Representations and Roles of Women in Greek Myths

Women have had different roles and representations throughout history, such as Indonesia’s incredible woman, R.A. Kartini, who fought for women’s rights and education back in 1800. From Egypt, there is the inspirational Cleopatra in 30 B.C. Greek mythology has its way to portrait women. The Greek myths itself were primarily written around 700 BC, and even though we all know Greek myths include fantasy, that doesn’t mean there’s no truth of history in them, which surely affects modern society these days.

In Greek myths, the majority of roles are taken by men. Nevertheless, women have such a unique representation in Greek mythology. Women are divided into three different major levels. There are the Goddesses, the Human, and the Monsters.

Greek mythology tales of women are mainly about the fear of men by women. The tales spoke to their fear and created the fact that most Greek myths monsters are female. We know Medusa — a horrifying and terrifying gorgon with snake hair that turns whoever met her gaze into a stone. Through all the Greek myths, Medusa represents a dangerous threat and an evil image. Medusa in the modern-day is defined as a rallying symbol of liberty and powerful women for the fact that Medusa can turn the ugliness into a weapon, and as we all know, even a Starbucks logo is based on Medusa.

On top of that, there are Sirens. Sirens are pictured differently in each myth and tale. Some people say that Siren is a sort of mermaid who has the ability to lure sailors who hear them singing. Aside from that, Sirens, in Greek myths, is a half-woman and a half-bird-looking creature who can lure the sailor through a song as well.

The Sirens are represented as a temptation and desire that can lead to destruction; their portrayal is also about the power women have over men. These monsters are made to be repulsive, seductive, and reimagined as appealing. Perhaps the monstrosity has remained there, but it’s not visible. They are pictured as harmless on the surface; little did we know they are full of ambition, barbaric, wicked rage, and ready with their claws, fangs, snaked hair, and their enchanted song.

As for the Goddesses, there is the famous Aphrodite — the Goddess of Love and Beauty, who is pictured as the goddess who gave fertility, love, and beauty. However, Aphrodite once had grown a hatred and jealousy over Psyche — the mortal princess with dazzling, magnificent, and outstanding beauty. Moreover, there is Nemesis, who is known as The Goddess of Divine Retribution and Indignation. The portrayal of Nemesis is defined to be the goddess who could bring suffering and losses since Nemesis can measure the happiness and unhappiness of a human.

According to the author of ‘Women and Other Monsters,’ Jess Zimmerman, “For women, the boundaries of acceptability are strict, and they are many. We must be seductive but pure, quiet but not aloof, fragile but industrious, and always, always small. We must not be too successful, too ambitious, too independent, too self-centered — and when we can’t manage all the contradictory restrictions, we are turned into grotesques. Women have been monsters, and monsters have been women, in centuries’ worth of stories, because stories are a way to encode these expectations and pass them on.”

Women of Greek myths have their own roles and how they are represented to such a thing along with having a different perspective of life. Some of them are the problem of society, while some of them have positive energies and the contributor to humanity.

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