In the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, women were considered inferior to their male counterparts. As a result, women were far less represented in ancient Greek society, being unable to obtain any form of citizenship in their city-state – a right that even freed slaves could obtain – and were primarily restricted to their households. to raise families. This lack of representation of women in ancient Greek society was reflected in Greek poetry, as the poem's plots often revolved around men while the female characters had little or no depth. However, in The Iliad, this long-standing patriarchal norm is shattered through the character of Helen of Troy. Helen receives much more active characterization than her other female counterparts in Greek poetry; this was done by Homer to show how seeing the chaos that the culture of war brings changes those responsible for the conflict. In The Iliad, Helen becomes a dynamic character due to her growing regret over the decision she made to leave Menelaus and her native city-state of Sparta to become Paris's wife at Troy. Once happy with her decision, Helen is now at her breaking point. She feels guilty that her decision to leave her husband and her homeland for another man led to the deaths of countless soldiers, both in her home country and her husband's. The surviving soldiers were torn from their own families during the nine years of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay This led Helen to wish that “death had pleased me then, grim death.” - that day I followed your [Paris] to Troy” (III. 209-210), and that she would have wished “that on the first day my mother brought me to the light, a black whirlwind m 'has rushed into the mountains or into the waves where the roaring breakers crash' (VI. 410-412), wishing that she had just died so that countless others would not have to. Additionally, Homer makes it clear who Helen wants to marry through Helen's argument with her husband. This argument, which provoked no response in Paris, shows that he does not really care about the relationship between him and his wife. Paris only sees Helen as his possession and only values ​​Helen because of her beauty. Additionally, Helen makes it clear which side she is still loyal to when King Priam asked Helen at the wall of Troy to tell him who the Achaean heroes present were, and Helen points them out to King Priam but refrains from doing so. tell him any other information. heroes, even if Helen had more information. This shows that Helen will refrain from helping the Trojans as much as possible, meaning that she hopes that the Achaeans will win the war. Given Helen's regret over her marriage to Paris, Paris' lack of interest in their marriage, and Helen's desire to help the Achaeans, it is clear that Homer, in the poem, is suggesting that Hélène wishes to marry Ménéluas again. Comparing the characterization that Homer gave to Helen with the characterizations that the poet gave to other female characters in the Iliad, it becomes clear that the character of Helen has much more depth than the other female characters in the Iliad. poem. One of these characters, Brieses, the slave of Achilles, is the most characterized female character in Homer's Iliad aside from Helen. Despite Briseis' importance to the plot of The Iliad, he is given very little depth. All we know about Briseis is that she has a strong relationshipwith Achilles, as Briseis is kept away from Achilles' tent, Briseis "dragged behind, reluctantly, at every step" (I. 412), showing that she has a strong affection for Achilles, despite being the slave of Achilles. Furthermore, when Briseis speaks after Patroclus' death, his character is further revealed in his speech; Patroclus, the dearest joy of my heart, my tormented and broken heart! I left you alive the day I left these shelters, now I return to find you fallen, captain of the armies…. . . you would sail me west on your warships to my home in Phthia and there, with the Myrmidons, you would arrange my wedding feast. So now I mourn your death, I will never stop you, you were always kind. (XIX. 338-356) The speech shows that Briseis is capable of forgiving those who have committed wrongs against her, in this case Achilles, who, by making Briseis his slave, took away everything she knew . In her speech, Briseis's empathy for others is also shown, even though she does not know these people well, by thanking Patroclus for everything he has done to help her become closer to the man, Achilles , who enslaved her and for treating her with kindness. and humanity even if it is a slave. When Helen's characterization is compared to that of another female character in The Iliad, such as Hecuba, the additional depth that Homer gave to Helen's character becomes even more evident. Hecuba, queen of Troy and mother of Hector, displays a protective character, as well as an ability to anticipate people's future actions, pleading for Hector to avoid fighting Achilles in book 22; Hector, my child! Listen, have some respect for that! Pity your mother too, if I ever breastfed you to ease your troubles, remember now, my dear boy, push this wild man out of the safety within the walls! Don't go, a champion opposed to him, a brutal and ruthless man. If he kills you now, how will I ever mourn you on your deathbed? - dear flowering branch, dear child that I gave birth to! - (XXII. 97-104) Hecuba's speech reflects her protection towards her son, wanting Hector to challenge the "brutal and merciless man" (XXII. 102) of Achilles, obviously not wanting her son to die , let alone having to witness his massacre. This protection of Hector also extends to Hecuba's protection of the city of Troy, as the queen understands that if Hector, the Trojans' most experienced warrior and general, falls, there will be no future where the Trojans will be able to defend their city against the onslaught of the Trojans. Achaean soldiers. In terms of Hecuba's knowledge of how people act, this is shown in the way Hecuba exclaims to her son: if Achilles "kills you now, how can I ever mourn for you on your deathbed ? (XIX. 102-103), Hecuba predicts that if Achilles defeats Hector, he will not return his son's body to the Trojans for a proper burial. This prediction turns into reality as Achilles rages and takes revenge for the massacre of Patroclus at the hands of Hector cause Achilles to tie Hector's lifeless body to his chariot and disfigure the body by dragging it behind the chariot so that Achilles paraded around the walls of Troy in order to prevent Hector from entering the afterlife, before guarding the disfigured body. for himself. Everything would have remained this way if King Priam had not risked his life by sneaking into the Achaean campsite to beg Achilles to return his son's body to the Trojans. However, in Hecuba and Briseis, apart from a set of character traits that can be gleaned from the Iliad, nothing in Homer gives the female characters any real depth, unlike Helen, who, as previously noted, also undergoes..