Greek Mythology Essay

Odysseus was considered to be the epitome of what a Hellenic adult male should strive to be. He was a courageous and clever warrior who earned arete by his feats during the Trojan War. The ancient Achaean male modeled themselves after extensive custody equal Odysseus, scarcely the real question is who do Greek wo earth model themselves after. Clytemnestras plight and eventual death is a perfect example of how espouse women were expected act compared to married men. Also, women like Penelope in The Odyssey were criticized for being untruthful, but men like Odysseus were praised for special cunning in the same epic poem.calypso is a goddess who is mindful of these bifurcate standards and makes an eloquent plea to the gods of Olympus, but her speech f each(prenominal)s on deaf ears. Essentially Ancient Greek culture had staggering sexual practice inequalities that led to females being confined to the whims of males. Many tales demonstrate how differently married women were e xpected to act compared to men. When pansy Agamemnon departed from Mycenae to siege Troy he tricked his wife, Clytemnestra, into sacrificing their daughter to the gods. During the ten years Agamemnon was gone Clytemnestra plotted with her lover, Aegisthus, revenge.Once King Agamemnon returned, he was murdered by the duo, but the gods deemed this act unacceptable. If Clytemnestra were a man the tale would have most likely ended present. But Apollo and genus Athene hid Orestes until he was of age and convinced that he should follow with the worst offensive activity any Greek could ever commit, matricide. aft(prenominal) the murdering his mother, Orestes was haunted by the Furies (who were cognise for pursuing particularly heinous criminals and exacting revenge, Chiekova, 10/23) until nearly succumbing to madness. last Orestes was given trial, and Athenas deciding vote expunged his horrible deed.A cleaning woman taking a lover was disgraceful in Achaean culture, and a women cle aning her husband simply unheard of. Women were viewed as objects than could be possessed or traded like Helen of Troy was, and so Clytemnestra needed to be punished. On the other hand married men like genus Zeus had dozens of affairs (including deceiving Clytemnestras mother Leda by appearing as a swan Chiekova, 10/23) while Hera remained faithful to him. The tale of Aphrodite and Hephaestus is close to other prime example, in which Aphrodite was shamed before all the gods for laying with Ares.The examples of resembling myths can be listed ad nauseam, but essentially Greek women were strained to be loyal and obedient while the men took whatever lovers they so desired. A nonher example of gender inequalities in ancient Greek finis can be seen in Penelopes tribulations with the suitors. As Odysseus go away for the Trojan War and did not return with Nestor and Menelaus, some fabricated he was dead. Under the pretext of courting Penelope, the suitors proceed to spend their geez erhood at Odysseus house and feasting on the livestock.They disrespected and abused the traditional host-traveler family relationship and yet still Penelope was left to be the antagonist (Chiekova, 10/26). If she agreed to marry a suitor, she would be dishonoring Odysseus but the time-consuming she did not pick a suitor the more damage they caused. In capital of Virginia Lattimores translation of The Odyssey the suitors verbally attack Penelope, For she holds out great commit to all, and makes promises to each man, sending us messages but her mind has other intentions. And here is here is another stratagem of her hearts devising (The Odyssey, intensity 2, page 41, lines 90-93). The suitor goes on to describe her cleverness Penelope declares she exit marry a suitor once she finished knitting a funeral shall, but every night she would secretly un-wind the threads, effectively stalling the suitors. These suitors introduce that Penelope is being disrespectful for not choosing one of them to marry and grouse her a liar for supposedly leading them on but never choosing a man. In the same epic poem commended Odysseus for outsmarting and escaping the Cyclops, evading the sirens, and at long last killing the suitors.Both Odysseus and Penelope were incredibly intelligent but because of Achaean forked standards, Penelope was portrayed as a liar (at least to the suitors) and Odysseus a hero. fairy-slipper seems to be the only individual aware of, or at least concerned with the mistreatment of Greek women. When Odysseus retells his time spent with calypso, he adjusts the fiction to give the perception that he was held prisoner and bemoaned every moment on the island. However, Homer gives insight of how Odysseus actually felt and writes, the nymph was no longerpleasing to him, (The Odyssey, Book 9, page 92, line 150). This statement implies that at some point Odysseus did enjoy himself with the goddess on the island, but has become bored with her. After seven yea rs Odysseus finally decides that he should return home, but Calypso insists that he should stay and enjoy the extravagance of immortality with her. This is against the ideals of Homeric Greek women as she displays a dominant and manipulative side, which threatens male supremacy.Eventually Zeus sends Hermes as a messenger to command Calypso to allow Odysseus to return home. Calypso retaliates by making a passionate plea, You are hard-hearted, you gods, and jealous beyond all creatures beside, when you are resentful toward the goddesses for sleeping openly with such men as each has made her true husband, (The Odyssey, Book 9, page 91, lines 118-120). Calypso continues to give three examples of past goddesses being chastised for taking a lover, but ultimately her speech does nothing.She is forced to yield Odysseus or risk angering the all mighty Zeus. Calypso embodied the struggle of Homeric women and pleas with the gods to see the double standard Greek culture imposed. ultimately s he is viewed as an object of sensual pleasure and must yield to Zeus and Odysseuss wishes, further stigmatizing women as being inferior. Analyzing Homeric culture finished the lens of a woman provides a stark contrast to the life of a man. Women were subjugated to the commands of men, with shrimpy or no personal freedom. The females who broke the culture mold, paid the price.Clytemnestra eventually was murdered by her own son for exacting revenge on her deceitful husband, Penelope was ridiculed for using intelligence to navigate her way through a difficult situation, and Calypso was bullied into giving up the man she loved. Ultimately Achaean women were meant to be objects of desire that exist to satisfy men and the Homeric myths only propagated this idea. Works Cited Chiekova, Professor Introduction to Greek Mythology Lecture. Bliss Hall. Ewing. 10/23, 10/26, . Oral. Lattimore, Richmond, trans. The Odyssey. New York Harper and Row Books, 1967.