by Tricia Psarreas Murray

Created on: June 11, 2009

Throughout history, women have been blamed for the downfall of humanity. According to the Bible, Eve disobeyed God's command and ate the forbidden fruit. This led to mankind's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the beginning of human sorrow. According to Greek mythology, Pandora, the first mortal woman, released evil into the world when she opened a forbidden jar. She released a flood of pain, sorrow, and evil into the world, thus ending the paradise that humans once knew. These cultural myths illustrate the societal differences between females and males. Women use their trickery to destroy all that is good among men. Males do what they must to prevail in a world full of such trickery. These points are illustrated throughout the epic tales of The Odyssey and Metamorphoses.

Homer's The Odyssey focuses on Odysseus' journey home, after The Illiad ends. This story does not delve into nearly as much fighting and war as the first story. Rather, it focuses on the struggles of Odysseus and his men while they return home. Throughout his journey, Odysseus encounters many obstacles. The physically perilous obstacles are simple for him to overcome. When Antiphates begins devouring people, Odysseus manages to escape with his men. This is because Homer's men know how to defeat other men; they need nothing more than sheer strength and fighting skills.

However, Homer's men are at a loss when put against other women. If Circe did not advise Odysseus to have his men fill their ears with beeswax, they would have surely fallen under the spell of the Sirens. She explained the power of the Sirens by saying,

Square in your ship's path are Sirens, crying

beauty to bewitch men coasting by'

woe to the innocent who hears that sound!

He will not see his lady nor his children

in joy, crowding about him, home fro sea;

the Sirens will sing his mind away...

(lines 42 - 47).

It is interesting to note that the Sirens do not require weapons, or strength of any kind. Their deadly weapons consist of beauty in appearance and voice. Men are powerless to fight against this power of the opposite sex. They must either avoid hearing the sound, get tied to the ship, or fall victim to these singing warriors. There is no choice in the matter; strength of body is useless in this fight.

Ovid explores the societal differences between men and women in Metamorphoses. Like the men

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>