Mothers are persistent figures throughout “The Odyssey” and are seen as the givers of pity and sorrow rather than true “supporters” of their sons and husbands in terms of military or personal quests. In most instances of depictions of mother figures in “The Odyssey”, these are women in need of support and guidance as they are weak and fragile. Without a steady male hand to guide them, these women appear to be lost and inconsolable. As one scholar notes, “Telemachus first asserted his manhood by ordering Penelope from the public rooms of the palace, indicating to the suitors of his intention to assert his claim to his father’s throne. The dependence of mothers on their son’s devotion to them is made clear elsewhere in Homer, as in the case of Anticlea and her statement that she died not of illness but of longing for her son Odysseus” (Pomeroy 28). The mothers in this text serve little function aside from mourning their men and urging them to remain safe, which is an important notion because much of the masculine sense of glory was associated with attaining glory. In many ways, the value placed on fathers and sons in “The Odyssey”was far greater than the bonds with mothers or daughters, for that matter. For Anticlea, Ulysses’ mother, she cannot even exist without her son as she died after waiting for years for him to come home. For Anticlea and other mothers, the entire purpose for existence is to look after, nurture, and protect their sons and husbands.

No female character in The Odyssey is quote as complex as the grief-stricken wife of Ulysses, Penelope. One the hand, she represents the motherly characteristics described above, but she also has some of the traits associated with the seductresses seen later in The Odyssey, such as Circe and Clymenstra. Following the prescribed role of a mother figure, Penelope mourns her lost love, seemingly oblivious (at least at first, it seems) to the attentions of the suitors. At one point, one of the bards of the palace begins singing about the deadly battles where she assumes her husband perished and falls to weeping and publicly mourning. It takes the leadership and masculine presence of her son to bring her to senses and he states, rather insultingly in one of the important quotes from The Odyssey by Homer, “Ulysses is not the only man who never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well as he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech is man’s matter, and mine above all others- for it is I who am master here” (Book 1). At this moment, Telemachus asserts his role in the male order and also scolds his mother for what he seems to see as her conscious effort to lead on the suitors.

There is no doubt that Penelope is playing the role of the mother figure and the seductress simultaneously. This is observed by her many persistent suitors, particularly Antinous, who complains toTelemachus after being chided for consuming the goods of his father, “It is your mother’s fault not ours, for she is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she has been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says” (Book II). While mourning for her husband (which the reader can only assume is sincere) Penelope is also leading on these suitors in order to gain material objects. She promises that she will marry one of them once she finishes her sewing her wedding veil, but each night she destroys the previous night’s work so that the task will never be accomplished. Even if she is using this ruse to attain riches, the fact remains that she is still acting as a seductress. She is very much like a Siren, typical of those present in Book XI, always singing out to encourage men but not intending to fulfill any promise of love or sex. Penelope presents both sides of the two distinct divisions of women characters in the text.

Although the Sirens and Circe represent the ultimate seductress, it is important to notice the way the story of Agamemnon and Clymenestra reappears in the text. This is a legend told about how the strong female character Clymenestra was, much like Penelope, dogged by suitors in her husband’s absence, the only difference being that Clymenestra gives over the temptation of one suitor in particular and she and this new lover plot to kill Agamemnon upon his glorious return. The description of Clymenestra almost seems to echo Penelope’s situation as Ulysses is told the story. “At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she was of a good natural disposition; moreover there was a bard with her, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for Troy, that he was to keep guard over his wife” (Book 3) but his lack of quick return to the palace to see his wife led to her infidelity. Just like Penelope, Clymenestra went through a deep mourning and this story creates the impression that even those women, who seem the most “mother-like” and devoted to husbands, sons, and family, are always prone to falling into the seductress model of femininity.

Homer’s The Odyssey offers readers a complex portrait of masculinity by presenting an epic hero who quests to return home, but the depiction of women is much less complete. Men are free to roam and stay long periods with strange women, but women are held to strict social codes of conduct that seem to drive these extremes of either intense and self-sacrificing motherhood or selfish betrayal. This theme of women as either mothers or seductresses is most fully represented by Penelope and although the story does not end tragically, as was the case with Agamemnon’s return home, there is still room for doubt about the true nature of Penelope based on her behavior in the absence of her husband.

Other articles in the Literature Archives Related to This Topic Include :Father and Son Relationships in The Odyssey by Homer  •   Food Imagery, Women and Temptation in The Odyssey    •  The Theme of Revenge in Medea and The Odyssey  •  The Development of the Character Telemakhos in The Odyssey   •  Women and Power in Agamemnon and Lysistrata  •   Father and Son Relationships in The Odyssey by Homer

Works Cited

Homer, Trans. Samuel Butler. “The Odyssey of Homer.” Sacred Texts. 2 Feb. 2006http://www.sacredtexts.com/cla/homer/ody/index.htm

Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, whores, wives, and slaves : women in classical antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1995.

In “The Golden Ass”, Apuleius presents several tales involving women and witchcraft.  They are all presented with striking similarities.  The women are always attractive, or at least “not at all bad-looking” (p.10), and are always sexually active, or “really in heat” (p.11).  Not only is this the case, but because of this level of attraction, these are powerful women in ancient literature. The use of these phrases dictates a powerful message from the start of the “Golden Ass”.   These descriptions, being seemingly synonymous with the character of witches, are physical characteristics dictated by the man’s opinion.  It is an attempt to demonize the effect that the physically attractive, sexually desirable woman has on the man.  The power of sex and the influence it has over the characters in the “Golden Ass” is obvious in the many sexual encounters related through the tale, what may be less obvious is the specific criteria that are required for a sexual encounter to move from the realm of simple sex to witchcraft and magic.

The differences between the two grow vague in some cases, but can be very clear in others.  In the story of Socrates, he relates how the witch Meroe once turned an unfaithful lover into a beaver because, as stated in one of the important quotes from  “Golden Ass” by Apuleius, “beavers escape their pursuers by biting off their balls-the idea being that something like that would happen to him” (p.11).  This illustrates the most heinous retribution to, a man, the loss of his virility and the end of his bloodline.  The woman Meroe becomes in this manner something to be feared, thereby evoking pity for the “unlucky” man who was unfaithful in the first place and turning the claims of magic and witchcraft against the woman, thereby making her the perpetrator of the underhanded activity.  In this manner, an excuse is found for the behavior of the man, being supposedly under the “spell” of the woman.

For a man to be able to later excuse his actions by claim of witchcraft was a commonly used defense if one goes by Apuleius’ accounts.  The works of magic and witches arise often in the “Golden Ass”, leading to the belief that infidelity was rampant in second century Rome seeing as most of these stories come about due to a man’s infidelity with a woman whom he could not control himself around, i.e. a witch. The witch’s practices were not only limited to men.  A woman was “condemned to perpetual pregnancy for being witty at [Meroe’s] expense; she shut up the woman’s womb and halted the growth of the fetus, so that it’s now eight years that this unfortunate woman has been swollen with her burden” (p.12).  This again is an attack not only on the woman, but also on the future of her family and bloodline, a blow that strikes much deeper than just physical damage to a person.  The stories of these kinds of attacks were taken seriously by many listeners who watched this representation of women in ancient literature and scoffed at by others, but they were told often enough that magic, or the belief therein, came to play an integral part in society.

The narrator himself meets another witch soon into the story.  He is told to “watch out for the wicked wiles and criminal enticements of that woman Pamphile” (p.24).  This is immediately reminiscent of the earlier description of Meroe in that it evokes the same feelings of sexual fervency and trickery that seem to so confound and fluster the men in the Golden Ass.  Pamphile is indeed seen as a witch by the narrator, who attempts to avoid her wiles and “enticements”, due in part to the warning received by his friend. Pamphile uses her powers in an attempt to capture the interest of an uninterested lover.  It is said of her that “the moment she sees a handsome young man, she becomes possessed by his charms and has no eyes or thoughts for anything else” and that “anyone who won’t cooperate or gets written off for not fancying her, she instantly turns into a rock or sheep or some other animal, and some she simply eliminates” (p.25).  Lucius is given this statement as a warning to stay away from Pamphile, a woman who represents values conversant to the typical feminine norms of the time.  She is independently confident and sexually driven.  These are qualities that force the male of the times to reevaluate his position and power over women and are therefore treated with dismay and suspicion.

Beauty and sexual drive alone are not enough to stir claims of witchcraft, however.  In the case of the kidnapped girl Charite, the accusation does not arise at all, even though she is, as Lucius claims, “extremely desirable, even to an ass like me”, but she is “sobbing and tearing her hair and clothes” (p.69).  In the case of Charite, she is presented as a character that is more understandable and stereotypical to how men of the time wish to imagine women; that is, crying helpless and unable to take care of themselves without the presence of their husband.  The idea of witchcraft would never be applied to the character of Charite, because she fills the role of the idealized image men have created of what woman should be.  The outright lust and improper desires are absent from her character, replaced instead by what could only be considered virtuous and innocent thoughts for the loss of her husband and “protector.”  This image fits more easily into the preconceived notions that men have created of women, it is something they understand, therefore, the concept of Charite’s character is more readily absorbed by Lucius and does not give rise to the entertainment of thoughts concerning witchcraft.

Apuleius uses the ideas of magic and witchcraft throughout the Golden Ass to express both the unfamiliar nature of an independent minded woman and to give the reader an impression of the superstitious attitudes with which those of the ancient world approached the mysteries that they felt threatened by.  The character of Lucius is used as a kind of “everyman” to act as a gauge of the attitudes of the times.  Through his character, we are drawn into the stories and preconceptions that prevail in the everyday life of Roman citizens. The line drawn between a practitioner of magic and a common woman is sometimes vague, sometime stark, but one fact is certain, people feel more comfortable with the world when it fulfills their preconceived notions of what is normal and understandable.  Anything falling outside these boundaries, set up by their own minds, wanders into the territory of the unknown and mysterious, giving rise to ideas of magic and other forces at work.  Explanations have always been sought as to the reasons behind mysterious occurrences, magic and religion are attempts to both explain and familiarize that which is unknown or challenging to our delicate fabrication of “reality.”

Women of the time were expected to fill very specific roles and it becomes obvious that in any case where a woman falls outside this mold, by being either independent or vengeful, she is cast into the role of witch and magician.  It was a common belief held by most citizens of the ancient world and is strongly reminiscent of the same treatment women can often receive today for challenging social boundaries.  While we have advanced great distances in many aspects of intellectual thought and theory, there are evidently still strong resemblances to the superstitious and archaic beliefs of the past, especially where the roles of women are concerned.

Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include : Women and Power in Agamemnon and Lysistrata    The Narrow Role of Women The Odyssey by Homer