Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Differences in the Portrayals of Women in Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page paper which examines how the depiction of women in terms of roles and lifestyles are so different in the two poems that some people believe the epics were written by two different authors. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGilodwom.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of men in the classical Greek tradition. However, even though they are relegated to the periphery of the action, women play integral roles in both works. Although they
are believed to have been composed by the same poet, the blind Homer of which little biographical information is known, women are portrayed so differently in "The Iliad" and "The
Odyssey" that some critics have concluded they must have been written by different authors. Clear-cut distinctions can be made in terms of the roles they play and their lifestyles
that warrant closer scrutiny. The women who are portrayed in "The Iliad" have clearly defined roles and lifestyles that have been defined and reinforced by the Greek patriarchy.
The mortal women, who "appear in very few passages," all seemed to be somehow repressed by "social constraint" (Koziak 1068). There are the handmaidens like Chryseis and Briseis
who had essentially been sold into slavery by their fathers, who received a tidy sum in exchange. These women of the lowest social status were expected to be completely
submissive to their owners, with their roles involved serving their every need, comfort-wise and sexually. The only status they had in Greek society was that imposed upon them by
either their fathers or purchasers. They would never aspire to privilege or influence, for these slave girls could never break free of their status as concubines. The plot
in "The Iliad" evolves when the warrior Achilleus (or Achilles) spars with his leader, King Agamemnon, over who should take possession of their "trophy women" (Boddy 61). A power
struggle ensues when Achilleus is forced to relinquish his war prize (and lover), Chryseis, to Agamemnon. The King expresses the position of male dominance by proclaiming, "I wont give
...