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SECONDARY CHARACTERS IN THE BIBLE AND ILIAD

Before the women’s right’s movement in the 20th century, historical and fictional texts focused mainly on men and the acts of men. Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, the Disciples, and Jesus, from the Bible, and Agammemnon, Achilles, Odysseus, Menelaus, Diomedes, and Ajax, from Homer’s, The Iliad, are no exception to this truth. Women do, however, play major parts as antagonistic roles in both of these texts. Adam’s Eve, Isaac’s Rebekah, Paris’ and Menelaus’ Helen, and Priam’s Hecuba are all placed in roles independent or dependent of men, which influence the actions of their male counterparts.
There are not many instances in the books of the Bible or the Iliad that display women in independent roles. It is common to see female characters portrayed as subservient to a male dominated household, acting as little more than an offshoot of the male’s conscience. Also, women were not given the same rights or responsibilities as men during these time, and, therefore, pla...

Posted by: Gina Allred

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