The Odyssey is an epic poem written by the ancient Greek poet Homer. The protagonist, Odysseus, relates his 10-year journey returning home to Greece after the Trojan War. The poem mainly focuses on his adventures but does contain some references to his wife and son at home in Ithaca while he is away. The poem begins by telling of the Greek goddess Athena speaking to Zeus about Odysseus. The goddess implores Zeus to help Odysseus on his long journey home by disguising him as an old man and making sure his son Telemachus is safe until he returns.
The poem then describes how Agamemnon, one of the Trojan War heroes who fought alongside Odysseus, was murdered by his own wife Clytemnestra upon returning home from Troy. The story continues with Athena being summoned by Zeus’ wife Hera after she learns of her husband’s plans for Odysseus’ return home. She persuades Zeus to let Odysseus be destroyed at sea so that Telemachus does not have to grow up without a father. The poem concludes with Odysseus finally arriving, disguised as a beggar, where Telemachus is about to be married.
The two spend the day catching up on all that has happened in each others lives, and at nightfall they return home for dinner. The Odyssey is primarily an adventure story but contains many references to the role of women in ancient Greece. The most important female character is Odysseus’ wife Penelope who he left behind upon his departure to fight during the Trojan War. The poem describes how she fends off 100 suitors who are trying to marry her by telling them she cannot remarry until she finishes weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus’ father Laertes.
The suitors know she is working on the shroud but every night she unweaves what she has done so that it will delay their mission to marry her. The poem mentions several other women who play a significant role, either as a love interest for a main character or wife to one of the Trojan War heroes. The most well-known female characters are Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Penelope. The majority of the women in The Odyssey are mentioned only briefly but these three female characters have complex stories and make important contributions to the plot.
Helen is seen as one of the biggest temptations leading up to the Trojan War because she was absolutely beautiful. The goddesses Aphrodite and Athena both claim to have a hand in her creation. The poem says that Paris, a prince of Troy, awarded her the golden apple of discord as his choice for the most beautiful woman. The Trojan War began after she was kidnapped from Sparta by Paris who took her back to his home city of Troy. The story gets more complicated when Aphrodite brings Helen and Paris back to Greece where they were both murdered by Orestes at Menelaus’ request.
The majority of Helen’s role is accomplished before the war begins and she only has one direct interaction with the main character during it – speaking briefly to Odysseus upon their first meeting outside Troy’s walls. The poem describes how she didn’t recognize him due to his disguise as an old beggar. The rest of her story after the Trojan War is only briefly mentioned in The Odyssey in passing. Clytemnestra was Agamemnon’s wife and was with him during the Trojan War.
The poem says she committed adultery with Aegisthus, who later kills both Clytemnestra and Agamemnon upon his return from Troy. When Penelope hears that Odysseus has returned home to Ithaca, she prays for them to be killed so they cannot steal her husband away from her. The poet states that it was fated for this to happen because Zeus knew of the affair between Clytemnestra and Aegisthus before he left for Troy even though it was forbidden for him to know the future.
The poem goes on to say that Aegisthus was slain by Agamemnon’s son Orestes when he returned from exile. The story of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon is not concluded until The Odyssey ends when The Odyssey concludes with Odysseus finally coming home where Telemachus is about to be married after slaying all the suitors who had been sleeping with Penelope while they were attempting to marry her. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife who he left behind in Ithaca, serves an important role in The Odyssey.
The majority of her story happens before Odysseus leaves for Troy but she has several interactions with The Odyssey characters while he is away. The suitors who are trying to marry her threaten the household by demanding that she choose a husband within their year of courtship, but Penelope devises a plan to delay them. The poem says that every night she undoes all of her weaving from the previous day so it will not be ready for the new day when they return.
The suitors suspect something is going on but think Penelope is just being difficult and cannot imagine how she can possibly outwit them. The story takes an interesting turn when Odysseus returns home disguised as a beggar and calls himself Nobody in order to observe how things have been going at his own palace during his absence without revealing himself or having to fight off the suitors. The Odyssey says that Penelope was very clever and did not reveal her secret to anyone, even when the suitors threatened her life if she did not choose one of them as a husband.
The rest of The Odyssey is focused on Odysseus’ struggle to get home where he kills all of the suitors except for Medon, who is spared because he does not participate in their actions against Penelope. The poem states that after Odysseus reveals himself in front of all Ithaca’s citizens, they have a funeral feast for his wife’s son Laertes who has recently died. Afterward, The Odyssey concludes with Penelope coming out of the palace to greet her husband with their son Telemachus, who has grown so much in the years he has been away.
Along with Helen of Troy, The Odyssey names three other notable women that Odysseus meets during his struggle to return home from The Trojan War. The first is Circe, an enchantress who turns many men into pigs when they stop at her island on The Odyssey’s journey back home after leaving Troy. The second woman is Calypso, an enchantress who initially decides to let Odysseus leave but changes her mind and asks him to stay forever; she says it would be too cruel for them both if he did not because of how strongly they love each other.