This is done through both thematic and linguistic analyses of Iliad and Odyssey using the Loeb library side-by-side English and Greek editions of the epics, which allows for analysis of both general character themes in translation and specific vocabulary and extract-based gendered language in the poems. This essay seeks to relate these two topics (one long-standing, one modern) by engaging the following question: ‘To what extent do Homer’s negative portrayal of Helen in the Iliad and positive portrayal of Penelope in the Odyssey reflect Ancient Greek gender roles and expectations of women?’ In the following sections, Homer’s epics and gender roles in Ancient Greece will be related by first establishing existing gender expectations as we know them in Ancient Greece, and then a detailed analysis of the Homeric epics which serves to explicitly render the underlying support they give to these expectations. In recent years, progress in feminism and questioning of traditional norms has led to an elevated sense of awareness for gender issues in various forms of media, including literary text. Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, have long been (and continue to be) cited as one of the most influential works in Western history.
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