*Use ALL the quotes in my outline. If you substitute any of them please let me know.
* you can write it in as many paragraphs as you like
Oliver Fiallo
Period 1
16 February 2021
Outline
Thesis: Fagles uses characters like Odysseus and Penelope throughout the book in order to represent gender roles in society.
1st paragraph: Introduction
2nd and 3rd paragraph:
Characterization
-Odysseus
In the Iliad, men are defined almost exclusively as warriors and this aspect is still prominent in the Odyssey. The exploits of the heroes in the Trojan War forms the background to the Odyssey and are constantly referred to (Whittaker)
In the course of the poem, tha man plots his return home after fighting the Trojan War, slaughters the suitors vying to marry his wife Penelope, and reestablishes himself as the head of the household. (North)
-Penelope
In book 18 of the Odyssey, penelope is suddenly visited with the desire to show herself to the suitors. Balking all her maids suggestions that she adorns herself she is put to sleep and beautified by athena (Van Nortwick)
“My wise Penelope’s looks and stature are insignificant compared with yours. For she is mortal and you have immortality and unfading youth.”(Fagles) {Odysseus} B5.L217-218
-Athena
Athena’s role as Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey serves as a contradiction to the idea that the odyssey follows the typical stereotypes of men and women in society (Sommer)
-Telemachus
Actually he contributes very little to Telemachus’s knowledge of his father, and Homer shows a flicker of playful malice when Telemachus (Bowra).
4th and 5th Paragraphs:
Gender roles
-Mens roles
Greek Society is a lot more than women just being oppressed and living in a patriarchy. Greek Society was highly dimorphic. That is, it tended to act and think as if reality broke into two classes. Prime among these dualities is gender. (Zeitlin)
“When we first met him I thought him repulsive, but now he looks like the gods who live in heaven. I wish I could have a man like him for a husband.” (Fagles) {Nausicaa} B6.L240-242
-Womens roles
Athenian women were placed under strict restrictions within society primarily due to the male fears regarding the nature of the female. Athens was an extremely male- dominated culture which was frightened of the female nature and caused it to be suppressed. (Whittaker)
Throughout the odyssey females are more likely to be identified with who their husband is while men are more likely to be identified with their work roles. (Doherty)
-Double standards (complications of their roles)
“you may soon be married and need beautiful clothes not only to wear yourself but to provide for your bridegroom’s party. This is how a bride gains a good reputation with people which brings great pleasure to her father and mother.” (Fagles) {Athena to Nausicaa in her dream} B6.L26-30
“You certainly won’t remain unmarried for long. Every Nobleman in Phaecia, where you yourself were born and bread, wants you for his wife.” (Fagles) {Athena to Nausicca in her dream} B6.L33-35
6th and 7th paragraph:
Themes
-Gender as a theme of the Odyssey
In the Iliad, men are defined almost exclusively as warriors and this aspect is still prominent in the Odyssey. The exploits of the heroes in the Trojan War forms the background to the Odyssey and are constantly referred to. Warfare in general is a recurring theme. To prove oneself in war or warlike situations is an intrinsic part of being a man. (Whittaker)
“Success as a warrior adds to a man’s status. The warlike qualities of Odysseus are emphasised by Athena when, disguised as Mentor, she first comes to Ithaka in order to take Telemakhos in hand (1.252-267) and they are often referred to elsewhere in the poem, for example, in the conversations about Odysseus which Telemakhos has with Nestor and Menelaos.” (Whittaker)
-Marriage as a responsibility for men
“Gender differences are biological but social gender is a more comprehensive concept containing all properties a culture attributes to and instills in men and women (Kottak, 2014: 405). In other words, male-female difference is extensively dependent on cultural conditioning, not on gender.” (Van Nortwick)
“She (Penelope) wept for Odysseus, her beloved husband, till bright eyed Athena closed her eyes in sweet sleep.” (Fagles) B1.L363-364
Marriage for women
“she hates the idea of remarrying, she cannot bring herself to take the final step of rejecting all the suitors or accepting one of them. Meanwhile they are eating me out of house and home. And they will very soon destroy me too. (Fagles): {Telemachus} B1.L249-251
“You are heard hearted, you gods, and unmatched for jealousy. You are outraged if a goddess sleeps openly with a man even if she has chosen him as her husband” (Fagles) {Calypso} B5.L118-120
8th paragraph- Conclusion
Works Cited
Bowra, C. M. The Odyssey: Its Shape and Character. The Odyssey – Homer, Original Edition, Chelsea House, 2018. Bloom’s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=180265&itemid=WE54&articleId=533559. Accessed 16 Feb. 2021.
North, Anna. “Historically, men translated the Odyssey. Heres what happened when a woman took the job.” Vox (2017).
Whittaker, Helene. “Gender Roles in the Odyssey.” (1995).
Doherty, Lillian Eileen. Siren songs: gender, audiences, and narrators in the Odyssey. University of Michigan Press, 1995.
Van Nortwick, Thomas. Penelope and Nausicaa. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), vol. 109, 1979, pp. 269276. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/284062. Accessed 28 Feb. 2021.
Sommer, Carol A., Panagiotis Markopoulos, and Shana L. Goggins. “Mentoring master’s level students: Drawing upon the wisdom of Athena as Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey.” Journal of Poetry Therapy 26.1 (2013): 1-12.
Zeitlin, Froma I. Playing the other: gender and society in classical Greek literature. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Homer, and Robert Fagles. The Odyssey. Penguin Books, 1997.
