Penelope and Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females Essay -- Homers Odyssey

genus genus Penelope of the Odyssey and Alcestis of Alcestis as Ideal Greek female persons Although in that respect is some disagreement concerning the Greeks definition of the ideal womanly, at that place is little disagreement that two women represented this Greek ideal. The character of Penelope of Homers Odyssey 1 and Alcestis of Euripides Alcestis 2, came to represent the same ideal of female excellence. The Greeks referred to this ideal female as a sophron woman. The qualities possessed by a sophron woman atomic number 18 tangible she is a good housekeeper, a nurturer of her husband, a child-bearer. She is chaste, graceful and does non like to talk about sex with other women. According to Helen F. nitrogen in an article regarding the etymology of sophrosyne, the word originated in the Homeric epics as saophrosyne, which implies soundness of mind and is used only in relation to men.4 The word implies two self-knowledge and a sense of propriety, putting one in mind of the chronicle at Delphi. It is notable that in relation to men, sophrosyne does not carry special(prenominal) behavioral connotations, as it does when it comes to be applied to women. Penelopes story, set in the cadence immediately proceeding the Trojan War, is one of strategic waiting. The Odyssey begins with stasis simultaneously, Odysseus departure from Ogygia and Telemachos glide slope of age set the events of the epic in motion. As a woman, Penelope has no momentum of her own, but must operate on that of her kyrios. This is not to imply that Penelope is by definition powerless, but it is worth noting that the field of operation of her effectiveness is actively determined by the wishes of the men responsible for her. In fact, Penelope faces a drastically reduced role whether Odysseus returns or... ...ophrosyne as the right of Women in Antiquity. From Marcovich, Miroslave, ed. Illinois Classical Studies II (1977) 36. 4 Ibid 37. 5 Ibid 36. Works Consulted Diana Buitron -Oliver and Beth Cohen, surrounded by Skylla and Penelope Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art, pp. 29-58. Female Representations and Interpreting the Odyssey, by Seth Schein, pp. 17-27. Richard Brilliant, Kirkes Men Swine and Sweethearts, pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, Penelope as deterrent example Agent, in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. The Odyssey, History, and Women, by A. J. Graham, pp. 3-16, and Jennifer Neils, Les Femmes Fatales Skylla and the enchantresss in Greek Art, pp. 175-84. Lillian Doherty, Siren Songs Gender, Audiences, and Narrators in the Odyssey (Ann Arbor 1995), esp. chapter 1.