Gilgamesh, The Odyssey and the Hebrew Bible-Roles of Men and Women - Essay Example

Gilgamesh, The Odyssey and the Hebrew Bible-Roles of Men and Women The Odyssey tells a story of Odyssey, a Greek hero who got lost in the sea after the fall of Troy. The story starts ten years after the battle, Odyssey a survivor is lost in the sea and does not know how to return to his kingdom Ithaca. Back home, Odyssey’s kingdom is under siege, multiple suitors have turned up to court his wife, Penelope. However, his son Telemachus is holding his own he is determined to protect his father’s kingdom but lacks the support and knowledge on how to overcome the rowdy mob of suitors. The activities, encounters, and relations of these three characters bring into perspective the roles of men, women and children in the story. They provide a synopsis through which one can define the position and role of either in the ancient society represented by the entire story. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about king Gilagmesh. King Gilgamesh is the leader of Uruk, he is two thirds god and one third man. He yields extreme power which he exercises to the core. Besides the societal position, he is wise, immensely strong and physically beautiful. He is depicted as an all conquering leader who does not tolerate opposition and whose appetite for beautiful women is insatiable. However, his authority is threatened by Enkidu, an equally strong man who is more courteous. These men’s encounters, treatment and view of women underline the position of both men and women in their society. The Hebrew bible unlike the earlier stories is a true statement, sometimes considered a journal that records the life, times, experiences and occurrences of the Jews under a deity being. It forms a core aspect of Christianity as it traces the journey of mankind and underlines the supremacy of God, Yahweh. Being a journal, it makes representations of ancient stories through which we learn the role of women, men, and children. Each of the three texts was developed independently, and thus represents different lifestyles in different contexts. However, the role and position of women, children and men may in some of the texts be similar. This similarity is taken to represent the widespread view of society on the role and position of women, children and men. Isolated cases on role and position depict the peculiarities in these societies as opposed to the collective representation of society. In the Odyssey, the role of either gender is most clear and appears quite early in the story and becomes elaborate as the scenes advance. At the beginning, Telemachus is alone with the mother, Penelope, the father and husband is still lost and has not been home for ten years. In the absence of the father, it is unclear who among the mother and son is supposed to take over the running of the kingdom. However, this doubt is cleared in book one when Penelope complains of the music being played by the jubilant suitors, Telemachus authoritatively tells the mother, “mother, go back to the quarters. Tend to your own tasks. As for giving orders men will see to that” (Homer and Deborah 89). This statement makes it clear that women are subordinate to men, even if these men are their own sons as is the case with Telemachuus. Secondly, the statement also shows that the place of women in this society is at home as represented by “quarter” they supervise and manage home affairs. Also enforced is the place of men, “they will issue commands” this shows their supremacy and dominance in the Odyssey’s kingdom and arguably the entire society. Despite this supremacy, men are depicted as vulnerable to the wit and inner power of women as clearly depicted in the case involving Odysseus and Circe. In this instance, Circe a god who has the looks and the power out-wits Odysseus physical power by turning all his men into pigs. Circe only promises to restore their manly nature if Odysseus agrees to sleep with her. This also represents women as the deceptive gender in society. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the first apparent role is that of men. This is represented by Gilgamesh who demonstrates an insatiable appetite for women. Gilgamesh shows disregard for family and marriage, this is especially in instances where the woman strikes his fancy. Similarly, it also depicts women as objects. He rapes women and ignores the cry of their husband who dare not raise an arm against the mighty king. This is seen in one of the incidences “he takes the girl from her mother and uses her, the warrior’s daughter” (Mitchell 72). Even though this depicts men’s inferiority as well, it is understandable given the Kingship. The dignity of men and respect for women is restored by the arrival of Enkidu. Enkidu, appears as a respectable and courteous man, he is the only one who stands in the way of Gilgamesh who wants to rape a woman. They are engrailed in a fight and even if Gilgamesh prevails he respects the position of men and upholds women’s dignity. The “domestication” of Enkidu who lived and ate with the animals represent the inner power of women. This is because it takes a woman, Shamhat, the temple prostitute. She is instructed by a hunter on how to rejuvenate his manliness “Use your love-arts. Strip off and lie naked and the animals in the wilderness will desert him” (Mitchell 78). This act demonstrates the hunter’s believe in the power of women and Shamhat’s success acts as evidence of this power. This act also demonstrates men as vulnerable to women, representing women as the witty gender and as yielding greater mental power. This corresponds with the lessons learnt from the previous imploration of Odysseus. The Hebrew Bible largely describes the state and interactions of the Jewish people. One way of identifying the gender balance at the time is looking at the representation in the Bible. The best way is through the number of male and females mentioned throughout the Bible. Facts illustrate that the Hebrew Bible mentions 1426 names, out of these only 111 or 9% of the names are women names. This shows a highly imbalanced society in favor of men. The predominant family structure in the bible is patriarchal (Gravett 98). Represented by the great insubordination of women, the bible represents situations where women would refer to their husbands as baal or master. Additionally, women were looked at as a man’s possession they were mentioned in the same breath as cattle and servants. In the society largely represented in the Hebrew Bible, there are cases where fathers would sell their daughter to serve as a prostitute or sell them into slavery. Another disregard of women in the bible was in regard to marriages, the family was a man’s initiative. The man was free to decide how many wives to marry but a woman who courted two men was largely considered a prostitute and would be banished or stoned. Numbers 5:11-31 describes treatment of a woman suspected of adultery by her husband. Women were not supposed to inherit anything, even with the death of the father the property went to the son, irrespective of his position in the family. Again, marriage was forced into women, with total disregard of their wishes, consider the case of Dinah who was raped; she was forced to marry her rapists (Gravett 103). There are some cases of women who yielded power, in Judges 4-5, the bible describes Deborah who was a heroine and a Jewish judge. However, such depictions are exceptions and do little to point at women as equal partners; they are predominantly portrayed as servants, subordinates and objects/possessions. Works Cited Gravett, Sandra L. An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: A Thematic Approach. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. Print. Homer, , and Deborah Steiner. Odyssey: Books Xvii-Xviii. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh: A New English Version. London: Simon and Schuster, 2006. Print. Read More