The Disrespect of Family

Throughout the Odyssey, the values of family have almost been completely ignored. In the Epic, men cheat on their wives multiple times with other woman, and woman have seemed to plot their husband's deaths. This became evident to me in Book 11, when Odysseus and his ship mates traveled to the underworld, visiting ghosts. One of the ghosts that he saw was Clymene, Maera and loathsome Eriphyle. In the book, Odysseus says,

"And I saw Clymene, Maera and loathsome Eriphyle- bribed with a golden necklace to lure her lawful husband to his death..." (pg 260).

This example in the epic shows that wives are okay to take bribes of jewelry to kill their husbands. For a woman to kill their husband would mean that they have extreme anger towards their husbands, or they just don't even care. This just shows how family values are completely different in todays society. In the present day society, wives and husbands are close and have a bond that they wouldn't have had during the time of the Odyssey. I also believe that the roles of a husband and wife, in the society in the Epic, are completely different. The role of the wives are to stay home, waiting to the husbands to return from battle. To them, cheating on their husbands is a sin and is un-welcomed. For husbands, in the society in the Epic, it is ok for a husband to cheat on his wife while he is away. The disrespect of family is clearly shown in the Epic, through the wive on husband murders and complete disrespect of values that are shown.