Like every other Greek myth, feminism and womanhood are major and reoccurring themes when describing characters and plots of stories. Even in stories that do not involve women, in a major sense, the ideas of downgrading, underestimating, and degrading women apply hugely in characterizing the male characters. In other retells of myths, homosexuality comes out to play in a few people, but only when the stories are re-written in modern senses. In other words, most Greek myths are written with strong and powerful male leads with many wives that could be in low status as slaves and are treated like they will go nowhere in life without a husband. The Lost Books of the Odyssey is another example of a rewrite of the Odyssey much like The Penelopiad. The major themes of womanhood and feminism come to life when the story is retold from a female’s perspective- Penelope and her twelve maids also known as Odysseus’s wife. Most of the story is the huge discussion of the problems women face in ancient Greece and what is expected of them. These hardships, that are still present today, shape the idea of feminism in modern and ancient times. This is one of the most important things as a takeaway, for the sake of women in modern times and the key to the understanding of the difference between how men and women are treated. Even now, females experience harassment, underestimation, and even as extreme as less pay. Atwood’s take on the female representation in her version of the Odyssey serves as a turning point in the understanding and importance of feminism. Shedding light on the subject by a retelling is one way to get readers to retain the information. Not only does it perfect explain some of the first counts of female degradation but it shows the importance of why feminists take action and want the best for women today.
Articles about female hardships and statistics of harassment: Harassment: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/21/587671849/a-new-survey-finds-eighty-percent-of-women-have-experienced-sexual-harassment Hardships: www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/08/women-biggest-problems-international-womens-day-225698/
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Summary:
From Homer’s The Odyssey, Circe tells the story of, essentially, Odysseus’ side piece from his adventures home from the Trojan War. She struggles finding her identity and self-acceptance from the day she was born and feels lonely on her journey back to her husband. Madeline Miller sheds light onto a minor character in a way that most people would. She has abilities to turn humans into animals and animals into humans. She spends centuries on an island by herself and takes that time to show herself and remind herself of her abilities. Miller presents her novel with a huge gap between the mortals and immortals of the world and this representation is what draws more and more readers in. Humans in modern times wish to be immortal. To live forever and not having to worry about the possibility of dying at any second. This could be thought of as a way avoid their problems or get out of something they do not want to do. However, like everything else in the world, there are pros and cons to the subject. In comparison to most humans, Circe loathes the idea of falling into the possible manipulation and destruction that is a result of her ultimate doom. She feels repulsed by them and the fact that they are able to change and grow. Her distaste also causes a feeling of invalidation and never feeling like a modern woman. The ancient, God-like life she was brought into makes it impossible for her to feel like one. However, her ability to do the same things as humans brings in her attention and longing to be like them despite her hatred for the things she cannot do. She falls in love with a mortal, fueling her ideas of wanting to become one. One of the main themes of this novel is loneliness and Circe fails to avoid feeling it. After being on an island by herself she is constantly reminded of what makes her lonely and the idea of living forever makes it further impossible to avoid. These feelings, she believes, can be avoided as an immortal as she continues to be mistaken as a human. Homer's Epic is Epically Rewritten.10/29/2021 Despite being one of the many rewrites of Homer’s Odyssey, Zachary Mason has managed to complete a novel that followed the greatness of the original plot while maintaining an original mindset and areas for readers’ imagination. Usually, most readers, including myself, hate when plot holes force us to think in ways we never thought we would in order to set the rest of the story. However, Mason makes it possible to enjoy this aspect and is awarded for his series of “what ifs”. We go through our lives always thinking of things we could have done differently such as “what if I completed my homework an hour earlier”, “what if I bought that shirt tomorrow instead of today”, or “what would have happened if World War II never even occurred?” These leave room for interpretation and individual understanding of the events.
Mason incorporates these ideas into his Lost Books of the Odyssey. He finds ways to spin the plot, not in a negative sense, but rather as a way to challenge the ideas and wonders of the character itself. For example, Odysseus as written by Homer has ways of developing stories to tell about events he experiences. In Mason’s version he is using those stories and other events that happened to challenge Odysseus’s way of thinking and it makes readers wonder what is true and what is not. By showing these possible changes in the original story, readers start to wonder if they have interpreted it wrong the entire time. Odysseus could have been the bad guy, or the opposite gender, or completely insane that he made up the whole story of his journey home after the war. Mason makes us questions the original tale in ways we did not know we could. These second thoughts cause questions to arise to Homer and whether or not we should have believed him in the first place when incorporating the story of Odysseus along with the tales of Greek myths into his writing of the Odyssey. House of Names... and Feminism10/8/2021 Colm Tóibín, Irish author, playwright, and teacher can be seen as a feminist author. This statement itself is highly accusing and can be taken in very different directions. Feminist authors use their writing to express their beliefs and help other understanding the detriments of feminism itself. Tóibín is no stranger to doing so. In his work House of Names, a rewrite of The Oresteia, it is clearly known of his viewpoints and understandings of the feminist perspective. With many enticing characters and switches to other points of view, Tóibín creates a magical story out of an old one and shows the values and importance of feminism during that time period. These ideas can be applied to today and are useful for education.
Summary: Much like Christa Wolf's Cassandra justice and revenge play a huge role in discovering the plot of House of Names. Previously, Agamemnon sacrificed his and Clytemnestra's daughter, Iphigenia. In Aulis, Agamemnon lies to Clytemnestra and their children, Iphigenia and Orestes, about their attendance to Iphigenia's wedding. He sacrifices her and jails Clytemnestra for three days where she ten swears for revenge. After Agamemnon returns from war, he is brutally murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. For most of the novel, we follow Orestes in his many years of escaping from being kidnapped by Aegisthus' men. Following this, the point of view changes to that of Electra, Clytemnestra's other daughter who blames her for Iphigenia's death. This story provides more insight the background and plot holes from the Oresteia that readers itch to hear about. With just in the midst of hearing this summary, one can conclude the ideas of his feminism and ideologies represented with his writing and characters. Specifically, Clytemnestra’s daughter Electra. Tóibín does not follow normalcies when describing feminism. Meaning, he strays away from directly saying females are worse than men, or they are weaker, or full showing that the female characters are not as well off than the male ones. He, instead, writes his views and shows the importance in Electra herself. He writes her in a way that she is the one who thinks she is weaker and not as well off. She believes she needs a husband to survive and will not thrive as long. By doing this, Tóibín is showing how females then, and now, feel like this and need to understand they can do things themselves and do not need a male figure do it for them. Electra herself has a negative aspect and connotation when speaking of House of Names. She represents anger and revenge and fury. Because of this, the idea of writing her as someone who is the opposite of a feminist shows his own feelings toward the subject. Readers then interpret it as a rage toward these people and relate the feelings together. Tóibín successfully plots his characters and ideas into his story for readers to see importance and view his own beliefs. For centuries, people have been suffering throughout the concepts of objectification. Whether these people be male or female, the concept of objectification is one with the most controversy. Along with this, feminism has been at its peak point for years and years, and needs more light shed on the negative aspects. War trauma, although one cannot directly relate objectification and feminism to this concept, falls into this connotative category. These fallacies, though not commonly highlighted individually, present themselves into Christa Wolf’s Cassandra in ways people are not used to and provide a safe space for relation.
Common Definitions: Objectification- the act of degrading someone to the status that of an object. Essentially, devoid them of thought and disregarding their feelings. Feminism- belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. War Trauma- Having a scary or dangerous, emotional effect from experience or participation in a war. Cassandra: Christa Wolf, along with many others, was one to experience the devastation and trauma surrounding a war in East Germany (Nazi Germany). She used Cassandra’s similar experience with the Trojan Way as a way to relate and provide insight on normality. This is a way to have their voices heard when speaking about such subjects. Cassandra was under the impression of female objectification, and Wolf’s work can be considered a work of feminism to try and highlight the wrongdoings from centuries ago. Cassandra was shamed upon when explaining how she wanted to be a priestess for the God Apollo, and no one believed her. Although this was from a curse after receiving the gift of prophecy, Wolf still perfectly explains and represents the ideas of female objectification. In going back to war trauma, it is not talked about as it should. Most people focus on the veterans who fought in the war, rather than focusing on the people who experienced everything around them. Wolf uses Cassandra’s character and story to perfectly identify these terms and help people understand the true devastations and reality of war and feminism. It also shows how much these ideas have changed over the years and how they are yet to be resolved. No one is alone when dealing with any sort of issue involving mental or physical health. Reach out to people and relate to others with similar situations. Use your voice, whether this be in real life or as a character in a story you write- just like Christa Wolf.
External Sources: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/definition-of-objectification https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/social-acceptance-helps-mental-health-after-war-trauma https://endcan.org/needhelp/gclid=CjwKCAjw7rWKBhAtEiwAJ3CWLBjfPlWFS Revenge vs. Justice in "The Eumenides"9/11/2021 Revenge and justice can be considered as the basis of themes and understanding in The Oresteia. One can argue, however, that it always ends up as justice in the end.
What is the difference between revenge and justice? Revenge is often thought of as the impulsive, evil way to handle a situation or crime that was caused by someone else. It is as a response to a wrongdoing in order to avenge those who were affected in some way. Justice can be confused with this, and it is understandable. But looking closer, justice relies of morals laws, quality, and ethics. It is more of a concept rather than an actual action. The person performing the action of revenge is often one that was harmed from the original situation. Justice is living up to someone else who was affected in negative ways. The Oresteia is a perfect example of the revenge vs. justice theme. The Furies want to seek vengeance over Orestes, who killed his mother under permission, and do not even bother to hear both sides of the story. There is no further investigation, only revenge against him because he committed a crime. Athena’s mention in the last play, “The Eumenides”, provides further knowledge on the revenge vs. justice theme. While the furies fall onto one side in order to make the situation right again, Athena hears from both sides. The furies wanted revenge and Athena’s appearance to hear from both sides opposes that. Because of this, she has a complete empowerment of justice. Listening to both stories to determine the decision shows the following of equality, law, and ethics. Since Orestes had a trial in the play, it serves as an important turning point for anything or anyone during this time period. It can be known as the first trial of its kind and is crucial to understanding the democratic system of the Greek mythological time. At the end of the play, the furies take notice of Athena’s ways and agree to reason with the other side before making their decision. This also serves as another turning point at this time period in history because it shows their ability to stray away from the harmful effects of revenge and lean more toward the better, and more moral, option or justice. This symbolizes a change in society, not just the furies themselves. It shows how it changes from being a society full of hateful revenge and not paying attention to both sides of the story to following law and becoming civilized. “The Eumenides” show a perfectly example of the conflicting themes revenge and justice. They oppose each other and most tended to fall for the more popular and more negative version. Changing from this into civilized and moral standards demonstrated a perfect turn in the Greek society to become more beneficial to those under trial. When speaking of revenge and justice it is important to have examples that show the difference and lack of harmony between the two and The Oresteia is a perfect case of this. |