Social Changes In The Odyssey

2036 Words9 Pages
One of Homer’s most fascinating and intriguing pieces of work is “The Odyssey”. Homer was believed to be the first and most fascinating epic poet of his time by the ancient Greeks. Many scholars believe “The Odyssey” was composed near the end of the 8th century and is a sequel to “The Illiad”. Although “The Odyssey” was composed near the end of the 8th century, many scholars believe that it was orally passed since around 1200 B.C. During the time in which “The Odyssey” was written major economic and social changes were underway. “The Odyssey” illuminates the time period, civilization, and culture of the Ancient Greeks in numerous dissimilar ways and is shown systematically throughout the text. In “The Odyssey” we see a lot of which we would have seen if we were living in the time that…show more content…
The Ancient Greek civilization, like most civilizations, were patriarchal. Men were the dominant sex in society, according to Brittanica.com, “At Corinth, for example, political control was monopolized by the adult males of a single clan, the Bacchiadae.” Men were in control of society, its values, and women. Men were trained to be warriors while woman to stay at home and take care of household duties and children. For example, Penelope, lost her husband as well as her son through battle, “…and now again a beloved son is gone on a hallow ship, an innocent all unversed in fighting and speaking, and it is for him I grieve even more than for that other one, and tremble for him and fear, lest something should happen to him either in the country where he has gone, or on the wide sea, for he has many who hate him and are contriving against him and striving to kill him before he comes back into own country.” (Homer). If Penelope had a daughter she would not have to worry about her getting killed in battle or worrying for her life. She would have been able to stay safely inside the home with her

More about Social Changes In The Odyssey

Open Document