Women in the Iliad

A detailed Summary of Women in the Iliad

In the Iliad women are items of exchange and markers of status for the men who possess them (Chryseis and Briseis, whom Agamemnon and Achilles argue over in Book I) obstacles that the male hero has to overcome or resist to fulfill his heroic destiny (Andromache's entreaties to Hector in Book VI). To the extent that the Iliad has a moral lesson to impart to its readers, part of it would have to be that the behavior of Agamemnon and Achilles in the first book (and beyond) is excessive. Both men are so fixated on their own images as heroic warriors that they bring woe upon themselves and the rest of the Greeks. A main part of that is the way they treat women as emblems of their status and martial prowess. Notice what Agamemnon says to the seer who declares that he must give back Chryseis:

Now, again, you divine god's will for the armies, bruit it about, as fact, why the deadly Archer multiplies our pains: because I, I refused that glittering price for the young girl herself, I want her mine in my own house! I rank her higher than Clytemnnestra, my wedded wife-she's nothing less in build or breeding, in mind or works of hand (I, 127-134).

To those who already knew the stories of the Trojan War heroes, these words would have been o

In another passage Homer brutally drives home the impact of the war on the women. In this case it is Briseis herself, who had previously appeared as a mute object handed back and forth between Achilles and Agamemnon. Achilles' friend Patroclus has been killed by Hector which makes Achilles put aside his anger at Agamemnon and rejoin the battle. As a reward for rejoining, Agamemnon gives Briseis back to Achilles. She is in such a helpless and desperate situation that the death of one of her captors -- the kindest -- is an occasion for massive grief, and her best hope is that her future life is as the wife of the man who killed her family rather than one of his house slaves or concubines:

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So, one could make an argument that Homer portrays women as objects which men use to jockey for position with one another. He portrays them in stereotypical roles and with stereotypical characteristics. He portrays them as totally impotent outside the protection of their male guardians. But he does all this in a way that doesn't seek to support or justify that system. Instead, he presents it with such honesty and clarity that it makes the injustices of the society clear. This does not make him a revolutionary, a reformer or a proto-feminist. There is no reason to think that he wanted to, or thought that he could, change society in any way. From his point of view he may hav

Some common words found in the essay are:
Briseis Achilles, Achilles Butchered, Phthia Myrmidons, Book VI, Agamemnon Achilles, Trojan War, Notice Agamemnon, Agamemnon Achilles', Contrast Agamemnon's, , agamemnon achilles, hector makes, father noble, noble mother, book vi, father noble mother,

Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History