Misogyny: Ancient Greek Reality
Since time immemorial, women have been a victim of discrimination and been looked down upon by the men of the society. This is not only prevalent in Greek art but in mythologies, epics and arts around the world, women have only been seen as temptresses who do nothing but either give men pleasure or destroy their lives. It can be seen in the Indian epic Mahabharata as well, Draupadi (a goddess) has been perceived as a temptress and in turn, was raped and stripped off of her identity. The word ‘Misogyny' has been derived from the Greek words misos (hatred) and gunē (woman). Women have never been seen as equal in any ancient Greek mythology or epic. Homer's Odyssey is also a victim of misogyny. The epic discloses that women living in the Greek civilization are living in a patriarchal society and the thought of equality and respect is all fiction to them.
According to the Greek society rules the women are supposed to stay at home, look after their children, carry out the domestic chores and not participate in any of the decision makings. The men of society have the right to do everything; they are the decision makers, they have the most power, they can have sexual relationships with any woman they want apart from their wives. While on the other hand such activities are considered indecent and profane for women. Penelope is the embodiment of an ideal Greek woman. She is a pure greek woman who knows her boundaries. She stays at home and carries out all the domestic chores that are she supposed to and takes care of her child. Penelope waits for her husband while he goes to war for over twenty years and tries to maintain the household like she is supposed to and awaits his return which makes her similar to the Greek goddess Artemis. She faced the male dominance from her husband while he was present, got scolded by her incapable son Telemachus and faced dominance by the suitors as well who have captured the house. This gives the reader a clear picture of the male chauvinistic culture portrayed throughout the book. Nausicaa is another example of an ideal Greek woman. She emits the chastity and innocence that a young unmarried woman is supposed to.
Even though she is unmarried, she washes the clothes for all the men in her house and describes it as her duty. Nausicaa understands and knows her boundaries as well and does what she is told. She knows that she cannot be seen with a naked man in the town since the people will think badly of her especially when the man looks like a barbarian, but still she treated the man with proper greek hospitality as a woman of the household is supposed to. Throughout the epic, the role of women has been either of being an ideal housewife or of being a temptress and the cause of hardships in men's lives. Immortal women like Kalypso were thought of as an obstacle to men's life since they seduced men into staying with them for years.
Odysseus stayed with Kalypso for over 7 years ( fact check) and many other women on his way back home. Since Kalypso had fallen in love with him she offered him riches, grandeur and mortality but Odysseus refused them and continued his journey back home where his circumspect wife waited for him. Kalypso's speech to the gods is an extraordinary example of women questioning the norms of society. She says " You are heard hearted you gods and jealous beyond all creatures besides when you are so resentful toward the goddess for sleeping openly with such men as each has made her true husband" ( The Odyssey of Homer, Richard Lattimore, Book 5, page 91, 118).
In her speech, Kalypso shows her anger and critiques the gods on the hypocritical patriarchal social norms since the men could do anything they desired, sleep with any women they desired but when a woman does the same she is stigmatized. But following the male chauvinistic theme of the book Kalypso is silenced by Zeus and told to let Odysseus go. Women like her possess divine power but are left to their own whims and vacancy of love. Homer portrays both types of women, the ideal greek women, and non-ideal greek women. Women were considered inferior to men irrespective of their status and that they could never compete or match with the men of the society. Throughout the epic, the reader can notice the clear distinction between women like Penelope ( ideal) and Calypso (non-ideal). But at the same time, the female characters in the poem were not weak and timid, they were shown as intelligent, powerful and radical. The poet shows how women were different in the ways they conducted themselves and yet the same since they could never reach the same status as men.
