Essay on The Impact of Women in The Iliad - 579 Words

Women have always been recognized for their strong influence on the actions of men. Because of his love for Delia, Samson told his secret of his power and ended up losing it. In Shakespeares Macbeth, Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to commit murder. More recently, Eleanor Roosevelt strongly influenced the decisions that Franklin D. Roosevelt made. Women of Homers epic, The Iliad, were considered primary instigators of the Trojan war. The characteristics attributed to women in ancient Greek mythology may have been key to the outbreak of the war. But many ask why Homer would choose to reflect so deeply on the feminine roles of this war fought by men. Although the beginning of the war was not spoken of in The Iliad, the origin of†¦show more content†¦The gods called upon Paris to award the prize of beauty. Hera promised him power and riches if he decided in her favor. Athena offered him wisdom and glory in war. Then Aphrodite said she would give him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris gave Aphrodite the apple, and Hera and Athena became bitter enemies of the Trojans. Helen, the fairest woman on earth, was already married. Her husband, Menealus, was the king of Sparta. Paris, under Aphrodites protection, sailed to Sparta, won Helens love, and carried her off to Troy. Menelaus had to go to battle against Troy to defend his honor and retake Helen as his wife. Thus a combination of Eriss temper; Hera, Athena, and Aphrodites jealousy; and Helens beauty caused the war. Typically, Greek mythology, including Homers epics, note particular characteristics of femininity. Although there is very little said about the attractiveness of gods and heroic men, beauty seems to be noted among most myths pertaining to goddesses, women, and other feminine creatures. The Gorgons were noted for being outcasts because of their ugliness. Intelligence is another trait associated with women. Many goddesses devised schemes to help which ever mortal they favored. By handing Achilles the spear, Achilles knows that he is to kill Hector. Magical powers also seem to att ributed to femininity in Greek myths. Circe and the Sirens were known for their magic found in The Odyssey were known for theirShow MoreRelatedThe Role of Women in the Iliad Essay examples1593 Words   |  7 PagesThe role of Women in the Iliad Throughout history, women have held many different roles in society. Men have traditionally been viewed as superior since the beginning of time. Homers Iliad is an excellent example of the suppressive role of women at this time. Women were treated merely as property and were used for producing material within the household. Paralyzed by their unfortunate circumstances, they were taken and given as if they were material belongings. In Homers Iliad, we conceiveRead MoreComparison between The Iliad and The Women of Troy Essay903 Words   |  4 PagesThe Iliad by Homer and the Women of Troy by Euripides are both Greek works of literature that look at the Trojan War from different perspectives. Book 6 of the Iliad illustrates that the ultimate glory is to fight for the city with no regard to the impact on the family. The Women of Troy focuses on the negatives that war causes, especially towards the soldier’s wives and children. Whereas the Iliad focuses on the battle itsel f and centers on the warriors, the Women of Troy focuses on the wrathRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Iliad 1352 Words   |  6 Pagesthis time, women have held many different roles in society. In the Iliad, Homer portrayed the role of women in his time as having a very suppressive role. Women during this period of time and especially in this culture are treated primarily as merely property and were used for producing material within the household. Women were often taken and given as if they were material belongings, due to their lack of choice and their unfortunate circumstances. However, apart from portraying women as pieces ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Iliad866 Words   |  4 PagesIn Homer’s The Iliad, women can often be overshadowed by the strong male warriors that dominate the epic poem. However, many women in The Iliad are central to the plot; without these women the poem would have a drastically different story. The influence of women in The Iliad varies fro m woman to woman, usually having some effect on the plot, but the extent of their involvement is typically dependent on their status in society. However, even when a woman is in a position of great power, she is stillRead MoreThe Role of Women in the Iliad Essay724 Words   |  3 PagesThesis Statement: Women play a major role in the Iliad. Examining the impact of female characters in an epic dominated by war and the men who fought it. Major female characters include Helen, Briseis, Athena, Aphrodite, Hera , Thetis and Chrysies. The Iliad is first and foremost an epic poem about a war waged by men. Even though there are no female warriors , apart from the goddesses, women play a major role in defining the course of it. The roots of the war can be traced back to the beautyRead MoreThe Illiad by Homer1206 Words   |  5 PagesWomen have held many different roles in society throughout human history. Since the beginning of time men have always been viewed as superior. In Homer’s Iliad, a perfect example of the suppressive role of women is shown. Women are treated as property and are used for the mere purpose of reproduction within the household. Paralyzed by their unfortunate circumstances, they were taken and given as if they were material belongings. In Homers Iliad, women are seen and introduce as rewards to the maleRead MoreThe Iliad And The Odyssey1498 Words   |  6 PagesAn Influential Poem The Iliad is a poem that provides important stories with insight into early human society. It was an ancient story written centuries ago about two civilizations that battled against each other. â€Å"The Iliad tells the story of the clash of two great civilizations, and the effects of war on both the winners and losers† (Homer 222). In addition to its influence on Greek poetry, the Iliad is a great Homeric epic that has long helped shape critical schools of thought. It is notRead MoreThe Epic Of The Iliad1562 Words   |  7 PagesHomer is the author of the Iliad and is known as the greatest Greek epic poet. He has had an enormous influence on the history of literature. The poem, Iliad, has been translated into different languages, one of which will be used in this paper, translated by Robert Fagles. The poem itself is about one simple word: rage. This anger that infuriates everyone is transformed into a war that will not stop until one side, either Greeks or Trojans, wins. With the majority of the Gods taking sides, the readerRead MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Iliad 966 Words   |  4 PagesSome of the most memorable stories are recorded in Homer’s epic tale, The Iliad. With action packed battles, heroes and mighty gods, these tales that are so incredibly detailed that the reader can picture the battles like they were happening right in front of them. The Iliad’s legends are so infamous that even after hundreds of years they are still being told in the 21st century. Between the fighting and the glory however, there are scenes with the hero’s wives and families pleading with their lovedRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Iliad1714 Words   |  7 PagesHomer’s Iliad is an epic tale that spans centuries. The story covers intense battles in which the Greeks take on the Trojans. Homer does a fantastic job of bringing the poem to life and uses the gods to show the scale of the tale. While the poem is well written and grabs the reader’s attention, upon further analysis one can conclude that there is a serious problem concerning the tension between personal desire and rational ethical thinking. Throughout the book this conflict appears time and time

Comparison of Two Short Stories the Red Room and Farthing...

Comparison of Two Short Stories: the Red Room and Farthing House I have been asked to compare two short stories for my English coursework. These two stories are called The Red room and Farthing House. These stories are considerably different, partly because of the respective eras during which they were written. Farthing House was written by a female author, Susan Hill in 1992, while The Red Room was written by the famous H G Wells in the late 19th Century. There is almost a century of culture and ideological changes between the two stories. This difference means the language used and settings are almost certainly going to be quite different. Farthing House is a more unhackneyed ghost†¦show more content†¦An added appurtenance of this tale that sets it as a more frightening story is the physical descriptions and apparent fears of these elderly people. They have abnormalities; one has a withered arm, another appears to be unusually old while the third seems to be relatively normal. These characters also tend to bicker and argue with each other. The descriptions and characters outlined contrast completely those in Farthing House where similarly aged residents are happy, surrounded by kind and gentle nurses in a warm and cosy environment in beautiful countryside. The initial impressions therefore are a scary setting and characters in one, contrasted by the opposite in Farthing House. The Red Room opening has been set up to frighten people. The only slight twist in Farthing House is that it is set near a graveyard. Now I am going to examine how the atmosphere is created in both stories. In The Red Room, the first impression that the young man receives is quite an unsettling one. Although all the way through the first part of the story he tries to show his bravery, creating an atmosphere of bravado. This is to do with the old people having very strange appearances and living in an environment where they are constantly arguing. This creates uneasiness and an underlying tension, as though a deeper darker secret is yet to beShow MoreRelatedFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pagesbiblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that the readers will recognize the origi nal sources and relate their meaning to the new context. †¢ Brightness falls from the air/ Queens have diedRead MoreVarian Solution153645 Words   |  615 Pagesthese numbers as being daily rent payments.) Person Price = A = 40 B 25 C D 30 35 E 10 F 18 G 15 H 5 (a) Plot the market demand curve in the following graph. (Hint: When the market price is equal to some consumer i’s reservation price, there will be two diï ¬â‚¬erent quantities of apartments demanded, since consumer i will be indiï ¬â‚¬erent between having or not having an apartment.) 2 THE MARKET (Ch. 1) Price 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Apartments (b) Suppose the

Cherubic Demons Essay Example For Students

Cherubic Demons Essay Virginia Woolf was a professional writer who made many important contributions to the progress of women and womens rights. She was born in 1882 during a time the middle of the Victorian era in which the feminine ideal that she struggled against so much was very prevalent; the ideal women was thought to be passive, pretty, and proper. ?The Angel in the House? was Woolfs term for the internalized ideal against which she strove to overcome. Her father was a writer too; he was an editor and a critic both in profession and parenthood. Woolf suffered continual loss and tragedy in the course of her childhood and adult life. While still a young girl, she was abused sexually by her half-brothers, and when she tried to tell people about the trauma she endured, no one believed her. Her mother, who continually neglected Woolf while she was alive, died when Woolf was only thirteen years old. As she grew older, Woolf valiantly tried to overcome all of the pain she had endur! ed and the internal fear that seemed to pervade her every thought and action. Whether she eventually did overcome these practically insurmountable obstacles is uncertain; Virginia Woolf killed herself by drowning at the age of 57. Regardless of how her life circumstances affected or even benefited her writing, Woolf offered women in general some very important truths, and challenged women for generations to come with her honesty, frankness, and courage. Virginia Woolf is a prime example of how, throughout the ages, women are constantly faced with living up to not only mens opinion of them, but womens as well, and must overcome their lofty expectations in addition to their own life experiences. One the many ghosts that haunted Woolf throughout her life was ?The Angel in the House?. Woolf describes this disturbing phantom in her essay, ?Professions for Woman?. The Angel in the House is a spiritual being that resides in every woman. Whether she obeys it or not is up to her, but that does not change that f act that the spirit is there, admonishing them to act in a way that pleases not only the Angel, but also the people around her. The Angel represents all that the woman is expected by society or men to be. In Woolfs generation, the Angel symbolizes what the Victorian epitome of womanhood is. She can please, she can flatter, she can soothe, she is self-less, she is beautiful, she is ?above all, pure?. In the time that Woolf lives, the standards that the Angel in the House expects women to adhere to are rigid. Women are to be quiet, demure, they have to cook and clean, they need to be attractive, and they are required to be feminine at all times. Why? ! To catch a man of course. This is a womans chief objective. All personal desires are secondary to this central prerogative, for what type of woman would not make a man her greatest desire? Such a woman would be considered unacceptable. But Woolfs greatest desire is not a husband; it is the truth. Being truthful in her writing, being t ruthful to herself, being truthful to the world that is her wish. Whenever Woolf sits down to write (in this case a review of a novel by a famous man), the Angel in the House appears, wanting to color every sentence, every word, every mark that Woolfs pen makes. Woolf hates her. Woolf is an independent woman, and a very truthful one. She wants to be true to herself, not this spirit, this other person. But how can she express her true self and still listen to the Angel? She cannot. So Woolf, being the observant and courageous woman that she is, decides that she must murder this ever-present obstacle. ?She died hard. Her fictitious nature was of great assistance to her,? Woolf declares. Of course she is difficult to kill; no one believes she even existed in the first place. But does Woolf succeed in killing her? Does she truly just disappear when Woolf thinks she is finally dead? Maybe, and maybe not, because if she really is gone, then Woolf would be free to say or write whatever sh e wants. However, the next barrier that Woolf encounters in her writing appears to be very similar to the Angel in the House. Are the two obstacles one and the same? Or are they separate? Woolf herself maintains that they are two very distinct ghosts with individual identities. But perhaps they are the same phantom dressing up in two different costumes, like a tricker-treater who goes out twice on Halloween to the same houses dressed as a different person each time getting two times the candy. Let us decide whether Woolf succeeded in killing the Angel in the House, or if she simply appears again by taking on a new form. Woolf uses a powerful and accurate metaphor to depict the inhibition that she feels when she lets her imagination roam in the depths of her consciousness. She describes a girl, fishing on the edge of a deep lake; ?The line raced through fingers,? she says, implying that her fishing lure , in the midst of its probing, is traveling at a fast rate, as if anxious to re ach its destination. What is the destination? What is this mysterious thing that the girl suddenly finds herself cut off from, imprisoned behind a seemingly impenetrable wall? What is this barrier? Woolf dances around the subject, hoping or assuming that her audience will guess what she is hinting at. It is quite obvious. This is a repressor that stifles Woolf in her writing when she finds herself about to expose the sexual feelings and passions that she feels deep inside. A! lthough these feelings that are natural and normal for a woman to have, up until more recent times, they were not to be discussed or even felt by a ?proper? woman. Although Woolf feels that she has at last conquered one of her numerous ?Angels?, this is one that she admits she had yet to best, as is demonstrated by her delicate handling of the subject even when she musters the boldness to speak publicly about it. Although the Angel in the House is primarily associated with negative experiences and with the supp ression of self, some of the attributes that Woolfs Angel in the House symbolizes are not to be completely discarded. Woolf says that, ?She was intensely sympatheticshe sacrificed herself dailyshe was pure.? Though sacrificing oneself on a daily basis denotes self-neglect, there is something to be said for putting others above oneself, for showing respect to others, for being pure. These are virtues that humanity seems to shun today. The definition of purity does not have to carry the negative meaning that Woolf gave it, it does not have to represent the same thing that it did in her day. ?Pure? does not necessarily denote innocence; a woman or a man can be pure in the aspect of abstaining from certain practices that are harmful, such as inhaling poisonous fumes from a cigarette, or choosing not to eat red meat. Purity can be not participating in activities that a ! person truly believes are wrong. Being pure can mean being true to oneself. As for self-sacrifice, this is something t hat some people take joy in. There is something satisfying in doing things for others, for being loyal for the sake of friendship. I think that though the Angel in the House definitely must be gotten rid of, she is still a part of people, and there are aspects of her that should not be killed when the rest of her is. Woman today are faced with new, possibly even more strict Angel in the Houses to model themselves after. These modern Angels have less to do with verbal flattery and moral purity than with simple surface worth. Consider the relatively new paradigm of beauty, thinness. The longing to be skinny, trim, fit, has gone from the achievable to the absurd. The idea that all women should look the same as the surgically enhanced, metabolically blessed people that they are continually being bombarded with by the media is ridiculous. Because of this lean standard of beauty, we have invented all sorts of new diseases to deal with. We now have anorexia, bulimia, as well as depression due to self-disgust from people who in Woolfs time would have been considered normal and healthy. But why do women do this themselves? Why do they persistently try to fit themselves into this narrow mold? Who do they want to be attractive to? Do they want to appear appealing to their mates, or is i! t other women that they fear rejection from? Whoever is responsible, regardless of who women are trying to please by succumbing to this aesthetic ideal, the fact remains that women are nevertheless listening to the voice of the Angel in the House; her opinions and appearance may have changed, but she is still stifling the human self. She is as alive and well today as she was nearly seventy years ago. In society today, women are faced with all sorts of stumbling blocks to their freedom and voices. All women and men have an Angel in the House hovering in their subconscious, telling what they should and should not say, think, or do. The Angel comes in many forms. She represents different things to different people. Woolfs Angel symbolized self-sacrifice without choice; she wanted women to be mere shadows, using their entire existence for the glory of others. The Angel that plagued Woolf was despised by her because it wanted her to become like the rest of women in her day, and Woolf wanted to break out of the conventional role that had been assigned to her, both on the inside and outside of her being. In modern times, women still assume the societal duties that they have for generations, but there are also new parts to play. It is those very positions that the next generation of women will be struggling against and eventually breaking out of, a new-born butterfl! y fighting its way out of a winter cocoon. .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .postImageUrl , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:hover , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:visited , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:active { border:0!important; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:active , .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6 .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9f5d5e6f0cfa0a550eb522d852a540c6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Cyber Security Is Not Only An Issue For The World Essay

The Upward Battle free essay sample

I’m a dictator. Ask any of the paper’s staff members about my tactics, and they’ll probably compare me to Mussolini himself. O.K., I’m too critical. I refused to ask for help. I thought I was the Superwoman of high school journalism. And to say the least, I wasn’t. The newspaper adviser of 13 years left after my sophomore year. With his experience in journalism, he was able to advise the editors through tough budget problems, tell them how to handle power struggles, edit copy and bring new ideas to the table. He participated in regional workshops and was an active scholastic media leader in the state. He was a lively member of the staff. We were lucky. I was the first editor in the paper’s history who would not have him to hold my hand, and I thought I could handle it. I would get more students involved in the paper. We will write a custom essay sample on The Upward Battle or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People would fight for coverage, and readers would make checking the Intermission website a daily activity. I swore I would be the editor who would change the reputation of the paper. Well, sometimes your expectations don’t line up with reality. I failed my paper in more ways than one during my junior year: For one, we never felt united. The designers and photographers were in a completely different building than the writers and copy editors. Classes went on where none of the writers saw my face. I went in with the mentality that I was the â€Å"Almighty Editor-in-Chief† who the staff would automatically respect, fear, and obey. Instead, they treated me as a parent: agreeing to complete the task, but the moment I left the room, they went back to their naps. I had to hold my staff’s hand like they were in kindergarten. Secondly, I never communicated with my adviser. With multiple e-mails sent before the school year even started, I came off too strong. I expected him to know everything about journalism. I expected him to have past experience in the field and to be as eager I was to get started. I quickly realized how optimistic I had been. I never took the time to show him the ropes. He was left behind, and to this day, he still thinks it was his fault. The apology note he wrote in my yearbook does not lie. And lastly, I was awards-driven. My previous adviser always mentioned one editor who set the record for the most papers published in a year, who won the paper numerous awards at our state competitions, and who was an alternate for North Carolina High School Journalist of the Year. I wanted to be her, but I focused on the wrong things. My eyes were only on the prize, and I forgot about the steps to getting there. Impatience, selfishness, and overconfidence are the characteristics of the dictator that once ruled over the Intermission newspaper. A new era of democracy has begun. Now, I’m a democratic leader.