Gender Inequality and Gender Roles in The Iliad, Beowulf and Other Ancient Literature

Throughout literature, it is clear that women’s social positions were more limited than the roles of men. Since men have published majority of early literature, discrimination conintues to taint the greater amount of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits such as, lying, temptation, and selfishness, causing women to be controlled, trapped, and exposed. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, understanding, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Ancient literature is often used as a lesson for future behavior because it is filled with moral lessons. For centuries, the bible has been the source of definitions of men, women and morality. God first made man out of dust and gave him life. This can be seen as an emphasis on males, setting the precedent that women are inferior as they come after and not in the same fashion. In Genesis 2.21, women are considered to be the “helper,” made from the rib of the man because God thought man should not be alone. Women are constantly blamed for “tempting” men by using their sexual charms and for those who remained pure were held in higher esteem than those who outed their sexualtity. Women have important roles that go beyond how they are portrayed in the epics. In ancient literature, women were presented as being inferior to men as shown in The Iliad and Beowulf because women were treated like objects, rather than human beings.

The women within the poems are partners to the male heroes, are gods, and war prizes. “This male dominated world cannot happen on its own, thus the roles of women are needed in order to make sense of all this rage” (Reyes online). In The Iliad, there was a limited area that presented female characters. Given the differences between men and women, Homer “treated them all the same way” stressing how strong and profound their emotions and feelings were (Farron online). He also showed how little the male characters were concerned about these emotions and feelings. These women play a role in which they have little or no control over their fate. Helen is the cause of the Trojan war and becomes the main subject. When a dual is arranged between Paris and Manaleus, “whoever is victorious… let him take the women and all the possessions and bring them home,” it shows that women were treated like trophies and objects, rather than a human with feelings (Homer 71- 72). During this time, Helena's feelings are being completely ignored and she is being treated like an object that must be won. Homer emphasizes the passive role she is forced to play and while she is preoccupied by the war, the only way that she can express her interest is by weaving pictures of it. Homer reveals how real her emotions are: “...the goddess put sweet longing into her heart for her previous husband and city and parents… and she hastened from her room shedding a round tear” (Homer 139). The first time she speaks she again shows the depths of her feelings, which are completely ignored by the men who are determining her future. “Would that evil death had been my pleasure when I followed your son here, leaving my chamber, relatives, grown daughter, and my lovely companions,” Helen not only has a strong feeling of regret and homesickness, but also of shame (Homer 173). When she does not see her brothers, she assumes that she has brought such shame on them that they are ashamed to show themselves. Then, in order to show how completely cut off Helen is from even the most basic knowledge about her family, Homer remarks that her brothers are dead in Sparta. Wishing she had died at birth, she ends up feeling guilty and calls herself hateful and “a dog, nasty contriver of evil,” forcing Helen to have a guilty conscience. Despite her strength and depths of her sensitivity, the men who influence the course of events view her as an item. During that time she could do very little with her circumstances due to the fact that women were not allowed to have a voice. Women speaking out was frowned upon and only made matters worse.

In The Iliad, Andromache gave Hector military advice. As might be expected, it is a defensive nature that military advice is unacceptable from a woman. He states “Andromache shows a woman's typical determination to direct her husband on matters she does not understand,” this advice was well thought out and sensible (Farron online). It is impressive that Andromache, despite her emotional horror of the war, can still think about it in a calm and intelligent manner. Although Andromache gave Hector advise, he dismissed it: “But go into the house and take care of your own work, the loom and distaff, and bid your servants to go about their work. But war will be the concern of men,” this could be argued that it marks an advance in attitudes towards women (Homer 490). This also tends to highlight women’s participation in their culture rather than their removal from certain roles; it emphasizes the importance of women’s functions. Hector is moved by his wife, and he sympathizes with her, telling how much he loves her, and explains that she should not worry about what is going to happen.

When Hector was killed in front of the walls of Troy, Andromache was in the innermost part of their home weaving and instructing her servants to prepare a bath for him. It shows her blindness and the extent to which she is cut off from the situation that has the greatest significance to her. Earlier in the epic, Andromache states that she is completely dependent on Hector for meaning in her life. There weren’t many things women could do alone without being criticized or judged and so relying on men was very common. During this time, Andromache is never referred by her name, but as “Hector’s wife,” showing how her identity is defined by that status. Most of her speech deals with her orphaned son. The striking point is how ineffective it is to protect him, how the father is the only parent that can guarantee the social acceptance of a child. It shows that women in general could not work without men in civil life within their society. Helen and Andromache are dependent on their men because the war has cut them off from their previous loved ones. Helen is troubled by the lack of courage and respect in Paris, while Hector is too noble and courageous for Andromache. Nevertheless, the findings are the same for both genders. In their attempt to shape the actions and behaviors of their man, both women are completely frustrated.

The next woman is Brisies, she is a prisoner of war and reveals the progressive form, the tragic situation of women in The Iliad. Female war captives are practically treated as inanimate objects, “cauldrons and tripods and horses and mules and strong oxen and well-girdled women and grey iron,” Briseis is sometimes one among those objects (Homer 702). Although these women are portrayed as artifacts, Homer makes it known to the audience that these women, whose characters find themselves on the same level as tripods and horses, are also real people with backgrounds as tragic as Briseis is a genuine human being with their own emotions and desires. Homer saw the potentialities of the women characters: powerful, emotional, intelligent, people who are trapped in a passive role; and exploited in order to maximize the appeal of the story.

In Beowulf, Grendel’s mother is a single parent who wanted revenge for the death of her son. From a mythical perspective, Grendel’s dam to the dark side of the Valkyrie figure, contrasted once again with the positive human queens. In this aspect, the “Great Mother becomes the Terrible Mother” (Sayer online), a monster which dominates, threatens, and in some manifestations actually devours the male. The clear imagery and conceptual comparisons make it possible to align the dam of Grendel with the negative aspects of the feminine. Beowulf's manifestation of an evil feminine does not start with the dam of Grendel but with the youthful first encounter with monsters and the hero. Beowulf’s battle with the sea demons, would “drag him to the bottom of the sea and consume him,” this represents a violent struggle to leave the womb of the “Terrible Mother” (Morgan online). Grendel’s mother is a single mother who is trying to work with a masculine sphere. Not having a male figure during that time automatically assumed that women were weak, that his mother was not fit to raise him. The battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf entails the dominance of the male.

Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era, and the consistency of these beliefs, attitudes, and roles have endured women throughout these centuries. Women begin at a disadvantage according to what these ancient literatures portray. In a world run by competing men, women were seen as property- prizes of contest and the more power men had over these possessions, the more respected the man. It is as though blaming women for a man’s failure was second nature. Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, and Beowulf contained an honor that was inherently tied into their masculine identity, they would partake in battles to defend this honor, avoid shame, and preserve it by also keeping their reputations. Women were also considered honorable, but instead of the glorious honor achieved by quest driven men, their honor came from taking care of the homes, partaking in peace weaving, protecting their chastity, and remaining faithful to their husbands.

Work Cited

1. Farron, S. 'THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN THE ILIAD.' Acta Classica, vol. 22, 1979, pp. 15-31. JSTOR
2. Morgan, Gwendolyn A. 'Mothers, Monsters, Maturation: Female Evil in Beowulf.' Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 4, no. 1 (13), 1991, pp. 54-68. JSTOR
3. Sayers, William. 'Grendel's Mother, Icelandic Grýla, and Irish Nechta Scéne: Eviscerating Fear.' Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, 16/17, 1996, pp. 256-268. JSTOR
4. Reyes, G. Mitchel. 'Sources of Persuasion in the Iliad' Rhetoric Review, vol. 21, no. 1, 2002, pp. 22-39. JSTOR