The significance of female characters in the progressof Homer’s novel E

The significance of distaff characters in the progressof Homers novel The OdysseyWomen are very classical figures in Homers The Odyssey. Athena andPenelope are the two primary examples. They help Odysseus in histravels in many ways through the story. They keep the readerconcerned so that they keep reading to find out what will happennext. Throughout the novel, they appear in many different forms.In this epic, several female characters had a profound effect on theplot. They wielded their influence through typic every(prenominal)y feminine skillsand attributes seduction, supernatural powers, intelligence, andbeauty. Some of the women of The Odyssey influenced the actions ofmen, playing key roles in the epics, such as Athena, Penelope,Calypso, the Sirens, Helen, or Circe all have been true, and inactuality, may be an entertaining interpretation of an actual TrojanWar. Since the Trojan War supposedly started because of a hostilitybetween the gods and mortals, the Trojan War probably started becauseof a reason other than the reason Homer gives. If Homer were a woman,then he would have tell his audience into believing that womenwere at a higher level than men were by use of his epics. Ultimately,Homer would be utilizing his feminine characteristics when telling hisstories with underlying messages of feminine superiority or equality.As goddess of wisdom and battle, Athena naturally has a soft spot forthe brave and wily Odysseus. She helps him out of many toughsituations, including his crash in Book 5 and the mismatchedbattle of Book 22. She does not merely impart sense and safety to herpassive charge, however. She takes an interest in Odysseus for thetalents he already has and actively demonstrates. Although shereassures Odysseus during the battle with the suitors, she does notbecome fully involved, preferring instead to watch Odysseus fight andprevail on his own.She also often helps Telemachus as when she sends him finish off to Pylos andSparta to earn a name for himself but she has the most affection forOdysseus. Athena is confident, practical, clever, a master ofdisguises, and a great warrior, characteristics she finds reflected inTelemachus. Her role as goddess of the womanly arts gets very littleattention in the Odyssey. Penelope works at the loom all the time butrarely sees Athena, and then u... ...oes. These literature works gave many possibilitiesof definition of heroism. The Greeks illustrated heroism to obey therules laid down by the gods and goddesses, and those who obey therules would gain honor and fame. The Greeks regarded intelligence asone of the highest gifts that all heroes must posses. The Greeksrequired that all heroes must have courage and die a horrible death.We know him less from what he thought, which was seldom revealed, thanby what he says and did, and his actions follow naturally from hischaracteristics. If the cunning of Odysseus is mentioned more than hiscourage, it was his courage that gets him into the sc rapes from whichhis cunning had to deliver him. Odysseus had the all the qualitiesthat the Greek tradition required of all heroes, which were obey therules of gods, posses intelligence, and displayed courage. He was doa hero thanks to his own characteristics however, with out theguidance of Athena, his longing to be at home with his wife again andthe intervention of women on his journey, he would only be a hero bymyth not by what he has achieved through the trouble of getting homedue to the women he has encountered.