I have now successfully completed a draft of my special study, and shall be handing it into the teacher for what I expect to be scrutinous drafting. I am pleased with how the draft has gone, and I feel that the research I have done will support the essay, which is written below:
Special
Study: Essay
How
is the theme of the treachery of women explored in The Illiad, The Odyssey and The Voyage of the Argo?
Treachery
can be interpreted in many ways, but when in accordance with epic Greek poems The Voyage of the Argo, The Iliad and The
Odyssey, it is interpreted through the extremity of the disloyalty of
women. In a world which was wrote by only men, there was a degree of sexism and
favouritism which could be explored, however it is also important to analyse
the treatment of women in the Mycenaean Age. When exploring the theme of the
treachery of women, there are examples within each epic Greek poem of
treachery, or lack of, and how that is punished, or in the case of Penelope,
rewarded. Medea’s treacherous betrayal of her father Aeetes and brother
Apsyrtus culminated in the King of Colchis losing the three things he cherished
most. Her treachery was deemed so due to her choice of blind love over her
family oikos, however when under the
spell of Eros’ arrow, her actions could not be prevented. Helen’s treacherous
adulterous acts with Paris of Troy behind the back of her husband King Menelaus
of Sparta Paris Ithaca
In epic
Greek poems, as men are sent off to battle or arrive in foreign places, the
women have the expectation of being loyal wives who stay in the house and
ensure that the bloodline of the man continues. In Mycenaean times, “the wife
serves as the mistress of the household, keeping watch over provisions and property
and supervising the slaves”[1], but most importantly, women were expected to be loyal to their family
and husband, keeping the oikos pure.
The punishment for any treachery, especially adultery, was vastly different for
men and women. Helen of Sparta was imprisoned with Menelaus forever for her
treacherous betrayal of him, however Odysseus slept with Kirke and Kalypso, and
Penelope was expected to still be loyal and accept Odysseus’ adultery. This
treatment of women reinforces the speculation of how sexism influences the
perspective of the inequality of men and women in Mycenaean Greece. Apollonius
of Rhodes and Homer were two of the most prominent epic poets in this era, and,
coincidentally; they, like all epic Greek poets from this time, were male. There
is no evidence of female epic poets, however, this does not escape the fact
that there is a definite favouritism to men in the epic poems. Despite this,
the majority of women in these poems experience moments of treachery and are
punished accordingly, however, on rare occasions, women resist the temptation
to be treacherous and are rewarded.
Medea served as the main beneficiary to Jason in his pursuit of the
elusive Golden Fleece in Apollonius of Rhodes’s The Voyage of the Argo, however it is her betrayal of brother
Apsyrtus and father King Aeetes of Colchis
which revealed the treachery she would commit for love. As princess of Colchis , Medea was well-respected, however her
father Aeetes favoured Apsyrtus, Medea’s brother, over her. A devout worshipper
of the Goddess of Witchcraft Hecate, it was this witchcraft which Medea used to
assist Jason in succeeding in what was presented as an impossible task by
Aeetes. Jason was initially reluctant to ask for Medea’s guidance and
assistance, proclaiming, “But oh, how bleak the prospect is, with our one hope
of seeing home again in women’s hands!”[2] Hera persuaded Aphrodite
to order her son Eros, “to loose an arrow at Aeetes’ daughter, Medea of the
many spells, and make her fall in love with Jason”[3], and this proved to be
the catalyst for Medea’s betrayal of her family. After assisting Jason in
taking the Golden Fleece, Medea fled with the son of Aeson, and prepared an
ambush for her brother Apsyrtus. “Medea gave the heralds a message for Apsyrtus
that would serve as bait”[4], and her loyal brother
took it; eventuating in a gruesome ambush from Jason as he slaughtered
Apsyrtus. Medea’s treachery was complete, as Apsyrtus, “painted red her silvery
veil and dress”[5], and the Argonauts fled
back to Iolcos with her. This betrayal from Medea is portrayed as being
gruesome for the bloodied ambush of her brother Apsyrtus, while also stripping
her father of his most prized possession; the Golden Fleece.
Helen’s
betrayal of her husband Menelaus in The Iliad
resulted in the death of thousands of Greeks in one of the most memorable and
gruesome battles; the Trojan War. Helen had been loyal to Menelaus, however
after the Judgement of Paris, “she was used by Aphrodite, who gave her to Paris as a reward”[6], for selecting the Goddess of Love as the fairest of the goddesses.
Truly enraged, Menelaus sought comfort from his brother Agamemnon, however his
brother suggested the prospect of war with the Trojans, as Agamemnon and his
Achaean forces had conquered the majority of ancient Greece .
This betrayal from Helen was the catalyst to the Trojan War; a battle which
lasted for ten days and resulted in the death of thousands of innocent Trojans,
as the Achaeans used Odysseus’ invention of the Trojan Horse to infiltrate the
Trojan walls and pillage the city. This betrayal of Helen was brought to an end
by Menelaus, who reclaimed and imprisoned her within his palace, ensuring that
she never betrayed him again. When speaking with Telemachus and her husband,
Helen proclaimed, “shameless creature that I was!”[7], and this quotation epitomises the harsh realisation of her actions and
the misery and shame it has brought to her and Menelaus. Helen’s treachery to
her husband Menelaus proved to be the pivotal catalyst for the Trojan War;
resulting in the death of thousands of innocent people because of her lustful
intentions.
Penelope’s
unwavering loyalty to her husband Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey proved that there was not always treachery from the
central females in Greek epic poems. “For twenty years she waited for Odysseus,
away at the Trojan War”[8], and in that time she was courted by one-hundred and eight Suitors, who
Telemachus proclaimed were, “too cowardly to present themselves at her father’s
house”[9], and instead constantly resided in the house of Odysseus, “eating me out
of house and home”[10] Despite so many men competing for her hand in marriage, and with her
husband absent for twenty years, Penelope did not descend into the treacherous
actions of Klytemnestra when her husband Agamemnon, “caught off his guard
through the treachery of his accursed wife”[11], was murdered by Aegisthus. Instead, Penelope used the wit which had
made her the perfect match for Odysseus to postpone the Suitors and allow
Odysseus the time to return, however this was never the true plan; it is more
likely that Penelope was avoiding the Suitors for as long as she possibly
could. “She misled them with a trick: promising that she would take a new
husband when she had finished weaving Laertes’ shroud, she unpicked during the
night what she had woven during the day”[12]. Her constant use of wit and devotion to
Odysseus showed how Penelope did not follow the treacherous paths of Medea,
Helen or Klytemnestra, and this loyalty was a contrasting theme in comparison
to the treachery of women, as Penelope resists the temptation and is rewarded
for her patience with the return of her husband.
The extremity of the
treacherous actions by the central female figures of The Voyage of the Argo, The Odyssey and The Iliad defined not only their punishment, but in the case of
Penelope, their reward. In comparison to males, the degree of punishment
differed greatly, especially with Odysseus’ adultery when away from Penelope,
but her devout loyalty was rewarded with the return of her beloved husband
after a twenty year absence. The influential arrow of Eros forced Medea to
follow her heart and assist Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece, however this
treachery was punished with the gruesome death of her brother Apsyrtus and
leaving her father Aeetes without the three things he cherished above all
others; Apsyrtus, Medea and the Golden Fleece. Following the same moira as Medea, Helen was powerless to
resist Paris after he received her as a reward for the selection of Aphrodite
in his judgement, but this unpreventable treachery culminated in the Trojan
War; which led to the death of thousands of Greeks and the infinite
imprisonment of Helen in Menelaus’ palace. The sexism and favouritism of men in
the epic poets is from the opinion of only male epic poets, so there is an air
of doubt to the true accuracy of the treatment of treachery between men and
women, especially in the area of adultery. Hence, when reflecting on the
exploration of The Voyage of the Argo,
The Iliad and The Odyssey and the specific theme of the treachery of women, there
are varying levels and extremities to the treachery committed, but also the
punishment or reward which is received after the actions of the central female
figures in the epic Greek poems.
Word
Count: 1975 words
Bibliography
Demont, P., The
Illiad and The Odyssey: Troy. Octopus Publishing, London. 2004.
Homer(transl. Rieu, E.V. ), The Odyssey. Penguin, London. 1946.
Apollonius of Rhodes, (transl. Rieu, E.V.), The Voyage of the Argo. Penguin, London. 1959.
Hexter, R., A Guide to the Odyssey. Random House, New York. 1993
Homer(transl. Rieu, E.V. ), The Odyssey. Penguin, London. 1946.
Apollonius of Rhodes, (transl. Rieu, E.V.), The Voyage of the Argo. Penguin, London. 1959.
Hexter, R., A Guide to the Odyssey. Random House, New York. 1993
[1]
Ralph Hexter, A Guide to the Odyssey, Random House, New York
[2]
Apollonius of Rhodes, (transl. E.V. Rieu), The Voyage of the Argo, Penguin, London
[3]
ibid. P.
109-110.
[4]
ibid. P. 159.
[5]
ibid. P. 160.
[6]
Paul Demont, The Illiad and The
Odyssey: Troy , Octopus Publishing, London
[7]
Homer (transl. E.V. Rieu), The
Odyssey, Penguin, London
[8]
Paul Demont, The Illiad and The
Odyssey: Troy , Octopus Publishing, London
[9]
Homer(transl. E.V. Rieu), The
Odyssey, Penguin, London, 1946. P. 16.
[10]
ibid. P. 9.
[11]
ibid. P.43.
[12]Paul
Demont, The Illiad and The Odyssey: Troy , Octopus Publishing, London
The brackets will need to come out of the text for the quotations.
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