Quang Tran CLAS 24 1Gender Conflicts in The OdysseyScene Analysis: Ogygian IslandHomer
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s epic The Odyssey recounts a great, heroic tale of Odysseus
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herculean journeyhome after the Trojan War. As great and grandeur as it may be, a close examination of the sceneon Ogygian Island between Calypso and Odysseus will reveal among other things, Homer
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sunjustified portrayal of women and the double standard placed upon them.In the beginning of Book 5 of The Odyssey, the verdict of the gods
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council is thatOdysseus must be sent home. Hermes is sent to Calypso
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s island delivering Zeus
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decree,Calypso responds by complaining about the double standards between gods and goddesses,although she does ultimately submit to Zeus
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decree and let Odysseus leave her island, where heresided for the past seven years. She argues,
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You unrivaled lords of jealousy scandalized whengoddesses sleep with mortals, openly, even when one has made the man her husband
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(5.130-133). In her testimony, she rebukes the gods
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(male) for being able to have mortal lovers, whileshe herself (a goddess) is prohibited from the same actions. Calypso
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s complaints are central tothe issue of women in The Odyssey and her gender conflict sets a double standard in the sexualactions of the gods and goddesses. She is angered because the gods want her to release Odysseusand disapprove of her relationship with him. She points out that this is unfair and they only dothis because she is a woman. Although the female characters of The Odyssey are more developedthan the female characters in The Iliad, this scene allows closer demonstration of the doublestandard that is perpetuated in The Odyssey and that still exists between men and women in themodern society.