In the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, women were seen as inferior to their male counterparts. As a result, women were much less represented in ancient Greek society, unable to obtain any form of citizenship in their city-state - a right that even freed slaves could obtain - and were mainly limited to their family. to raise families. This lack of representation of women in Ancient Greek society was reflected in Greek poetry, as plot poetry often revolved around men while female characters were given little to no depth. However, in the Iliad, this long-standing patriarchal norm is shattered by the character of Helen of Troy. Helen is given much more active characterization than her other female counterparts throughout Greek poetry; this was done by Homer to show how seeing the chaos brought by the culture of war changes those responsible for the conflict. In the Iliad, Helen is transformed into a dynamic character through her growing regret over the decision she made to leave Menelaus and her home city-state of Sparta to become Paris' wife in Troy. Once satisfied with her decision, Helen is now at breaking point. She is filled with guilt because her decision to leave her husband and her homeland for another man resulted in the deaths of countless soldiers of both her own and her husband's and home country. The soldiers still alive were torn from their families for the nine years of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This led Helen to wish that “death had pleased me then, a sad death. - that day I followed your [Paris] to Troy” (III. 209-210), and that he wished that “that first day my mother brought me to the light, some black whirlwind had pushed me out onto the mountains or into the waves where the roaring breakers break” (VI. 410-412), wishing for her to die so that countless others would not have to. Furthermore, Homer makes it obvious who Helen wishes to marry through Helen's discussion with her husband. This topic, which elicited no response from Paris, showed that he doesn't really care about the relationship between him and his wife. Paris sees Helen only as her possession and appreciates Helen only for her beauty. Furthermore, Helen makes it known which side she is still loyal to when King Priam asks Helen at the walls of Troy to tell him who the Achaean heroes who were present were, and Helen points them out to King Priam but refrains from telling him any further knowledge. of the Heroes, despite Helen having more information. This shows that Helen will refrain from helping the Trojans as much as possible, meaning that she hopes that the Achaeans will win the war. Considering Helen's regret over her marriage to Paris, Paris' lack of interest in their marriage, and Helen's willingness to help the Achaeans, it is clear that Homer, in the poem, is suggesting that Helen wishes to marry once again with Meneluo. By comparing the characterization that Homer gave to Helen with the characterizations that the poet gave to other female characters in the Iliad, it becomes clear that the character of Helen has much more depth than other female characters in the poem. One of these characters, Brieses, Achilles' slave, is the most characterized female character in Homer's Iliad outside of Helen. Despite Briseis' importance in the plot of the Iliad, she is given very little depth. All that is known about Briseis is that she has a strong relationship with Achilles, as Briseis is taken away from Achilles' tent, Briseis "yesdrags behind, reluctant, at every step" (I. 412), showing that she has a strong affection for Achilles even though she is Achilles' slave. Even when Briseis speaks after Patroclus's death, more of her character is revealed by her speech; Patroclus, my heart's dearest joy, my heartbroken, broken heart! I left you alive that day I left these refuges, - now I return to find you fallen, captain of armies... from war, you will return home to Phthia and there with the Myrmidons you would hold my wedding feast. So now I mourn your death, I will never stop, you have always been kind (XIX. 338-356) The speech shows that Briseis is in able to forgive those who have committed wrongs against her, in this case Achilles, who by making Briseis his slave took away everything she knew Briseis' empathy for others is also shown, though she does not know those people well, thanking Patroclus for all he has done to help her get closer to the man, Achilles, who enslaved her and for treating her kindly. and humanity despite being slaves. When Helen's characterization is further compared to another female character in the Iliad, such as Hecuba, the added depth that Homer gave to Helen's character becomes even more apparent. Hecuba, the queen of Troy and mother of Hector, displays the protective trait, as well as the ability to anticipate people's future actions, with her plea to Hector to avoid fighting Achilles in book 22; Hector, my son! Look, have some respect for this! Have mercy on your mother too, if ever I gave you a breast to ease your troubles, remember it now, dear boy, drive that wild man from the safety within the walls! Don't move on, a champion. pitted against him: a ruthless and brutal man. If he kills you now, how will I ever be able to mourn you on your deathbed? -dear flowering branch, dear child that I have brought into the world!- (XXII. 97-104)Hecuba's speech reflects her protection of her son, wanting Hector to challenge the "merciless and brutal man" (XXII. 102) of Achilles, obviously not wanting his son to die, let alone have to witness his massacre. This protection of Hector also extends to Hecuba's protection of the city of Troy, as the Queen understands that if Hector, the Trojans' most experienced warrior and general, falls, there will be no future in which the Trojans will be able to defend their city from the assault of Troy. Achaean soldiers. In terms of Hecuba's knowledge of how people behave, it is shown in the way Hecuba exclaims to her son as if Achilles "kills you now, how will I ever mourn you on your deathbed?" (xix. 102-103), Hecuba predicts that if Achilles defeats Hector, he will not return his son's body to the Trojans for a proper burial. This prediction turns into reality as Achilles' fury and mission of revenge for the massacre of Patroclus at the hands of Hector leads Achilles to tie Hector's lifeless body to his chariot and disfigure the body by dragging it behind the chariot while Achilles paraded around the walls of Troy to prevent Hector from entering the afterlife, before saving the disfigured body for himself. Everything would have remained so if King Priam had not risked his life by sneaking into the Achaean camp to beg Achilles to return his son's body to the Trojans. However, with Hecuba, along with Briseis, aside from a number of character traits that can be gleaned from the Iliad, there is nothing given by Homer that gives the female characters any real depth unlike Helen, who as stated before suffers also a change in the poem, and whose choices have ramifications in the plot of the poem. Whenever stories, history or other knowledge come.