Penelope and Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females Essay -- Homers Odyssey

genus Penelope of the Odyssey and Alcestis of Alcestis as Ideal Greek Females Although there is some disagreement concerning the Greeks definition of the ideal female, there is little disagreement that two women represented this Greek ideal. The character of Penelope of Homers Odyssey 1 and Alcestis of Euripides Alcestis 2, came to represent the homogeneous ideal of female excellence. The Greeks referred to this ideal female as a sophron woman. The qualities feature by a sophron woman are tangible she is a costly housekeeper, a nurturer of her husband, a child-bearer. She is chaste, graceful and does not like to talk round sex with other women. According to Helen F. North in an article regarding the etymology of sophrosyne, the joint originated in the Homeric larges as saophrosyne, which implies soundness of mind and is used altogether in relation to men.4 The word implies both self-knowledge and a sense of propriety, lay one in mind of the inscription at Delphi. It is notable that in relation to men, sophrosyne does not carry specific behavioral connotations, as it does when it comes to be applied to women. Penelopes story, set in the time immediately proceeding the Trojan War, is one of strategic waiting. The Odyssey begins with stasis simultaneously, Odysseus departure from Ogygia and Telemachos coming of age set the events of the epic in motion. As a woman, Penelope has no momentum of her own, barely must operate on that of her kyrios. This is not to imply that Penelope is by definition powerless, but it is worth noting that the sphere of her effectiveness is actively refractory by the wishes of the men responsible for her. In fact, Penelope faces a drastically reduced role whether Odysseus returns or... ...ophrosyne as the Virtue of Women in Antiquity. From Marcovich, Miroslave, ed. Illinois Classical Studies II (1977) 36. 4 Ibid 37. 5 Ibid 36. Works Consulted Diana Buitron-Oliver and Beth Cohen, Between Skylla and Penelope Female Cha racters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art, pp. 29-58. Female Representations and Interpreting the Odyssey, by stage set Schein, pp. 17-27. Richard Brilliant, Kirkes Men Swine and Sweethearts, pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, Penelope as Moral Agent, in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff posture (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. The Odyssey, History, and Women, by A. J. Graham, pp. 3-16, and Jennifer Neils, Les Femmes Fatales Skylla and the Sirens in Greek Art, pp. 175-84. Lillian Doherty, Siren Songs Gender, Audiences, and Narrators in the Odyssey (Ann Arbor 1995), esp. chapter 1.