Female Archetypes in Odyssey - 1289 Words

A Plotting Princess: Female Roles in The Odyssey and Antigonà ª Karen Rustad The fairy tale Snow White is a story about two women. One, the evil stepmother, schemes against her stepdaughter in order to assuage her envy and increase her power. She, of course, is thwarted by the end of the story. The other, Snow White, is a pure, innocent damsel entirely devoid of will. Nevertheless, by the end her prince saves her and she lives happily ever after. While Snow White is a European fairy tale, its dichotomy of female roles is a common theme in literature. In Homer’s Odyssey, the female characters are either powerful devils or passive angels. During the four hundred years of Greek civilization between The Odyssey and Sophocles’ Antigonà ª,†¦show more content†¦Antigonà ª breaks this norm after she is apprehended and she argues with Creon. Your edict, King, was strong, but all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God. †¦ You smile at me. Ah Creon, think me a fool, if you like; but it may well be that a fool convicts me of folly. (203) Not only does Antigonà ª break the law, she breaks the social norms for gender relations by talking back to a man. She is willing to do this because she wants to uphold the laws of the gods. The Odyssey’s Penelope, as the loyal, passive wife, represents the second half of Homer’s dichotomy. From the beginning of the Trojan war to Odysseus’ return home, Penelope has not seen her husband for twenty years. She has been under siege from a throng of men trying to marry her. Penelope does not particularly want to marry any of the suitors, so she delays them by unraveling by night her weaving, which represents the time she has left before she must choose a new husband. This trick is not the primary focus of praise of Penelope in The Odyssey, however. After Odysseus returns home, Agamemnon’s response is not about what Penelope did; rather, he lauds her for what she did not do. True to her husband’s honor and her own, Penelope, Ikarios’ faithful daughter!†¦Tyndareus’ daughter waited, too - how differently! Klytaimnestra, the adulteress, waited to stab her lord and king. (451) The comparison betweenShow MoreRelatedThe Odyssey And Homer s Homeric1336 Words   |  6 Pagesawhile we see those qualities and characteristics in another character. that s the case with the characters of Demeter and Penelope. Although placed in different stories like The Odyssey and Homer’s Hymn to Demeter, both characters share qualities that makes them similar to one another. Furthermore, both powerful female characters experience an impactful loss that turns their life upside down. Demeter, a goddess of fertility, must struggle as she goes in the search for her daughter Persephone asRead MoreWomen In Ancient Greece Had Very Few Rights In Comparison1554 Words   |  7 Pagesa diverse cast of female characters in Greek mythology. We are presented with women that are powerful and warlike, or sexualized, submissive and emotionally unstable. In many myths, we encounter subversive behavior from women, suggesting, perhaps, the possibility of female empowerment. While produced in an ostensibly misogynistic and oppressive society, these myths consider the possibility for a collapse of male power and the patriarchal system. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, composed near theRead MoreOdysseus Jack And The Beanstalk Analysis1867 Words   |  8 PagesThe Odyssey is an ancient greek story and is from almost the end of the 8th Century, â€Å"Jack and the Beanstalk† is an english fairy tale from about 1734. The Odyssey and â€Å"Jack and the Beanstalk† are from very different genres yet they both share common archetypes which serve the same purpose such as the hero, creature of nightmare, tree of life, and good versus evil. This supports the â€Å"one story† theory that says all stories have the same common human experience. The Odyssey written by Homer isRead MoreThe Quest: An Archetype in Various Cultural Myths Essay2253 Words   |  10 PagesThe Quest Archetype When examining various cultural myths, one archetype keeps repeating—the image of the quest. This archetype functions with various different mythologies as a method of learning about the world, both its external features and what is inside the self. The quest comes from ancient origins and is found in Classical Western culture, but has been fine tuned through the generations. In its most modern interpretations, there are continuing elements of the age old myth, where extenuatingRead MoreArchetypal Literary Criticism Essay1614 Words   |  7 Pages In Literary Criticism, there is an idea that believes that Archetypes make up literature’s meaning. The concept of Archetypes in literature has been the subject of extensive examination in Literary Criticism. â€Å"Criticism can be broken down into two broad categories: evaluative and interpretive† (Gardner 1287). The criticism is based on Literary Theory, which is composed of ideas that help interpret, and analyze literature. Everything in literature has a meaning, and many different people cameRead MoreA Compare and Contrast of Horror and Science Fiction/Fantasy Genres1777 Words   |  7 Pagesshall compare and contrast these two genres and focus on both classic films and modern films. From the Horror genre perspective I shall discuss Psycho (1960) and The Mist (2007), while in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre I will examine 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and Serenity (2005). Although the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre and the Horror Genre share some similarities, the differences lie in their focus on human progress. The genres relationship lies in the danger of humanRead MoreThe Monsters Scylla And Charybdis923 Words   |  4 Pages After parting advice from Circe, Odysseus and his men set sail, once again, to encounter the first of three trials: the woman as temptress. As revealed by Circe, the â€Å"female character [offering] danger to the hero† (Hamby 5) is the Sirens, the â€Å"creatures who spellbind any man alive† (Homer 197). Odysseus softens beeswax for the ears of his crew to protect them against the â€Å"high, thrilling song of the Sirens† (197). While the men guard themselves with the beeswax, Odysseus has himself tied toRead More Penelope and Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females Essay examples1837 Words   |  8 PagesPenelope of the Odyssey and Alcestis of Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females   Ã‚   Although there is some disagreement concerning the Greek’s definition of the ideal female, there is little disagreement that two women represented this Greek ideal. The character of Penelope of Homers Odyssey 1 and Alcestis of Euripides Alcestis 2, came to represent the same ideal of female excellence. The Greeks referred to this ideal female as a sophron woman. The qualities possessed by a sophron woman are tangible;Read MoreThe Greek Mythology Of Women1820 Words   |  8 Pagessource of creation of the mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered immortals, and the knowledgeable and powerful personalities attributed to women in ancient Greek mythology. Many popular Greek plays contain several well-written, complex, female characters. These women were depicted as the role of villain, victim, and even the role of heroine, showing the diversity in which women were seen in both mythology and ancient Greek society. We do not give much credit to the Greeks for t heir balancedRead MoreThe Birth And Evolution Of Ballet1691 Words   |  7 Pageswere permitted to play. They were not allowed to perform in ballets, but could dance in the ballroom. Men typically assumed female roles in dances, and the intricate ballet sequences and steps involving jumps were reserved for males. Women, on the other hand, were given dance moves highlighting poise, daintiness and modesty. It is not a coincidence that these gender archetypes were prevalent in ballet; indeed, they were distinctive traits not only in the ballroom but also in the typical social convention