Gender Inequality In The Trojan War

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Perez 1 Lina Perez Dr. Conway English P.5 28 February, 2011 Gender Inequality in the Trojan War In The Trojan Women and The War the Killed Achilles, the authors Nicholas Rudall and Caroline Alexander both reveal gender inequality from the view of the feminist and non-feminist perspectives. There are many examples and proofs that explain the differences between males and females in the era of the Trojan war. Such as having women work in the households, and doing dirty work while men were off at war. Men were treated better than women, and with more respect. This essay will analyze both these books and state examples of gender inequality. Multiple perspectives are found in these stories about gender inequality. An example found in The Trojan War is when Hebuca was speaking of Aphrodite saying, “Men blame her for every mindless act that they commit” (Rudall 48) Aphrodite had not done anything wrong, yet men still blamed everything they did on her. This shows that men blame women for acts that are not their fault. Women know they are not to blame, because they have not done anything. Men also thought women were useless, and only good for man’s pleasure. As said in The War the Killed Achilles, “...urging no man to go home 'until after he has laid in bed with the wife of a Trojan'” (Alexander 82) This shows that men wanted to use women as objects; toys. Another factor of gender inequality was the lack or respect men gave women. They were treated upon with hate. In The Trojan Woman, Andromache was speaking to Helen saying: “Oh Helen, you are not Zeus's daughter! You are the bastard child of Hate and Murder and Death, the child of every monster bred of this earth!” (Rudall 40) While women were treated Perez 2 badly, men were being honored, as said in The War That Killed Achilles, “Patroklos first comes to the tent of Nestor, where he is warmly greeted and
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