Preview

Women's Role in Homer's Odyssey

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1380 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women's Role in Homer's Odyssey
Introduction to communication
The communication process

Communication is a huge part of being human and allows us to connect with others on a deeper level because when we communicate we convey our thought, opinions and personal understanding of the world. The quote of Tubbs and Moss best describe the emissive part communication plays in our lives, humans ‘spend about 75 per cent of each day communicating’ (LMC107 course outline 2013:1). Communication is a sequence of events, dynamic, never-ending and ever-changing process meaning it has no fixed beginning nor end, nor fixed sequence of event in it from this viewpoint, communication can be define as a complex and dynamic process of exchanging meaningful messages (Introduction to communication 2013:13). This process has different components that influence and occur during an exchange of communication.
In the communication episode that occurred between my mother and I, in the family kitchen, when deciding which university I would attend started with me asking, in a very nerves voice, my mother while speaking in our native language if she had any knowledge of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth which offered the course I was interested in taking, Bachelor of Arts in media, communication and culture. My mother responded with a smile and said she did not, as I presented my argument about why NMMU was the best choice my mother nodded her head and smile at varies points she seemed to agree with. The encounter ended with my mother agreeing to consider NMMU and that she would inform me of her decision at a later date.
My communication encounter with my mother displayed the different components of communication which firstly are the roles people play in this process since I initiated the conversation I would be the sender and my mother is the receiver as she received my messages, this exchange of communication incorporates formulating messages and communicating them to others using verbal and



References: * Introduction to Communication outline 2013 * Introduction to Communication course reader 2013 * Let’s talk about Interpersonal Communication, F. du Plooy Cilliers and M. Loew, Heinemann Publishers (Pty) Ltd, 2nd edition, 2008

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Women were a very big important part of the Odyssey. They were involved in almost every single important thing in The Odyssey. The women that played a huge part were Athena, Penelope, and Calypso. All the women were related to helping Odysseus get things done. I will tell you all about the women in the story.…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the time of Ancient Greece a man named Home wrote one of the most influential works of human history. This Epic tale has been acclaimed for it's influence on modern literature and its historical description of life during his time period. One important theme from this Ancient Epic is Homers description of women during the Dark Ages. he women in Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and relationship towards men. All women in this epic are different, but all of them help to define the role of the ideal woman.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Odyssey there were many characters you were introduced or perhaps re-introduced to and all had their own characteristic that helped set them apart. Some examples would be Eumaeus, Penelope, Poseidon, Athena, and others. While there are many male characters in the Odyssey, it is the females of the story that will be focused on specifically females who have displayed “safe” or “dangerous” characteristics.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Men are the main characters in “The Odyssey”, but women are highly influential in the epic as well. With a common theme throughout the poem(s) of: You can always find your way home, just don’t give up. In Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”, there are many women that influence Odysseus but Penelope, Circe, and Athena mainly control his course.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the epic tale, The Odyssey, it is evident to see how women have evolved up to present time. In the book, women are shown as evil temptresses, through characters such as Circe. As well as having characters like Calypso who crave the love of Odysseus, and depend on him, or rely on him to marry her and stay with her. And Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, shows a typical mortal woman in the book, which is someone who cleans, cooks and runs errands all day. In Homer’s The Odyssey, women are viewed and portrayed differently compared to modern day society, including factors such as independence, manipulativeness, and beauty, showing how women's roles have developed.…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women in The Odyssey

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Conflict is the cornerstone for every tale, epic and anecdote, and has been even before written word. Without conflict, in essence, there is nothing to talk about, no interest, no engine to drive the characters towards an ending. Said conflict can come from many source; however, the most common conflicts can come from some form of a breach of decorum or propriety. This is defined as “correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners” or “behavior that is accepted as socially or morally correct and proper” by Merriam-Webster. In a literary sense, this is when a character doesn’t meet the expectations of their position or role that is considered “normal”. Typical gender roles are a huge standard that is more or less understood by the general population of a culture. There is an idea of how men act in comparison to women and the differences between them.…

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world people put other people into categories. This happens especially with women, some of the categories that people use today are: beautiful, ugly, good, bad, innocent, whore, loyal, and unloyal, those are just a few. In Homer’s The Odyssey you see that there are different roles and types of women. I will prove that there are 5 main roles assigned to women: the good wife, the bad wife, the goddess, the monster, and the seducer, and these many times are related to each other.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Woman are represented poorly in The Odyssey and there are many instances where they are treated as prizes, tricksters, and plot devices. The Odyssey is often referred to as the journey of men but it disregards the fact that women play a role as well as men.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although The Odyssey, written by the Greek poet Homer, is an epic tale of a man’s quest for home, women also play a large role. The role of each gender within The Odyssey is made extremely evident, and on multiple occasions Homer makes reference to the expectations of each sex. Throughout the epic, presentations of women are somewhat limited, unless they appear as mothers, servants, deities, seductresses, or a combination of these. Although women occupied an entirely different position in Ancient Greek society than men, they too held a certain amount of power and influence in society; they merely exerted it in ways that were distinctive from men’s tactics.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Odyssey by Homer, three very different women are in love with Odysseus. Circe, Kalypso, and Penelope all love Odysseus in a unique way and show it differently. Circe’s love for Odysseus is based on physical attraction, Odysseus’ accompaniment and body is the premise for Kalypso’s love, while Penelope’s love is the deepest for Odysseus.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although it is clear women in Homer’s The Odyssey are hierarchically lower than men, and have to follow societal norms and the orders of men, women also have the power to disrupt and distract Odysseus’ journey home.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the Odyssey, written by Homer, women are portrayed much differently than they are in the present. Women today are independent and believe that they ar ebale to care and prortect themselves withput a man, and life can be fullfilled with no protection from a male. But, during the Greek times, women felt that they were required to have a man to provide them the necessary care and protection of a man. In the Odyssey, women are portrayed as desparate, weak, and less inteligent than men.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women’s roles in society have changed since the time when the Odyssey was written by Homer but some of the roles they had are still relevant today even though this is a time when women now equal to men. There are Three females in the Odyssey who show women’s roles in ancient Greek society. They are Penelope who is Odysseus’ wife, Nausicaa who is a princess and Athena who is a woman/goddess. Together these three women show that the Greeks had a complicated view of women which included them being in traditional roles as wife, or princess but also nontraditional roles such as over powering and imprisoning a man or powerful, outspoken and independent.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Long ago, and even till today women are systematically discriminated against, we are considered “half citizen” they were seen as subservient and placed in inferior positions. Gender roles are determined by culture, social norms, ideologies, fairy tale and the Bible, etc. From the beginning of our life, since birth the gender separates the path which we youngling will take. Boys are mentally segregated from females by their parents telling them they have to be strong, not show emotions, and to suck it up when life turns for the worse, they get toys such as trucks, action figures, things that cool and dangerous portray and prepare. Girls on the other hand are treated sweetly and gently, because they are considered fragile. Not to say male aren’t…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Greeks had a similar concept of masculinity as the modern Western world, including traits such as dominance, strength, and virility, all of which were reversed for stereotypical femininity. However, men were not ostracized or considered inferior if they did not conform to these ideals or deviated from the norms of sexual orientation or gender identity.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays