Throughout the entirety of The Odyssey, Odysseus cries all the time. In today’s modern society, masculinity seems to be a very fragile thing. Male friends in a modern context are often called gay or feminizing terms if they are physically affectionate with their male friends or if they show weakness of any sort.
Emotions like sadness and fear are seen as feminine and unacceptable for men to experience or display, but in The Odyssey, these emotions are supposed to be humanizing. When Odysseus cries it’s meant to endear him to us readers and show that he really is sad and he really is affected by being kept away from his life and family for so long.
Another instance of Odysseus showing “unmasculine” emotion is when he fears for his life when faced with fighting the horde of suitors. As we discussed in class, this could be a tactic to show the audience that the suitors were a reasonable foe for Odysseus and their slaughter was something to be admired, but still, a male hero being afraid isn’t something we’re too used to in modern contexts. It could be argued that this fear only enhances his masculinity because it makes him brave, in that he was afraid but he conquered his enemies anyways. Also, is it a trial if there is no fear? If he is confident all the time, what kind of hero would he be? There wouldn’t be any triumph; it’d just be an “I told you so” kind of ending.
However, all of these “weak” emotions are balanced out by a stereotypically male penchant for affairs with women and a thirst for blood. But either way, perhaps the gender roles in ancient Greece were different than those we are familiar with today.
I was struck by the quantity of manly tears in the Odyssey as well. Although our culture has started to shift somewhat, we still adhere largely to the idea that men are supposed to be stoic and strong. Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway and Jake in The Sun Also Rises provide good examples of modern characters struggling with these expectations. It's interesting, then, to see how Homeric Greece lacked these qualms about male displays of emotion.
ReplyDeleteTo extend your point a little further, I think it is interesting how in general, we don't see Odysseus in too many heroic positions until the very end of the poem. He is made out to be heroic and crafty through the numerous epithets attached to his name, and especially by the ghosts that talk up his genius during the Trojan war. Due to this, it is hard for a reader to deny Odysseus' greatness, even if it isn't warranted. The crying that you mention is one example of how Odysseus doesn't always appear heroic, but at times the opposite. Even when he does obliterate the suitors at the end of the poem, what glory he receives from the battle is quickly put into question by the extent that he goes to in order to exact revenge (ordering Telemachus to slaughter the 12 unarmed women).
ReplyDeleteI actually had the opposite impression about the perception of crying in our society. Although it is true that men crying has traditionally been regarded as gay or feminine, in recent years, I feel like that stigma has begun to fade. It is true that it still exists, but not to the same extent as in Ancient Greece. Most Ancient societies, including Sparta or other Ancient Greek societies, put lots of importance on masculinity. The gender roles and norms were more rigid than in our society. For this reason, I think that Odysseus crying has a strong impact on the reader. Odysseus crying in that society is a bigger deal and shows how moved he is.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I also found it interesting how Odysseus is generally seen as a very masculine and heroic character, but throughout the story we see him showing his emotions and crying, traits that are stereotypically considered to be feminine. I agree that showing these emotions seemed to make Odysseus a more relatable hero, even though he has the help of the Gods throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Odysseus cried a lot to help us relate more to him, because if I were away from my family that long and reunited with them after 20 years, I'd probably be crying too. I like your point that Odysseus' crying and show of fear enhances his heroism, because it shows that he can overcome those fears and be brave. Moreover, I think the crying and fear we see in Odysseus further separates him from the gods and shows him embracing his mortality, which is another theme we talked about in class.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the gender roles as shown in the Odyssey are different than modern ones but I dont think the men are really more "feminine" by todays standards. While they do cry, they are also really aggressive and physical and also boss women like Penelope around in a way that wouldn't be as socially acceptable today. I agree more with your conclusion than the bulk of your essay, but I quite liked it as a whole.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely make a good point about crying and the way Odysseus acts throughout the epic poem. It seems like it humanizes him though. As everybody continuously calls him a god, we see his tears which reminds us that he is a mortal. His fear adds more of that humanity which makes the story more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right--there's a very delicate balance of masculinity in the character of Odysseus. It seems to me that tragedy is emphasized in the story by saying Odysseus (or his men) cry--to make it more obvious to the audience that what has just occurred should incite sadness, rather than to enhance the depth of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the male tears that recurred throughout the poem and did find it a bit odd considering how tears are not associated with masculinity in our society today. However, I felt like the tears added to the dramatic effects of the story and gave Odysseus and Telemachus more depth as characters. These big displays of emotion help convey how sad or pathetic Odysseus or Telemachus is at times, and they also make Odysseus's joy at returning to Ithaca or revealing himself to his son all the more epic.
ReplyDeleteThat moment where Odysseus's heroic knees shake is, I think, rather important to how we view the morally problematic "slaughter" as a whole, in terms of Athena's role and the idea of fate. If this whole thing were really in Athena's hands, with the suitors fated to die, Odysseus presumably could just sit back and let the slaughter unfold. But there's still a *struggle*--he has to make it happen, and that's not easy. The plan does not go perfectly, and his enemies do become armed and dangerous, and it's a glimpse of our hero's human aspect that he quite naturally feels a moment of fear and panic at the sight of them rising armed against him. The heroic aspect, presumably, comes through him continuing to fight despite this fear. Athena gives him confidence, but he still has to *do* the stuff himself.
ReplyDeleteGood post. Men in today's western society are supposed to lack any emotion so that they can 'be a man.' It's interesting how the fact that Odysseus was crying in the story is kind of progressive for us.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the gender roles for men were more malleable back then. Odysseus could be vain, emotional, and brave. Perhaps there was less mobility for women, as we can see the only emotion Penelope having is sorrow and excitement.