Power Of Women In The Iliad

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In a period of history where women were often considered to be lacking agency and therefore incapable of making their own decisions, Helen of Troy is most definitely an anomaly. Not only does she claim to be completely responsible for her decision to leave Greece, she finds ways to use the limits on her power due to her status as a woman and an outsider as a means of taking power and agency, as well as encourages others to give her additional power by using tactics such as self-condemnation and self-pity. Further than this, however, she is put a key position in the grand scheme of the narrative itself, therefore empowered by Homer himself. Despite being faced with several obstacles throughout the course of the Iliad, Helen of Troy is represented …show more content…
Due to her social position as both a woman and an outsider, Helen of Troy is faced with a certain set of limitations and rules which affect not only her interactions with others but the level of freedom and power which she was allowed to yield. In her speech at Hektor’s funeral, Helen’s speech reflects the way in which the way she is treated was affected by her role “as an unwelcome stranger in a foreign land”1 describing the ways in which “there is no one else in all wide Troy who’ll be kind or gentle to [her]” and how people “shudder as [she passes]”. Because she is not from Troy, she is seen by others as different and therefore to be avoided; however, this is not the only factor which affects Helen’s status within Troy. In fact, one of the key aspects of her character which causes for her limitation is her gender. The mere fact that she is a woman is enough to make her an object to be used not only by men, but also the gods, something which is clearly portrayed in the scene in which Aphrodite guides Helen to Paris’ chamber. When …show more content…
One of the key ways in which he does this is the way in which he paints Helen in comparison to the protagonist of the Iliad, Achilles himself. In Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation, scholar Ruby Blondell states that, as the Iliad tells the story of the wrath Achilles, everything must be examined in the way in which it relates back to Achilles. She then theorizes that Helen exists as a counterpart to Achilles, using the vast web of similarities between the two to back this argument. They are both children of gods, which has caused them to have abilities beyond those of normal mortals: in this case, Helen’s beauty and Achilles’ strengths. While Achilles is particularly close to Athena, who is depicted counselling him on his behavior, coming to Greece simply to “quell [his] anger”, to the point where, when he saw her, he “knew Pallas Athene at once”. Helen’s bond with Aphrodite is equally unusual for a mortal, and she too is capable of recognizing her, even when she is trying to conceal herself. When Aphrodite comes to her disguised as an old woman, Helen recognizes her immediately due to the “lovely neck and shoulders [of the goddess], and her bright eyes”. Both Achilles and Helen later on stand up to their patron goddess, only to eventually be bent to their will. Even more peculiar, however, is the fascination
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