Odyssey and Circe

Question

A 7-pg paper dbl spaced in time new roman 12 font on this question: How do the modern authors use these classic stories (Odyssey and Circe) as a way of talking about gender relations? Compare and Contrast. Please use evidence and quotes from books. Refer to the internet for the books.

Answer 1

I like this essay question!

Here is one way to approach it:

1. Pick out some specific details from the modern books you are discussing that both a) evoke an aspect of the Odyssey or Circe and b) relate to gender.
2. What do I mean by "evoke an aspect . . ."? This depends on how this was discussed in class, but generally this means that a modern story is incorporating elements of plot and/or theme from these ancient texts.
3. What do I mean by "relate to gender"? Well, in a way everything relates to gender, but some key issues or themes to look at could be:
4. How does the relationship between characters tell us something about how women (or men, or nonbinary folks) are treated, are powerful or powerless, relate to other characters, etc.
5. For each specific example (ideally find a section/passage to analyze!), how is the modern example similar to and/or different from how gender plays out in the ancient text?
6. Analyze the examples (again, ideally sections or passages) to look not only at what's on the surface, but also the *subtext* that is not specifically stated.
7. For example, texts are very unlikely to specify something like: "[Female character] does not have all the advantages of [male character]" or something like that. (That would be a surface meaning.)
8. Subtext means: look at clues in the plot or language that indicate in an unspoken way that a character is affected by being a woman (or man, or non-binary, etc). This is subtext (beneath the text) because it isn't specifically stated outright. It's implied or shown in how the story unfolds and/or describes an interaction or character.
9. From there, your next step might be to consider whether there is some issue or problem or interpretation that connects different modern texts to the ancient ones.
10. For example, perhaps women in modern texts are less disempowered and have more opportunities to make choices for themselves (women in ancient Greek society couldn't vote and often did not have as much control over their lives as women in most societies do today).
11. To be sure your analysis is nuanced, be sure that you pay attention to differences and subtlety -- maybe women in the modern novels are *less* disempowered, but they still are not as empowered as most men most of the time, for example.
12. As you construct your essay, highlight the primary issue or problem you see in how your modern texts deal with gender in ways that are similar to and different from ancient texts in your introduction. Make a strong statement *and* provide some sense of what's important here (this is the "what's at stake?" element of an argument).
13. I recommend focusing each paragraph on a specific example (again, ideally with a quote) -- analyze a quote or moment in the story/text to demonstrate what the subtext is. Then analyze what's important about this and think about the nuance I noted above.
14. Be sure that your conclusion restates (in new language) the primary issue or problem and speaks more about how and why this is important for understanding the role of ancient stories in these modern texts.

This all might make it sound complicated, but it doesn't need to be! The trick is to focus on passages and finding subtext and then building your essay around that!

Answer 2

I would suggest looking at summaries of both texts first. Consider how Odysseus treats the women in his life (eg: Penelope) as well as how he is treated by them. Look at how Circe treats men in her life (eg: expectations how how a man might treat women/be treated by women or how a woman might treat men/be treated by men? Identify a few standout points and model your essay after those. Use the text/quotes as evidence to back up your claim.