Image by maxmann, via Pixabay
by Valentine Baretta
Historically, female characters created by men have often left the audience feeling unsatisfied, but some have managed to deviate from that norm, such as Homer with The Odyssey. The Odyssey follows a Greek hero, Odysseus, as he journeys home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The powerful role female characters play in the epic is worth studying since it was created during a time when women weren’t given much importance and acted mostly to support male characters. Though this story portrays a patriarchal society, female characters play an important role in defying the norms and almost surpassing the male figures in the story at times. The Odyssey contains a surprising balance of male and female characters, though most female characters are inhuman. Several female characters—including human women such as Penelope and Clytemnestra, goddesses such as Athena and Calypso, and monstrous female characters such as the Sirens and Circe—play important roles in either supporting Odysseus or intensifying the threat he poses to himself.
Penelope plays a crucial role in the story as both queen of Ithaca and husband of Odysseus. At first glance, Penelope appears to readers and to Telemachus as helpless when the dozens of suitors invade her house in hopes of gaining her hand in marriage. Whittaker states that “although Penelope herself does not have the right to bestow royal power in [Ithaca], as the wife of the previous king, she would provide a spurious legitimacy to the man who married her,” which explains the suitors’ motivation behind the invasion of Odysseus’ home in Ithaca, as they want the control of the kingdom, which they can only access through Penelope (Whittaker 33). Penelope is initially described as “wary and reserved,” which immediately minimizes her importance in the poem (1.379). What the suitors do not yet realize is that she is masterfully enticing them and keeping them occupied until Odysseus can return to power and make things right. In this manner, she remains loyal to Odysseus and resists the threat presented by the suitors’ invasion of the house. Telemachus thus underestimates his mother much like the readers, and realizes this when Antinous reveals to him that “by day [Penelope]’d weave at her great and growing web—/by night, […]/she would unravel all she’d done. Three whole years/she deceived [them] blind, seduced [them] with this scheme…” (2.115-118). Until this point, Penelope was thought to be quite passive through Telemachus’ viewpoint since she did not act outrightly against the suitors, which adds to the surprise of her revealed skill and emphasizes her silent manipulative power. This also reveals Telemachus’ naive and immature character, which readers learn to distance themselves from as the story progresses. In comparison with Penelope, Telemachus appears to be far less intelligent and skillful, which contributes to elevating Penelope in the view of readers. Additionally, by using the wording “seduced,” Homer suggests that her scheming intelligence may come from her femininity and power as a female character in enticing the suitors. Whittaker argues that “Penelope’s use of the weaving ruse can be seen as symbolic of her acceptance of the limitations of the female role,” since she cannot take the throne as a woman (Whittaker 40). Penelope’s plan must be completed by someone else such as Odysseus, for she is stalling the suitors, but not solving the problem entirely. This shows readers that she is only powerful to a certain extent and remains at the mercy of a man in the end. However, it could be argued that she uses the limits of her role to her advantage, by tricking the suitors into thinking she is oblivious and helpless, creating less suspicion around her actions. Foley affirms that “Penelope, because she lacks physical force, can only stop change on Ithaca,” highlighting the geographical limits of her power, but also describing the type of power she has (Foley 11). She is capable of stopping change but not inducing it; her status both elevates her and limits the extent of her power. In this scenario, a more thought-out and meditated use of power is associated with women, unlike the brutal use of power by the suitors invading the house.
Strikingly, Penelope’s cunning and power are not unlike those of Odysseus. She parallels Odysseus in her manipulative strategy and her endurance of suffering as she waits for him to come home and takes care of things while he is away. This parallel is elicited to readers when Penelope turns the tables on Odysseus by testing him just as he is about to test her to determine whether she has been loyal to him. This brings Penelope to Odysseus’s level of power and allows readers to imagine her as just as formidable as him. It also justifies Odysseus’ desire to return to her, since he views her as an equal companion, of similar character and intelligence. In some ways, Penelope is more just and honorable as a character than Odysseus himself, since she, like Odysseus, earns the favour of the audience through her actions. Her continuous loyalty in comparison with Odysseus’ infidelity and her bravery in opposing the suitors discreetly in comparison with Odysseus’ foolish defiance of the Cyclops prove her to be better than Odysseus in that regard. However, her noble actions in contrast with Odysseus’ are more reputable from the perspective of a modern audience, because Odysseus’s daring actions and infidelity were markers of kleos in his time. Additionally, one might ask oneself whether a more discreet use of power as is associated with women like Penelope is more honorable than a more outright and brutal one such as that of Odysseus and other male characters like the suitors. Interestingly, this idea is brought up through a male character in The Odyssey. The Achilles Odysseus meets in the Underworld is miserable, no longer the proud warrior of the Trojan War he once was. He tells Odysseus “I’d rather slave on earth for another man—/some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—/than rule down here over all the breathless dead” (11.556-558). The phrasing “slave on earth for another man” likens him to the condition of mortal women as oppressed by the patriarchy (11.556). He rejects the patriarchal power of a monarch and prefers a modest life after experiencing the afterlife. This supports the idea of nobility being associated with women and their power, despite the patriarchal society in which they are born.
Other mortal female characters are weaker in comparison with Penelope because they lack agency and are more confined because of their status. The most important example of this is the group of female servants in Odysseus’ home in Ithaca. Their role is to serve always in inferiority because of the constraints of their social class. When the suitors arrive, it is implied and inferred that most sleep with them. Whittaker calls them “Penelope’s faithless maids, who have no redeeming qualities,” likening their supposed ‘evil’ to that of Clytemnestra (Whittaker 39). However, it can be argued that the servants are keeping the suitors occupied and contributing to Penelope’s plan. Additionally, their class and lack of power suggest they do not have much of a choice. As punishment for the supposed betrayal of the servants, Odysseus orders Telemachus to slaughter them all when he retakes the house, even though he seems to acknowledge that the suitors have raped the female servants when he says to them, “You dogs! […] ravishing my serving-women” (22.36-38). They are helpless to him just as they were helpless to the suitors, which shows how little agency they have in contrast with the extreme consequences they face. This brings in an interesting parallel with the Phaeacians who must choose between being good hosts to Odysseus and being punished by Poseidon, or rejecting Odysseus and being punished by Athena. No matter what they do, they lose: Poseidon crushes their “fine Phaeacian cutter / out one the misty sea” (13.169-170). In both cases, they are punished even though they are helping Odysseus become the hero. Readers can thus infer that women of privilege like Penelope in The Odyssey are more powerful even if that power is constrained, whilst the less fortunate remain entirely at the mercy of men. Doherty argues that “there is also a double standard of sexual behaviour, according to which Odysseus is considered ‘faithful’ to Penelope despite two liaisons on the way home, yet she—and her female slaves, who would also be fair sexual game for Odysseus according to the cultural norm—must remain completely celibate in his absence” (Doherty 175). This double standard blankets all women in domestic contexts, not just those of a certain status, which shows how the patriarchy still suppresses all women in that society.
Penelope is also compared to Clytemnestra, a woman of similar social status, though in a more negative light as is often the case when women are compared with one another. Penelope’s situation mirrors Clytemnestra’s since, like Clytemnestra, her husband is away, and she has the opportunity to be unfaithful to him. Conversely, Penelope chooses to remain faithful to Odysseus, while Clytemnestra takes on a lover, Aegisthus, with whom she works to kill her husband Agamemnon when he returns from the Trojan War. Clytemnestra chooses to marry her suitor, unlike Penelope, resulting in the death of Agamemnon and the transfer of his power as king of Mycenae to her suitor. Thus, Penelope is viewed as an equal threat to Odysseus. Clytemnestra represents the prospect of women overthrowing such power, but even in doing so, she cannot take Agamemnon’s place and cannot perform the act of killing him herself. Nestor even warns Telemachus: “So you, /dear boy, take care. Don’t rove from home too long,” after recounting to him the story of Agamemnon’s murder (3.353-354). Consequently, Odysseus’ survival and success upon his return depend on Penelope’s fidelity to him despite him being unfaithful to her. Penelope and Clytemnestra hence serve as powerful characters in the story despite their mortality and occasional reliance on men.
The goddesses in The Odyssey are naturally more powerful than the mortal women; however, their influence on the male characters is what makes them even more impressive than one would expect. Athena is the powerful goddess of wisdom, war, and craft who is also the patron goddess of Odysseus. She, like Penelope, plays a powerful role in Odysseus’ journey, though she remains in the shadows. She provides help to Odysseus and Telemachus in the form of advice and support on the gods’ council, tipping the scales in Odysseus’ favour. Though Poseidon attempts to impede Odysseus’ journey, Athena acts as his protector by using her gifts. She manages to gain the council’s favour for Odysseus and, in the end, Odysseus gets home to Ithaca despite Poseidon’s obstacles. She says to Zeus, “Let them all die so, all who do such things. /But my heart breaks for Odysseus, /That seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long— /Far from his loved ones still, he suffers torments,” demonstrating her bias for Odysseus and her advocacy for his successful return (1.56-59). Thus, Odysseus’s successful return and reprisal of his role as king could be attributed to Athena and her manipulative powers. Though it could be argued that Athena should have used her power to prevent some of Odysseus’ suffering, for example by guiding him away from the Cyclops, it seems apparent that Athena didn’t do so intentionally. Athena is much like Odysseus in that she is clever and confident, and has an appreciation for heroic feats, so perhaps she wanted to see him suffer like she had since he is indeed the ‘son of Pain’ as his Greek name indicates it. Furthermore, Odysseus throws himself into situations and worsens things for himself on his own, for example by taunting the Cyclops or choosing to hear the Sirens sing. This suggests that he is more foolish and reckless than a noble hero should be and that he is a fool of his own devices. Nevertheless, Odysseus’ suffering allows him to earn a name for himself as a hero who has undertaken and survived wild adventures, which suggests Athena’s careful and strategic guidance was a success.
On the other hand, Calypso uses her powers as a nymph much differently. She manages to keep Odysseus on Ogygia for seven years despite his obvious yearning for home. The line “he had no choice—/unwilling lover alongside lover all too willing” suggests that Calypso may have forcibly kept him on the island (5.171-172). This creates an image of Calypso as powerful in her successful enchantment of Odysseus. The control she has is more often associated with male characters—such as Helen held captive by Paris, the very occasion for the Trojan war and the adventures of Odysseus—and by associating it with a female character such as Calypso, she appears to move up to the level of power of men. Though Calypso keeps Odysseus on her island for many years, she will never win over his love entirely, hence demonstrating the limits of her power. Calypso is not painted in the same light as Penelope, who is just and good, for Calypso’s actions are selfish, much like those of the men in the story. She knows she is preventing his happiness, but she cannot leave the island so she chooses to do what she can to make herself happy. Additionally, Calypso calls out the existing patriarchal system for favoring men in similar situations to her own. She says, “You unrivaled lords of jealousy—/scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals, /openly, even when one has made the man her husband” (5.131-133). The use of the phrasing “unrivaled lords” emphasizes the power of male gods before calling them out on the existing double standard for goddesses who do the same (5.131). This mirrors the conflicting morals of Odysseus in the loyalty and behaviours he expects of his wife as opposed to what he does while he is away, establishing a theme around Odysseus’s character and the behaviour of men.
Other significant seductresses in the epic poem are the ‘monstrous’ female characters such as Circe and the Sirens. Their power is directly linked to their sexuality and sex appeal to the male characters in the novel. Though the Sirens are not explicitly described, they seem to readers to be terrifyingly beautiful, attesting to their power as female characters. Circe warns Odysseus that “the high, thrilling song of the Sirens will transfix him, /lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses/rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones . . .” (12.50-52). The juxtaposition of the beauty of their “thrilling song” and the gore of “rags of skin shriveling on their bones” contributes to the construction of a terrifying and powerful image (12.50-52). Additionally, the idea of “lolling there in their meadow” emphasizes how the Sirens manage to catch the sailors they lure off guard (12.51). This recalls the idea of women using their ‘innocent’ appearance to their advantage in how Penelope tries to look harmless to the suitors so that they do not figure out her plan. Penelope acts as a seductress, much like the Sirens: “That radiant woman, once she reached her suitors, drawing her glistening veil across her cheeks, paused now… and delivered an ultimatum to her suitors,” setting Odysseus’ bow before them to be strung, an impossible challenge (21.73-77). The challenge she proposes is like the Sirens’ call since it is a trap none of the men can resist that will lead to their doom. Moreover, Circe explains that “Whoever draws too close, /off guard, and catches the Sirens’ voices in the air—/no sailing home for him, no wife rising to meet him, /no happy children beaming up at their father’s face,” showing readers how the Sirens have the power to take away all that can make a man happy, while emphasizing that the Sirens specifically target men (12.46-49). This also calls into question Odysseus’ choice to listen to them sing and be the hero, even though he knows he could lose everything he holds dear: “no wife rising to meet him, / no happy children beaming up at their father’s face” (12.46-49). The emphasis is placed on the physical power of the Sirens and their ability to subdue men with their voices in the boundless realm of the sea. By contrast, Penelope is unable to gain full control of the suitors because the power she has is different and restricted to Ithaca. Furthermore, the power of the Sirens as temptresses is ironic since their feminine voices are what make them strong, which shows how their power is much less restricted than that of someone like Penelope. Penelope, despite her status as both his mother and his queen, is silenced by her son who says “So, mother, / go back to your quarters. […] / As for giving orders, men will see to that, but I most of all: / I hold the reins of power in this house” (1.409-414). In this instance, Telemachus believes he has the power in the house, yet he is helpless when it comes to the suitors, revealing how unaware he is as opposed to his brilliant mother. Thus, female power is represented in different ways via Penelope and the Sirens, though crafty seduction is the commonality between them.
Though Circe can also be considered a seductress like the Sirens, she is furthermore a trickster who manages to delay Odysseus’ return home. She keeps him in her extravagant palace, disguising her ill intentions under a veil of luxury and pleasure. The language used for Circe contributes to an image of her as both enticingly attractive and malicious. She is repeatedly referred to as “the nymph with lovely braids” (10.241) who weaves “her enchanting web/a shimmering glory only goddesses can weave” (10.244-245). Her physical appearance is thus highlighted, as is the case for most female characters in the poem, but it is implied that her beauty is also a form of power that allows her to control Odysseus’ entire crew. The idea of her weaving an “enchanting web” calls back to Penelope’s weaving schemes (10.244); however, the notion of a web that “only goddesses can weave” highlights the magical element of the power she has over the men she comes across, as opposed to Penelope who only has her mortal means (10.245). Much like the Sirens, her power is driven by her femininity, her voice, and her appearance. Later, she is “stirring her poison in, her heart aswirl with evil” (10.352): this line breaks the beautiful image Homer has created, reminding readers that her motivations are maleficent and destructive, as opposed to Calypso’s more selfish acts and Penelope’s selfless acts. McClymont explains that “Circe’s invitation to bed is dangerous, which means that Homer represents her as sexually threatening, and to that extent violating the traditional role of woman” (McClymont 22). Not only that, but Circe’s bed also being a symbol of her power relates it to her reclaiming domestic power within a traditional setting. Hermes explains that Circe “struck with her wand, drove [the men] into her pigsties, / all of them bristling into swine—with grunts, / snouts—even their bodies, yes, and only / the men’s minds stayed steadfast as before” (10.262-265). Her turning Odysseus’ men into pigs she can domesticate is another representation of her taking control over men. The idea that “only / the men’s s minds stayed steadfast as before” makes it clear that they are aware of their condition, which shows how Circe is toying with them for her own delight (10.265). Later on, they must remind Odysseus of his objective of returning to Ithaca to reclaim the throne since, while their minds are steadfast, Odysseus has been seduced by Circe; his body is intact, but his mind has been affected. Circe is one of the more powerful characters in the story because she uses her magic to control men, delighting in their destruction.
The Odyssey contains several powerful female characters who are at times more impressive than their male counterparts. Within the patriarchy of The Odyssey, women manifest their power in many forms, and even play essential roles, such as Penelope preserving the peace in Ithaca. The Odyssey shows readers how some forms of power can be specific to women, such as artful manipulation and seduction. The gendered power dynamics in the poem parallel the dominant relationship of the Greek Gods over mortals. Though characters like Penelope, Athena or Circe are very powerful, they are still limited by their inferior position in society. Homer’s epic poem includes a motif of powerful women that allows readers to reflect on the power of women and their role in a patriarchal society: some of the female characters in The Odyssey represent powerful influences that operate quietly behind the scenes, while others openly assert their control over men. In either case, they are far more powerful than they at first appear. While the focus of the story is on Odysseus’ feats, he would not have become the hero he did without the contributions of the female characters.
Bibliography
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McClymont, J. D. “The Character of Circe in The Odyssey.” Akroterion, vol. 53, Mar. 2012, https://doi.org/10.7445/53-0-37.
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