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_ _

_A paradox of Greek myth is the place of women. In 5th century Athens,
women were kept at home, allowed out for festivals and funerals, and
certainly had no political power, yet the existing 5th century plays
are full of women as the title characters, Helen, Antigone, Electra,
Iphigeneia. Klytemnestra ruled her country for ten years, Penelope for
twenty (Atchity). _

_Obviously the role of women changed from the remote time of the
inception of myths to the hey-day of Greece. There is evidence that
there was a blending of two traditions, the Aegean, a southern
matrilineal (female dominated) and the northern Indo-European
patrilineal, (male dominated). When Indo-European tribes moved south
to the Aegean, they found an indigenous group of people that was
female-centered. Property was passed on through daughers not sons.
I-Es married these women and found it convenient to have strong women
who would run the palaces, bear children, and supervise the important
work of textile weaving; the men were then free to spend their time
roaming around trading the textiles and making war which is what they
really liked to do. But gradually their tradition of passing property
through sons conflicted with the older tribes. We see evidence of this
in the story of the Odyssey: Menaelaus marries Helen and takes up
residence in her family estate of Sparta. Her control of Sparta gives
another reason why it was important to get her back. "Penelope was a
key figure for similar reasons. . . When Odysseus leaves for Troy, he
leaves a father who is opposed to the matrilineal inclinations of the
local populace and a son too young to retain effective patrilineal
control over the island. It seems probably that the throne of Ithaka
had been matrilineal before the coming of Laertes . . . The marriage,
apparently, was without female issue -- which tipped the scales in
favor of the patriliny" (Atchity 21). Since there was no sister,
Odysseus inherits, but in his prolonged absense there seems to be a
movement to reinstate the matriliny: the suitors disregard the son,
Telemachus, and see marriage with Penelope as a way of cashing in on
the riches of Ithaca; it's Penelope who will control Ithaca, not
Telemachus._

_ _

_Works Cited_

_Atchity, Kenneth and E.J.W. Barber, "From Matriliny to Patriliny,"
Critical Essays on Homer. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1987._

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References

1. http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/andrade/andrade.html
2. http://iws.ccccd.edu/Andrade/andrade/aw.html
3. http://jade.ccccd.edu/Andrade/WorldLitI2332/IliadOdyssey.HTML