Women of the Odyssey

Women, no doubt, play a large role in the Odyssey; mainly as seductresses. Odysseus’ journey to return home to his faithful wife is prolonged by years because of the seductive powers the women of the Odyssey possess. From being a virtual sex slaves for gods and witches, to being lulled into his death, Odysseus must try to resist their seductive ways and continue his journey home into the arms of his faithful, but sly wife.

First in the story, Odysseus encounters Kirke, the witch. She is well-known for seducing men, and turning them into the pigs that she thinks they are. Odysseus, however, was not completely seduced into being a pig, but sleeping with her. With the help of Hermes, Odysseus was able to resist her magic and convince her to not turn him into swine. In exchange for doing so, Kirke and Odysseus slept together. Here, Odysseys becomes Kirke’s lover for a year and lives in the luxury of her home. Odysseus had to be reminded by his crew that he was on a mission to get back home to Ithaka and his wife rather than to stay Kirke’s lover. Once going through the underworld, Odysseus receives instructions from Kirke on how to get past the Seirenes, as well as Skylla and Charybdis.

Next, Odysseus encounters the Seirenes. Per Kirke’s instructions, Odysseus’ men’s ears were plugged with beeswax so that they could not hear the song of the Seirenes. Odysseus was the only sailor whose ears were not plugged. Because of this, before they crossed the Seirenes, Odysseus instructed his men to tie him up and not release him no matter how much he begged. Sure enough, Odysseus screamed and begged to be released to succumb to the song of the Seirenes, promising to reveal his future. Luckily, for Odysseus, instead of crashing into his death, his faithful crew tied him even tighter so that he could not escape and they could make it past the Seirenes.

After disobeying commands to not eat the Cattle of Helios and losing his ship, Odysseus and his crew land on...