Examples Of Femininity In The Odyssey

The Odyssey’s Flawed Criteria for Evaluating Femininity
W o m e n p l a y a c r u c i a l r o l e i n t h e s t o r y l i n e o f T h e O d y s s e y a n d i n h i s e p i c p o e m H o m e r uses Helen of Troy and Circe to show positive and negative portrayals of women by showing their good and bad intentions in contrast to each other; however, despite the progressive nature of showing women as equal to men, Homer portrays women in his own overgeneralized interpretation, and as objects rather than people.
While both Helen of Troy and Circe are used as models of femininity in T he Odyssey, Homer separates Helen by showing her good intentions and wellmeaning ways. Helen of Troy represents a positive example of femininity in T he Odyssey b …show more content…
First, Homer shows Helen as an intelligent person who is willing to trust herself and take say what's on her mind; however, the second part of the quote presents the idea that positive femininity involves selfreproach and taking responsibility for the acts her husband and other men. The next depiction of femininity regarding Helen comes when she laces everyone's drinks with a drug to help them forget about their pain. “Then Zeus’s daughter Helen thought of something else. Into the mixingbowl from which they drank their wine she slipped a drug, heart’sease, dissolving anger, magic to make us all forget our pains ... No one who drank it deeply, mulled in wine, could let a tear roll down his cheeks that day, not even if his mother should die, his father die, not even if right before his eyes some enemy brought down a brother or darling son with a sharp bronze blade.” (Homer IV.24351). First, Homer spins this positively by representing it as Helen’s responsibility to make sure the men do not stay sad; however, Homer’s writing of Helen’s drugging is tainted with the same kind of flawed logic and presumptuous beliefs as his representation of her earlier. Therefore, even though Homer shows Helen as a positive representation of femininity, Homer’s uses a flawed paradigm for what constitutes positive female behavior. Homer’s version of an ideal female has roots in sexism and stereotypes because Homer portrays women as objects of desire rather than as people. Further, …show more content…
[...] then she mixed them a potion—cheese, barley and pale honey mulled in Pramnian wine— but into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs to wipe from their memories any thought of home. Once they’d drained the bowls she filled, suddenly she struck with her wand, drove them into her pigsties, all of them bristling into swine—with grunts, snouts—even their bodies, yes, and only the men’s minds stayed steadfast as before.” (Homer X.25461). Homer uses this example to not only show “negative feminism” but also to show an intentional cultural misstep. Greek culture puts a very important emphasis on Xenia, or hospitality, and Circe’s essentially uses a bait and switch ploy to trick the men. Next, Homer portrays Circe as an aggressive yet seductive woman who bears responsibility for Odysseus’ delay. “Never has any other man withstood my potion, never, once it’s past his lips and he has drunk it down. You have a mind in you no magic can enchant! You must be Odysseus, man of twists and turns— Hermes the giantkiller, god of the golden wand, he always said you’d come, homeward bound from Troy in your swift black ship. Come, sheathe your sword, let’s go to bed together, mount my bed and mix in the magic work of love— we’ll breed deep trust between us.” (Homer X.36372). This shows a clear negative representation of femininity because it shows a woman defaulting to her own allure when nothing else works, which

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