DID THE WOMEN OF HOMERS EPICS DIRECT THE ACTIONS OF MEN?

DID THE WOMEN OF HOMER'S EPICS DIRECT THE ACTIONS OF MEN?
Throughout the Common Era, women have been recognized as a strong influence on the actions of men. For example, Eleanor Roosevelt influenced the decisions that Franklin D. Roosevelt made, and in literature, Lady Macbeth urged Macbeth to commit murder. Did the women of Homer's epics, The Odyssey and The Iliad emulate the women of the Common Era? The Iliad is an epic about the Trojan War and Achilles' role as an Achaean warring against the Trojans. The Trojan War indirectly began because of Helen, who was kidnapped for her unsurpassed beauty. The Odyssey is an epic about a Greek warrior in the Trojan War whose wanderings around his known world and his perilous encounters are the basis of the story. Odysseus' absence from his home is prolonged by the influences of the women whom he encounters.
In these epics, several female characters had a profound effect on the plot. They wielded their influence through typically feminine skills and attributes: seduction, supernatural powers, intelligence, and beauty. Some of the women of The Odyssey and The Iliad influenced the actions of men, playing key roles in the epics, such as Calypso, the Sirens, Helen, or Circe; all of these women were responsible for the actions of the men.
In The Iliad, Helen and Athena are two characters who display "the influential power female sexuality has in relation to the mortal male...[they are] in control" (LeVan). Helen's physical beauty was ...

DID THE WOMEN OF HOMERS EPICS DIRECT THE ACTIONS OF MEN?

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