The changing role of women in literature from the late 8th century B. C. to the 4th century A. D. is evident in that women become even more subservient in later works. This is portrayed in the works The Odyssey by Homer and Sakuntala by Kalidasa. Women are treated more like slaves in Sakuntala, while they are seen more like equals in The Odyssey. However, in Sakuntala, women are given more responsibilities, suggesting that people of the time viewed women capable of doing more things and perhaps more intelligent, instead of being seen as ornamental, as in The Odyssey.

The Odyssey was written in a time when men played the dominant role. In ancient Greece, women occupied a subservient position. Society was organized and directed by men, and all of the most important positions in society were held by men. Women were valued, but they participated in the affairs of the world only when they had the permission or open approval of the men who directed their lives.

The literature of this time illustrates these social conventions. No reader of The Odyssey can help having vivid memories of the poem's outstanding female characters. There are many women in The Odyssey and all of them c

The influential feminine roles in The Odyssey also have important effects upon the whole poem. It is in The Odyssey that such ideas as love, family loyalty, and devotion, and other such important ethical attitudes, are illustrated. It is the presence of these unconscious moral lessons that makes The Odyssey so unique to its genre. In a way, The Odyssey is not just the tale of the wanderings of Odysseus. The poet has made it, also, into a sort of "catalogue of women," in which he examines women of all kinds and from all walks of life. These feminine portraits are almost always objective and fair; Homer never made judgments, and each of these women has a certain appeal. It is interesting, however, that the woman who is most worthy of respect and affection is not a mortal. Homer seems to comment that no human being could develop herself in this way. His admiration for Athena is made even more evident by the fact that she, and not Penelope or another woman, is the heroine of the poem and the sole companion and confidante of Odysseus. It is only in our modern world that women have been given the opportunity to fully utilize their talent and ability, in order to become equal and contributing members of society, like Athena seems to be.

ontribute in meaningful ways to the development of the action. In addition, the poet treats them seriously and with respect, as if there

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Approximate Word count = 933
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)