Ms. Froehlich's Question

1. Through Homer's writing, it is evident in many instances that he is sexist. Although he did not believe that women were totally worthless, he shows clear prejudice in his work The Odyssey by conforming to female stereotypes and insinuating that by themselves, women were capable of nothing.

Throughout The Odyssey, several stereotypes are displayed about women. One of these is the stereotypes is that only men can lead a household and women only play a supporting role. A prime example of this is is the suitors overrunning Odysseus' house in his absence. Penelope, being a woman is helpless to do anything and is forced to watch the suitors ween away at her wealth. Without a man to lead the house, she has no voice and can't command the suitors to leave. Another stereotype shown by Homer is that women are unfaithful. In Odysseus' absence, the maids of his household sleep around with the suitors and doing so betray him. This presumes that all women are willing to sacrifice their honor and their ties to their house just to sleep with a random person. Homer also shows the maids as having little regret for their actions, and barely even protest when Odysseus kills them all.

Another sexist pattern of the Odyssey is that ordinary women have very little power or control over their own actions. After the sack of Troy, Helen returns with Menelaus to Greece and is unable to say no. She explicitly showed her desire to leave him by going with Paris, but women have very little say in their lives so she was forced to go back with Menelaus. Had Homer not been sexist, Helen would have at least have married someone other than Menelaus, someone she had openly spurned. The only women who have any power at all are goddesses such as Athena. Athena is shown as a very wise and strong figure, but being a goddess, she is far above what any human woman could ever achieve. Homer's sexism manifests itself in Athena because she is the impossible ideal woman who is everything that human women are not: intelligent, and powerful.

Throughout the novel, men are shown as cunning and powerful, and the women are shown as unintelligent and weak, and it is this double standard which proves Homer is a sexist.