Odysseus And Women

It is easy, tempting, and perhaps even correct to simply dismiss Ancient Greek attitudes toward women as grossly sexist and that the Greeks, like most other ancient cultures, simply see women as objects or subhuman, just below the status of a slave.

Without making excuses for Greek sexism, we should note that Odysseus' relationship to women is more complicated than it first appears.  From the list of female characters he encounters, below, consider especially how many of them help him achieve his return.  Most importantly, consider that Athena -- the goddess of wisdom -- is the one god most without human frailty and fault, and that without her Odysseus is nothing.

The Women Odysseus Meets:

10 years at war (slave women)

Athena

Circe (Aeaea)

His mother (in underworld)

"A grand array of women...all were wives and daughters once of princes...." (in the underworld)

Calypso (Ogygia)

Nausicaa (Phaecia)

Eurycleia/old nurse

Penelope

Rude servant girl

Ithacan servant girls