Women were very important to the Greeks, and they showed this value in many ways. In The Odyssey Homer shows us the different ways women were looked upon through female characters, such as Penelope, Naussica, and Anticlia.

With Penelope, a faithful and loving wife to Odysseus, Homer reveals to us how the Greeks believed wives should act. She was loyal to Odysseus the entire time he was away on his journey, and even when it appeared as if he had passed on she still had faith that he would return. She resisted the suitors on the sole basis that she loved Odysseus and could not see herself with another man when he could still be alive. She was smart, and cunning. She shows us this in Book II when we learn she has avoided having to choose a husband by telling the suitors she would choose one of them once she finished the garment she was weaving. She would work all day, and remove the stitches by candlelight while the suitors slept. Odysseus was "blessed in the po

The suffering mother in The Odyssey is Anticlia, Odysseus' mother. During his journey to Hades, he talks with his mother only after she drinks out of the pool of blood. When he left for the war she was alive, and while he visits with her she tells him she has died from the "longing to know what you were doing and the force of my affection for you" (p. 116) She dies of a broken heart, and still seems to be suffering from it while she is in Hades. She knows it is an unpleasant place for the living to visit, and Homer makes it easy to detect the sorrow she feels. Odysseus is unable to embrace her, and is distressed by this. She tells him about his wife, and his father, who "has no comfortable bed nor bedding, ...and...grieves continuously." (p. 116) She seems very sad, but she is wise and acts motherly by telling him he should go back to the light of day as soon as he can. Even though she is deceased, she still depicts the caring mother that is so highly regarded by the Greeks.

Homer also portrayed the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Anticlia Odysseus', King Alcinous, Book II, Odysseus Homer, Odyssey Greeks, Homer Greeks, Odyssey Homer, Anticlia Penelope, Naussica Homer, Women Greeks, homer illustrates,
Approximate Word count = 685
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)