Women in The Odyssey Literary Analysis Essay

In Homer’s poem, The Odyssey, it is made very clear how women are portrayed. They had roles that are similar and different. All of the women were intelligent, strong, and have some type of significance throughout the poem. However, they were different because of who they were with, what they told Odysseus, and how they helped, or even hurt him. This is the same way for art. It is necessary for art to utilize some of the same tools, but each art piece is different with its allusions, story being told, and the power behind it. In The Odyssey, the integration of women and art can be compared throughout the poem. 

Penelope was one of the most cunning and powerful characters portrayed throughout the epic poem. She was someone who was loyal to her husband and knew what she had to do to keep the suitors away. The malicious men wanted to be with her and take her hand in marriage; however, that is the last thing she wanted. She had a loom that she would weave with every day, and every day she would explain to them that she would choose a man to marry once her shroud was finished.

So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web—

by night, the by the light of torches set beside her,

she would unravel all she’d done. Three whole years 

she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme… (II. 115-118)

Little did the men know what she was actually up to. She actively deceived the young men and tricked them into thinking that she was going to finish that shroud. The mind games continued to go on for several years, until one of the suitors made her finish it. Paintings can be the same way; they can have a certain allusion to them. People can look at a painting from one angle and see an image, but then another person can look at the painting from a different angle and see something completely different. Artist have a way of tricking people’s minds to see one thing using shapes and lines and this is exactly what Penelope does. She alludes to these men that what she is doing is right, but really, she is just outsmarting them. 

Throughout The Odyssey, Penelope had to outthink the people around her to avoid problems and issues that could have arisen. At the end of Homer’s epic poem, we found out that Odysseus was on his return home to Ithaca. Problems began to happen once he did arrive home because Penelope did not believe that the beggar was her husband, whom she had been longing for. In Book Twenty-Five, she held a contest with Odysseus’ bow to see who could string the axes perfectly. She said this to the suitors:

I set before you the great bow of King Odysseus now!

The hand that can string this bow with greatest ease,

that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes—

he is the man I follow, yes, forsaking this house

where I was once a bride, this gracious house

so filled with the best that life can offer—

I shall always remember it, that I know… (XXI. 84-91)

Of course, Penelope knew that only one person could successfully do this, and his name was Odysseus. She knew exactly what she was doing and knew that if her husband really was the beggar, then he had the best shot at winning the contest. Being the subject of a painting means that you have to be the essence of the piece, and Penelope would be a prime example of this. She is a strong and powerful woman who is constantly in the center of the plot. Whatever actions or words that she spoke, did determine the fate of Ithaca. If she wouldn’t have spoken up about the bow or even the tree in the middle of her room, then Odysseus may not have ever admitted to it actually being him. Painting a bow with Penelope beside it could be a strong representation of the important events that occur when she is trying to outsmart someone.

When I think of a painting, I normally think of the story that is trying to be portrayed. Calypso is a strong representation of a character that has a story, whose has story has power. She is in many books of The Odyssey, but as readers we know her for one thing, keeping Odysseus on her island for seven years. For seven years, Calypso forces Odysseus to be her lover. She knows that she is a very beautiful woman and she wants him to be sexually aroused for her. She wants Odysseus to never be involved with anybody else, not even going home to his wife, Penelope. The main goal the she wanted to achieve was making him immortal so that he could stay with her forever, but we know that is not at all what Odysseus wants. In Book Five, Homer states: 

Now he’s left to pine on an island, racked with grief

in the nymph Calypso’s house—she holds him there by force.

He has no way to voyage home to his own native land,

no trim ships in reach, no crew to ply the oars

and send him scudding over the sea’s broad back. (V. 15-19)

When he states this, it gives us an insight about the control she has over Odysseus. He has no way of getting home because he is being held hostage and quite frankly, Calypso doesn’t care. She only wants him to please her and stay with her for the rest of his time. 

When I think of a painting, I think of the magic and story that comes behind it. Vincent van Gough and Leonardo de Vinci are some of the greatest to ever do it. Their paintings had great detail, and when we think of Circe, we must remind ourselves that she provided Odysseus with the way back home. In Book Twelve, Circe says:

Come, take some food and drink some wine,

rest here the livelong day

and then, tomorrow at daybreak, you must sail.

But I will set you a course and chart each seamark, 

so neither on sea nor land will some new trap 

ensnare you in trouble, make you suffer more. (XII. 35-30)

As the book goes on, Circe explains in great detail what it is going to take to get Odysseus home. She explains the triumphs, the errors, and the battles that he and his shipmates will encounter in order to get to Ithaca. The sirens were the one thing that she made very clear to steer away from. She knew exactly what would happen to him if he got lured in and even though he came close to caving in, he made the right decision and didn’t follow through with what he wanted. Everything that she told Odysseus had come true, but he eventually made it to his native land. 

The Odyssey teaches us the importance of women. Every woman is portrayed different because of the roles that they must accept. Penelope has to be a strong, cunning, independent wife while her husband is gone. She longs for his return and plays tricks on the suitors to keep him away. Calypso uses her powers to try to convince Odysseus that she is the woman for her and promises him immortality. Last, Circe is the most insightful one of them all. She tells Odysseus what to avoid and how to avoid it. If it weren’t for her, Odysseus may have never made it back home. All of these women have different traits about them just like the subjects of a painting. Art can be depicted through allusions, power, and detail.