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Women In The Illiad - Online Essays

Women In The Illiad

What glimpses do we get from Homer’s Iliad of the respective roles of men and women in Greek society?
The Iliad, one of the oldest works of Western literature, is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, written by Homer around the eighth century BC. It takes place in the Trojan War,and tells the battles and events that happened between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.
In Greek society, men and woman had distinctive roles which we can see glimpses of in Homer's Illiad. In the first passage, Hectors wife describes him as 'possessed by his bravery'. Hector then explains to his wife that it is his duty to go to war and fight, since to do otherwise would be cowardly. Hector feals he ...

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he expresses his greif over the death when he 'wept bitterly'.Therefor ,men's expretion of 'sensitivity'* is shown. Achilles also explains to Priam that ' the gods have woven sorrow into the very pattern of 'their' lives' indicating that unlike it it supposed, men have deep feelings which they sometimes urge to express.
Woman in this society were supposed to have 'needs and desires'* for men, as Andromache, does for him: she says Hector is 'father and mother and brother ' to her, can not live without him and just like men suffers during war. Although men wer supposed to have 'hostility toward women'*, Hector has none toward his wife, expecting her to be 'obedient'*. He explains that her role while he is fighting is to 'attend her own work' (which is to wait at home for years until he comes back, pray and give sacrifices to the gods in support for him) and 'see that the maidservants get with theirs'. Woman during the war are expected to be obedient, take care of the household ...

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Women In The Illiad. (2011, May 1). Retrieved January 15, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Women-In-The-Illiad/98687

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/1/2011 02:01:22 PM
Submitted By: anaellelegrain
Category: Poetry & Poets
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 417
Pages: 2

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