. The powerful women presented in these texts are Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, Circe, witch-goddess, Calypso, Penelope, and Lysistrata. One characteristic that these women all have in common is that they can be seen as women superheroes of their time with sex as their weapon of choice. In both of these works, an apparent, and curious, theme comes across of how women in Greek literature use their sexuality to manipulate men, defying the traditional role of women, but are also ultimately testing them. ¬

In Homer's Odyssey, the main character Odysseus, a hometown hero, is on a multi-decade journey in the quest to return home. Along his journey, many things delay his return, especially because of his bad association with the god Poseidon. Explain briefly bad assoc. While fighting against what seems the impossible in raging seas, Odysseus also encounters two women who end up becoming catalysts to his slow crawl back to Ithaca. J. Griffin describes these women as, "Each represents a type and offers a different relationship, to which the wandering hero might have abandoned himself, forgetting his wife and home. That he resists them all brings out his unconquerable resolution, the central fact of the Odyssey"(Griffin).

The first place Odysseus was trapped was the island of Ogygia, home of Calypso. With being separated from his crewmen, and alone on the island, Calypso, who is also referred to as "the nymph", falls in love with Odysseus. She uses her sexuality and temptations to keep him there for seven years. "...He lay with her each night, for she compelled him"(p.85). When Calypso received word from Hermes that Zeus orders her to release Odysseus from her island, she first does not take the news well and complains about double standards, but then complies with the orders of Zeus. This shows that even though they were both gods, men were always dominant over women. However, this also illustrates the testing of Odysseus and his faithfulness toward his wife Penelope. After telling Odysseus the news of his freedom, Calypso asks him one more thing,

"... after these years with me, you still desire / your old home? Even so, I wish you well. / If you could see it all before you go - / all the adversity you face at sea - / you would stay here, and guard this house, and be / immortal - though you wanted her forever, / that bride for whom you pine each day. / Can I be less desirable than she is? / Less interesting? Less beautiful? Can mortals / compare with goddesses in grace and form?" (p. 87).

Odysseus' answer showed that he passed this test since he stayed faithful to his wife, although less attractive than Calypso, he longs to see Penelope, the women whom he married.

The second women Odysseus meets is Kirke when he and his men travel to Aeaea. Kirke first arouses the men into her domain by seating them in thrones and feeding them sweet meals. Kirke poisons Odysseus's men during their feast and reduces them to pigs. When Odysseus goes to rescue them, Hermes appears and tells Odysseus to eat an herb called moly to protect himself from Kirke's drug. Odysseus follows Hermes' instructions, overpowering Kirke and forcing her to change his men back to their human forms however, Odysseus soon becomes Kirke's lover in exchange for not performing anymore spells on him or his men, and he and his men live with her in luxury for a year. J.D. McClymont describes this event as, "Circe's invitation to bed is dangerous (296-301) which means that Homer represents her as sexually threatening, and to that extent violating the traditional role of women"(McClymont). Throughout this book, on line that repeated was, "As we were men we could not help consenting"(P.179). This quote shows that Kirke's ways of keeping Odysseus and his men with her were things that appealed to men in general, concluding that she often used her sexuality to seduce them during their stay proving McClymont's comment on Kirke's sexuality being "threatening". When his men finally persuade him to continue the voyage homeward, Odysseus tells Kirke that he wishes to no longer stay and to continue his journey home. At this point of his relationship with Kirke, the test that came out of staying with her is deciding for him when he wants to leave her hostage. However, we find another test when Kirke responds to Odysseus' wanting to leave when she says, " ...you shall not stay here longer against your will; / but home you may not go" (p.180).