Ancient Greece, according to Homer, the writer of epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, was a society where gender roles played a key part in the functioning of their world. His view on roles is what the modern world would label misogynistic, though at those times it was considered a social norm, where women were meant to stay in the house and men would go out and adventure. It can be compared to a tug of war of give and take – the men took, and the women gave. The Iliad and its sequel the Odyssey, both of which dictate the Trojan War and the eventual return of Greek hero Odysseus to the town that he was king of, Ithaca, are classified by modern-day historians as epic poems. In the Odyssey especially, the lines between masculinity and femininity are drawn harshly into the sand.

The relationship between Telemachus and his mother is the same as the one between husbands and wives – there was no special respect given from sons to mothers. In the first book of the Odyssey, Telemachus tells his mother:

“Go in and do your work. Stick to the loom and distaff. Tell your slaves to do their chores as well. It is for men to talk, especially me. I am the master.”(Homer 356-359)

The differences back then between masculinity and femininity as Homer saw it is clear in such a line, where Telemachus shows no respect to his mother and instead tells her to go sew and leave the business to him. At Homer’s time, women were not meant to participate in politics or fight in the war: they were meant to stay at home with the children while men went to fight, as was the usual.

During the ninth book of the Odyssey, when the protagonist Odysseus tells King Alcinous about his adventures, and he states, “We took their wives / and shared their riches equally among us” (Homer 42-43). Homer’s view mirrored that of the society around them with the idea that rape was not a bad thing. There was nothing morally wrong according to Homer for Odysseus and his men to take the wives of the soldiers they killed, since females were seen as prizes, and the only punishment for rape mentioned in the book occurs during Book 11. Odysseus, still telling Alcinous about his adventures now in the Underworld, states:

When Leto, Zeus’ lover, was traveling to Pytho; through the fields of beautiful Panopeus, he raped her. Two vultures sit on either side of him, ripping his liver, plunging into his bowels; he fails to push them off. (Homer 578 – 583)

Even in this, Homer’s view on the situation is clear: he is being punished because Leto was Zeus’ lover, and as such even touching her was a mortal offense towards Zeus. The scene displays the culture prevalent in that society of women not being equal to men, and according to Homer, less than a citizen and more similar to property in some ways.

The stark separation between masculinity and femininity is mirrored distinctly in the rape culture of the day – during Book 11, Odysseus states, “There he [Poseidon] loosed her belt / and made her sleep. The god make love to her, / and afterwards, he took her hand and spoke.” (Homer 244 – 246) It was still not seen as rape according to Homer and, in fact, a blessing as she got to bear the children of a god. Women back during Homer’s day were seen as property, and Homer’s similar view is mirrored yet again in Book 11 when it is stated, “But Neleus would only let her marry / a man who could drive off the stubborn cattle / of Iphicles from Phylace.” (Homer 290 – 293) Here Homer demonstrates how women were treated more as property and less like people, from the point of view of the modern world, though from the point of view of Ancient Greeks, it would be perfectly commonplace and normal for fathers to place prices on their daughter’s head for marriage – women were to be married off for the good of the kingdom.

The overall view of Homer as seen in the Odyssey reflects the views of Ancient Greek society at the time when it came to the balance between masculinity and femininity: females were to take care of the house and males were to fight wars bravely and courageously. His view on the balance or even imbalance between genders was not odd back in that day, but normal. One could only wonder what Homer would think of the modern-day society and the equilibrium that has been established after many uphill battles between the two genders.

Sources

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, W. W. Norton and Company, 2017.

The Purdue Owl Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/ma_works_cited_electronic_sources.html. Accessed September 25, 2018