Summary:
Analyzes the Iliad by Homer. Describes the portrayal of women in the text. Contends that there is clear evidence that the role of women in this society was that of a servile follower.
"So please go home and tend to your own tasks, / the distaff and the loom, and keep the women / working hard as well" (6.585-587). From this we see Hector's view of women, which is a theme that is echoed throughout the rest of the Iliad. Women are mentioned relatively few times in the Iliad in comparison with the books devoted solely to the men. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence that the role of women in this society was that of a servile follower.
The first example of women being treated as property is found at the very beginning of the poem, when Agamemnon agrees to give Chryseis back to Calchas. "But fetch me another prize, and straight off too, / else I alone of the Argives go without honor. / That would be a disgrace......
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