Penelope In The Odyssey Research Paper

Homer played a huge impact on Greek education. His works were considered to be the basis for Greek education for centuries and centuries. Homer was known as one of the greatest poets to live. But Homer wasn’t just a great poet. Contrary to popular belief, Homer contributed much more than great stories. Homer’s stories such as the Iliad and the Odyssey were literary texts that were used for the education of Greek male students, more importantly those of the aristocratic class. Homer’s stories held underlying messages of bigger importance and were usually targeted towards those of the aristocratic class. In Homer’s stories, values that were emphasized and stressed were the noble values of courage and honor. “War is men’s business; and this
Arete means “excellence”. It was important that heroes always aimed to be excellent. Arete was always won in a struggle or a competition. Homer did not only target the messages of his stories to men, he also targeted the messages towards women and how they should act. Homer’s works showed women how they were to become excellent Greek women. Homer’s stories portrayed that Greek women should be faithful, courageous, and intelligent also. Penelope in the Odyssey, was what the Greek people considered a good woman or how a woman should be. Women were believed to have certain roles such as taking care of children and the household. There were certain things a man should be doing, and certain things that a woman should be doing. Most importantly, these stories showed how Greek women were supposed to act and how the Greek men were supposed to act. The characters in Homer’s stories were usually models for the values and ideals he wrote about in his stories. It was important to the Greek people to have these qualities and characteristics. Parents did their best to raise their children according to these values. The Greek took this education from Homer very