Throughout The Odyssey, there are many temptations in female form that Odysseus must resist such as the sirens, Kalypso, Kirke and even the sea devil Skylla. These are all forms of trickery because they try to draw Odysseus away from his ultimate goal of going home.
This is not to say that trickery does not exist with men. Odysseus is a perfect example of cunningness; he tricked the Cyclops to escape the cave. Polyphemos acknowledges it when he screams: “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me…” (157). Odysseus also uses a beggar’s disguise to fool the suitors and Eumaios and to eventually execute his plan. Homer also has stories interwoven in the epic poem that involve trickery. For example the affair between Ares and Aphrodite is exposed by Hephaistos, Aphrodite’s husband, by creating a net on the bed and catching the lovers in the act.
Overall, trickery is not limited to just the female figures in the epic poem. However, it should be acknowledged that given the time period that this poem was written, women are widely represented in the poem, and not just as simple, one-dimensional characters. Homer gives women the quality of deception.
I like the examples that you used for your argument! But don't you think Homer gives both women and men the quality of deception (not just women)? It's just that when men are deceptive, it's acceptable, but when women are deceptive, it's not. It's true that Athena is one female who can get away with trickery and still be awesome. I think you should expand more on Athena instead of talking about a bunch of different females. I think it would have been great to see you focus on just a couple of characters (but each with different interpretations, like Athena vs. Calypso).
ReplyDeleteHi Irene! I can see that you found a lot of great examples of trickery in the epic. In fact, you covered most of the ones I could think of! However, I would have liked to see you explore the significance of the major association of trickery with females more; I liked where you were going with your final paragraph, but I wondered why Homer gave women the quality of deception, something that involves manipulating others intellectually.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I think the idea can be taken to the next level by asking whether or not power is associated with any specific sex. By having the power of deceit, does that make any of the women more masculine?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting how you explored the idea that feminine deceit makes the female characters more complex, rather than villainizing them. Spencer's comment seems to run along the same train of thought and I think that the association of power with women, in this case, says a lot about the strength of trickery in the epic.
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