D&I on Portsmouth Point: The Representation of Women in Homer's Odyssey

Homer's Odyssey is focused on the protagonist Odysseus and his journey to reach home safely to Itchaca and to reunite with family, known in the homeric hero way- to complete his nostos.

There has been much discussion of Homer's representation of women in the Odyssey. An example I like is by Professor Richard Jenkyns’ lectures who explores the comparison of Homer's Odyssey to the Iliad. The Iliad where the very few women who feature, play a ‘superordinate role’, where their identity is defined by their marital status. Whereas, The Odyssey contains more women who have a role on their own. Due to the sheer volume of intellectual women who hold fantasising stories of their own, I will only be focusing on Calypso and Circe who represent their own autonomy and a threat to Odysseus' loyalty. But also Penelope who are the antithesis, who represent stability for Odysseus' life and his position as King, as well as loyalty. She is the main woman in Odysseus' life, despite attempts for him to be swayed throughout.

The charters of Circe and Calsypon seen In Book 5 and 11, contrast with these stereotypical Athenian views of a modest and chastised woman who recognises her role in the “oikos”. Instead, they are seen as alluring and deceptive characters, and even barbarous! They are presented through Odysseus' relationship with them. Homer symbolises them as objects of desire or beauty but also of independence and knowledge. This knowledge would have shocked an ancient audience as they believe women thrive in the confined private sphere and Greek theatre such as the comedy Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae supports this. In this comedy, the playwright Euripides, accompanied by his father-in-law Mnesilochus, seeks help from Agathon to avoid being killed by the women of Athens. The women are enraged by Euripides' portrayal of women in his tragedies and have planned to punish him. I believe it illustrates when women gain too much power in the public sphere, this leads to conflict, but also the general negative view of women amongst men.

This links to when we see Calypso. In Book 5, We are introduced to Odysseus' position on Calypso's island, who has been stuck there for around 7 years. Homer presents her as a passionate woman, and her surroundings of her island reflect this. It is stated as heavily scented and in the midst of nature, even the messenger god Hermes comments on the luxurious environment. Similar to the ‘rebels’ of the Athenians society, Calypso stands up to Hermes about the double standards of the immortal Gods being able to take female mortals, whereas Calypso cannot- as a woman. This defiance represents her strong will and her confidence to defy the Gods in order to make her opinion known. Calypso represents the temptation for Odysseus to lose his mortality and cast away his responsibility to his family because of his deep love for him and thus attempts to offer him immortality to convince them to stay. Unlike the Iliad, where female characters are simply objects of trade and possession. In the Odyssey we see a transition into delving into complex female characters such as Circe. She is represented as a threat to Odysseus, with her deceptive dark powers of turning any man into swine with herbal ingredients. However, She is also represented as highly independent and intelligent, something perhaps unusual in Athenian society due to the lack of representation of women in public spheres. Despite providing good xenia for him and his men treating them in luxury for a year, she also has self confidence in letting Odysseus go whether and not to have any reliance on him. Further, she also provides vital information about the future and the exact libations and rituals he must perform in order to access the Underworld, where she advises him to speak to the blind prophet Tiresias. This duality of her character shows redemption where she originally uses her power to exert danger on them, and now uses her power to help Odysseus commence his journey back to Ithaca thus she is represented as a great addition to the plot.

Throughout the Odyssey, Penelope is a strong loyal female character who Odysseus grieves for. She ultimately is one of the main motivators to encourage Odysseus to return. In Book 1, Her loyalty is automatically affirmed, as Athena quickly dismisses any discussion that she may be unfaithful, and possibly associating herself with entertaining the suitors. This is seen by her being described as spending long periods closed off in her room, weeping and grieving for her husband- Odysseus. And when she does leave her room she is always accompanied with people to ensure not position herself as ‘attainable’. Telemachus, her son, also worries about this possibility but Athena quickly shut down any claims. Penelope represents the ideal woman in Athenian society; she is chaste, patiently waiting for Odysseus' return to Ithaca. Despite the potential of marrying a suitor she refuses to put herself in a vulnerable position alone with such men. She is represented as a woman to admire , as Odysseus always compares her with any other women he encounters. For example, In the underworld Odysseus discusses with many famous women, who have either been taken advantage of often by Gods, such as Antiope, or they have been unfaithful and have been punished. These punishments are often due to these women not upholding their expectations, For example Ariadne was killed by Artemis after not preserving her virginity. After speaking To Agamemnon, a great war friend of Odysseus, whose tragic story which was previously echoed in Book 1 by Zeus. He warns Odysseus to be wary of Penelope when he returns home, thus he advises him to enter in secret to avoid any conflict if she has remarried when he was away. Odysseus has many doubts about the potential idea of Penelope not being strong and may have been unfaithful threatening his position. This shows Penelope's position of power to ultimately decide Odysseus' future position back at home, but she doesn't consider this, she purely focuses on the mourning of her husband.

To conclude, The Odysseus contains a number of complex and highly versatile women, in which Odysseus encounters and somewhat influenced him. Homer represents these women often aligning or defying the typical societal standards of Athenian Society often showing characteristics of being faithfulness, intelligence and civilised, but also the anthesis.