Portrayal of Women in The Odyssey

In Homer's Odyssey, the women are portrayed in many different ways, some are said to be wise while others are cruel, but many are treated differently from the opposite gender. One of the women in the story, Penelope, was portrayed as very wise but because of her gender she was expected to obey many of the men. Similarly to Penelope, Arete, queen of the Phaeacians, was equally wise but was viewed almost as an equal …

…Penelope devised many tricks to deceive her suitors but was treated inferior to the men in the story. Arete was revered by her society because of her wisdom and was even called upon to settle men's disputes which was very uncommon in that time. Finally, Melantho was very different from the other women in the story because she was disloyal as well as unwise and was still killed in an indecent death despite her gender.