The Odyssey - Essay Example

The Odyssey: The Danger of Temptation as Represented by Women The story of Odysseus is a tale of high adventure that places women at the center of a great number of events in which they play a danger to the male virtue. Women represent many things within the story, the greatest of which is distraction. Women are constantly trying to distract and avert Odysseus from getting home to his wife, but he withstands their pursuit of him with the intent of being faithful, if in spirit, to Penelope. The women are portrayed through various attributes that are often considered attractive, the nymph Calypso for her great desire for Odysseus, the sirens for the beautiful song that calls the sailors into the sea only to swallow their breath and drown them, and Circe for her ability to enchant.

However, these attributes are twisted so that they are foul and without redemption, the virtue of Odysseus overcoming the perils and obstacles that block his passage home. Odysseus tried to lead his men home after the war in Troy, but they all perished before they could reach their destiny, save for Odysseus who was held by the nymph Calypso for seven years. The text states that “But Odysseus, who longed to get back to his wife/and reach his home was being held in a cave/by that mighty nymph Calypso, noble goddess/ who wished to make Odysseus her husband.

” (Homer and Johnston 7). His captivity and intent is clear. He does not wish to be with Calypso, but wishes to get back to his wife. Calypso can represent the ‘other woman’, the one who distracts a man away from his duties, although in this case it was framed symbolically as actual captivity rather than emotional, metaphoric captivity. The power of women to distract men from their chosen course is symbolically given discourse through several different types of encounters. As well, the mythological structure of the encounters suggest a symbolic journey in which a man finds his way home through the temptation and virtue dynamic that is challenged.

The mythological symbolism is further defined by a deeper understanding of the hero’s journey and the myths involved. According to Shien, “We may regard it as fundamentally a consultation myth, in which a protagonist penetrates after many trials and often with the help of a female figure (Circe and Calypso) to a deeply guarded area of the mythic geography where he confronts or interviews a potent figure who alone can reveal something to him of a life and death significance” (145). It may be a moral of the story that despite the excitement of the journey, there is no place like home, and in order to get home, temptation must be overcome.

The desire to go home to his wife Penelope is framed by the character that she embodies. She faces her own temptations and the oppression of her sex as 108 suitors try to ply her away from her marriage while ravaging Odysseus’ wealth as she is virtually powerless to stop them. Penelope is considered a symbol of fidelity, her actions revealing her desire at all costs to stay faithful to the husband that she believes will return. She puts off the suitors in a number of deceitful ways. One of those ways is in weaving a shroud for her father in law, which she weaves during the day, then takes out the day’s work at night.

Her actions reveal her to be virtuous and faithful, a woman worthy of the great efforts that Odysseus has put into trying to get back to her. As well, her actions suggest that she is clever, her diversions from remarrying creative and without any malicious consequences. She is a version of good in contrast to the versions of evil represented by the other more dangerous women in the story. In her similarity, the temptation that Odysseus experiences is understandable, his ability to thwart their clever advances, admirable.

The story of the Odyssey is only one version of the story that has been told in other ancient texts. In other texts Odysseus is not near the honorable man as he is described in Homer’s version. In some tales, Odysseus is very unfaithful, murders in cold blood, and is characterized as deceitful and manipulative (Corona and Homer 271) In Homer’s version, his theme of marital fidelity is served by his faithfulness as it is framed by the evil wiles of women as they try to subvert the virtuous intent of Odysseus.

However, the female characters are not given much in the way of depth. Corona attributes this to the time period in which it was written, asking “Where were the women? …I think in Homer‘s era, poets thought they knew they answer. Women were spinning, weaving, birthing, cooking, helping at harvest time- all things of no mythic importance” (Corona and Homer 272). The oral traditions that brought these stories down to those who took pen to write them often took place in taverns where “it was important to stick to the important things - monsters, vengeful gods, mighty battles, testosterone-laden disputes between heroes” (Corona and Homer 274).

Despite the lack of dimensional character in most of the women in the story, the tale utilizes the female gender as a way to incorporate virtue and attribute it to a man who wishes only to get back to his wife - although his kingdom may have had some draw as well. Penelope is his match, the woman who will go to great lengths to avoid betraying her husband, despite her limited resources with which to avoid the suitors who wish to wrench from her control of the kingdom. The story is political, in reality, as much as it is about fidelity.

Still, some of the most interesting female characters in Greek epic poetry appear within the Odyssey, providing obstacles on the road home for Odysseus and creating the mythic representation of temptation and diversion that the draw of the female figure can hold. Works Cited Corona, Laurel, and Homer. Penelope's Daughter. New York: Berkley Books, 2010. Print. Homer and Ian C. Johnston. The Odyssey. Arlington, Va: Richer Resources Publications, 2007. Print. Schein, Seth L. Reading the Odyssey: Selected Interpretive Essays.

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966. Print.