By characterizing the women in "The Odyssey", a reader may come to some conclusions about the role of women in this epic. Throughout the novel, they appear in many different forms. In this epic, several female characters had a profound effect on the plot. They wielded their influence through typically feminine skills and attributes: seduction, supernatural powers, intelligence, and beauty. Some of the women of The Odyssey influenced the actions of men, playing key roles in the epics, such as Athena, Penelope, Calypso, the Sirens, Helen, or Circe; all have been true, and in actuality, may be an entertaining interpretation of an actual Trojan War.
Since the Trojan War supposedly started because of a dispute between the gods and mortals, the Trojan War probably started because of a reason other than the reason Homer gives. Divulging the Importance of Women Women have not always had power equal to men. In The Odyssey, Homer foreshadowed how the perception and roles of women would change in the future. Odysseus, who is the main male character in the epic, strongly depended on the female characters.
The Influence of Women in Epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh can be viewed as a writing that describes the social scene of the times it was written in.
The characters of Enkidu and Gilgamesh are strong males. The roles of women in Gilgamesh are submissive and subtle. Women in this ancient Sumerian tale tend to be passive, but capable of influencing the outcome of events. Enkidu is a mighty force to confront. Boundaries, Balance, and Punishment The Epic of Gilgamesh introduces us to a vain, one third man and two thirds god named Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk. He's egotistical and narcissistic and many loathe that about him.
The Epic of Gilgamesh mirrors how Mesopotamian civilization actually examined and respected women. Gilgamesh cleans up pretty well. His royal robes signify the most salient moment of urbane progression.
And king's prowess attracts the admiration of Ishtar and that is dangerous. The story suggest that humans with charm and success may attract the sycophants and the seducers.
We may view the temptation of Ishtar as a siren song, to flatter people of wealth and significance--"grant me your seed. What is the fate of the lovers of ishtar? This is the precursor to Aristotle's notion of reversal and recognition that are characteristics of art. The city of Uruk trembles as, bellowing and snorting, it comes down from the sky. A crack opens up in the earth, and one hundred men fall into it and die. Again the bull bellows and again the ground cracks open. One hundred more men are swallowed up.
The third time this happens, Enkidu attacks the bull. The bull spits on him and fouls him with its excrement, but Enkidu grabs it by its horns and wrestles with it. He calls out to Gilgamesh, who joins him, and they fight the bull together. At last Enkidu seizes its filthy tail and holds the monster still so that Gilgamesh can thrust his sword between its shoulders and kill it.
Then they cut out its heart and offer it as a sacrifice to Shamash the sun god. Ishtar climbs onto the walls of the city and shouts curses at the two friends. While Ishtar and her followers, the temple prostitutes, mourn the bull, Gilgamesh gathers his craftsmen together and shows them how beautifully the gods had made the creature, how thickly its horns were coated with lapis lazuli.
Gilgamesh cuts them off its head and fills them with oil, which he offers in sacrifice to his father, Lugulbanda. Then he hangs them on the wall of his palace as trophies. Enkidu is. This tablet reveals a great deal about the mythological background of Gilgamesh, particularly the importance of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, and the stories about her mortal lovers. It also looks like she gets what she wants by having Defcon 2-style tantrums.
Even though her father reminds her that everything Gilgamesh said happens to be true, she doesn't budge. Then, he reminds her that there will be a long famine if they unleash the Bull of Heaven without having put away a ton of food in storage.
She snips that of course she's done all that: "I have heaped grain in the granaries for the people; I made grasses grow for the animals" 6.
So, she gets the Bull. But, we have to wonder, has she done all this grain storing so that she could get that Bull of Heaven when the time came? It is hard to tell here if Ishtar cares for the people or not. It is hard to know, in fact, if she is even being truthful in what she says. Add to Ishtar's list of charming qualities: she's also a sore loser. When Gilgamesh kills the Bull of Heaven, she goes up to the top of the wall of Uruk, mourns and "hurl[s] her woeful curse: 'Woe unto Gilgamesh who slandered me and killed the Bull of Heaven'" 6.
Now that doesn't sound so woeful to us, but it must just lose something in translation because this makes Enkidu so enraged that he throws the Bull's hind leg at her.
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