The Iliad, by Homer, is a poem that discusses the Trojan War. No women really wanted to fight in the war or were needed. Simone Weil argues that the poem was mostly about force. I agree that the poem is all about force and power. In The Iliad, the women are placed into three categories: a mother, controller of men, and a trophy wife.
An example of a woman that was forced into being a mother was Hector's wife, Andromache. Andromache took care of their son, Astyanax. She also did her best to get Hector out the war. She says, "You, Hector Pity me please! Please take your stand on the rampart here, / before you orphan your son and make your wife a widow. / Draw up your armies up where the wild fig tree stands/ there, where the city lies most open to assault, / the walls lower, easily overrun."(210) She lets fate take its road. In the end her efforts are not enough to save him.
Another woman in the poem who played the mother role was Queen Hecuba. She loves her sons Hector and Paris. No mother would want anything to happen to her child. When tragedy is anticipated, Queen Hecuba and her noblewomen do everything in their power. She prays to the temple of Athena and says, "Now shatter the spear of Diomedes! That wild man-/ Hurl him headlong down before the Scaean Gates!"(204) The women of Troy will do anything to help their men. They sound as though they could not function without them.
In The Iliad, some of the women have power to change the warriors or men's lives to get their way. Most of these women want to be in the war at some point in time. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is helpful while in battle. Athena has made it very clear that she dislikes the Trojans. In return she gives the Achaeans valuable help. Diomedes prays to Athena for revenge and in return she gives him strength. She tells Diomedes, "Now take heart, Diomedes, fight it out with the Trojans! / Deep in your chest I have put your father's strength/.
