Male and Female in the Homeric Poems

Bibliographic Data

ID9318190
AuthorsCharles Rowan Beye (corresponding author)
Year1974
Volume3
Issue2
Pages87-101
Publication date1974-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRamus (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-671X • E-ISSN: 2202-932X
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0048671x00004537
OpenAlexW2483857858
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited11

The following is an investigation of the nature of women in the Homeric poems. It is generally accepted that epic figures are typical rather than individual, idiosyncratic personalities. So it is reasonable to assume that the women of the two poems represent the general conception of female behaviour held by Homer's audience. Even if the poems represent a tradition which was a long time in the making, it remains true that what appears within the poems must have made sense somehow to Homer's contemporary audience. And that is the sense we must seek. There has been very little said about the role of women in the Homeric epics. Discussion is bound to be uneven; women are glimpsed infrequently in the Iliad , whereas they are everywhere in the Odyssey . But this in itself perhaps offers insights into the nature of the difference between the two poems. In addition an analysis of the part women play in these poems helps to explain the continual appeal of the Iliad and the Odyssey . For the poems, like all truly great pieces of literature, say things that we humans need and want to hear. As is true of other facets of the poems the female characters are extraordinarily authentic. They manifest moods and psychological states which are true to women, at least in the Western world. Moreover the poems, especially the Odyssey , show with great profundity some important truths of male-female relationships. Whether these are inherent and never-changing or it is because women's situation has not much changed through the millenia is hard to say

Aesthetics · Appeal · Art · EPIC · Literature · Personality · Personality psychology · Poetry · Classical Antiquity Studies · Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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