Women living in ancient Greece had limited rights, if any, and were treated as property, owned by their father or husband. They could never go into battle and their job was to keep the house in order. However, in Greek stories, women were given an important role and displayed strength, wit, and cunning unusual for the stereotypical woman of the time. Greek writers used women who possessed these traits to advance the plot and evoke the emotions famous in Greek dramas and tragedies. In Homer's "Odyssey", Penelope, Odysseus' wife, plays a vital role in advancing the plot through her mental strength and spirit. While Odysseus is away, Penelope is bombarded by suitors who wish to take him as a husband. Penelope is forced to use her wits to fend off the will of her suitors. Penelope, for example, said she would choose a suitor after weaving a shroud for her supposedly dead husband. Then: "Every day he wove at the great loom / and every night he unraveled by torchlight." (ii. 105-106) This use of wit by Penelope would have been unusual to encounter in traditional Ancient Greek women. Homer uses this particular display of wit to cover Odysseus's four-year absence in Ithaca and establishes Penelope as a major character in the Odyssey. Later in the Odyssey, Penelope launches a competition to strike twelve ax heads with Odysseus' bow, as Odysseus was able to do. The winner would be the man she takes as her husband. This is another demonstration of Penelope's ingenuity, as she is aware that only Odysseus can draw the bow and then shoot through the twelve ax heads. Penelope believes that this contest will be able to keep the suitors at bay and give Odysseus more time to come h...... middle of paper ...... ancient Greek playwrights understood that women played a fundamental role in human society, despite the way they were treated. As such, women were given important roles to play in their respective tales and displayed unusual strength, wit, or cunning. Although the development of women's rights would take many more millennia, these storytellers were among the first to demonstrate that women can be just as powerful as men. Works cited by Euripides. Medea. Trans. Diane Svarlien. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. And Peter Simon. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2014. 745-781 Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. And Peter Simon. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2014. 291-581Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Roberto Bagg. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. And Peter Simon. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2014. 666-706