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Chryseis. Elena is not a slave or trophy but a princess. With her appearance, the question of her responsibility is raised. Her role is notable and ambiguous at the same time. For instance, the old men judge her arrival to Troy and comment it saying that she is grief to the Trojan people. However, she is not only as a grief but also as a cause of war and a victim of men’s greed and arrogance and insolence. Many regard her to be a trophy of Paris who has stolen her from her husband. Although it happened during times of peace, Elena is a perfect prize because she was abducted while her husband was away from home. In addition to this, Paris had to make efforts and practice deception in order to get the aim. That is why Elena appears to be a bestowal for his endeavor.

In addition to all abovementioned, there is one more image of a woman described in the poem whose feelings and thoughts are not taken into consideration. Apart from other women of Troy, in “The Iliad” she is one of the many who receives particular individual treatment. It is Andromache was married to Hector, the Trojan prince. When her husband returns from the battle, she asks them not to return there and stay in the city. However, Hector being the true representative of the dominant stronger sex only threatens his wife that she will be enslaved and pays no attention to her pleading. In return, Andromache demonstrates an extraordinary insight into military matters giving him advice that was not appreciated at all. What is more, Hector offended her and commanded to return home and continue working. By his response, he highlights the fundamental discrepancy between feminine and masculine activities. Such women served to glorify their husbands and lament in case of their death. There is a number of speeches of Elena, Andromache, Briseis and Hecuba in which they talk about their vulnerability without men’s protection which shows that women in Ancient Greece were used to such treatment.

“The Iliad” is undoubtedly focused on the male characters as far as it is the poem about war. Achilles, primarily, Agamemnon and Hector are in the limelight, and women are in the minority. In addition to this, they are passive, they are items for exchange (Briseis and Chriyeis 56), seen in their social roles of wives and mothers (Andromache, Elena) and are described as obstacles that a warrior has to overcome in order to obtain a status of a hero. In other words, women are depicted more as belongings that have no right to act and speak than as human beings.

引用作品——Work cited:

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Martin Hammond. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Print.
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