Should Homer be considered an early feminist or an old-fashioned sexist?

I consider Homer to be an early feminist because of the power he gives the goddesses. At this point in time, women didn’t really amount to anything other than staying home and running the household. Homer uses Athena and Hera to show that women could be much more. The Goddess Athena is shown as a strong character when she takes charge of Telemachus’s journey. When Telemachus is sitting at home worrying about how to deal with the suitors, Athena takes charge and plans a trip for him in search of his father, Odysseus. Another example of her being show as a powerful figure is when she changes into an eagle and flies away. Menelaus is amazed and they hold a feast in her name which shows how much they respect her. Hera is also a good example of women stepping up and being more powerful. In The Iliad, she stands up to Artemis and knocks her down when she is trying to help the Trojans. Hera also defies Zeus by going against him and helping the Achaeans. Although she knows they will eventually win, she hates seeing her beloved people dying and the fact that she goes against the king of the gods shows that she has much more a backbone then most women in those days. By using Athena and Hera Homer shows that women can be more than just the simple housewives they are expected to be.

Visual Analysis Post

The movie review I just a read was about Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which is the first movie in the trilogy. The critic, Sean O’Connell, talks about how typically in Hollywood pirate movies are a no go but Pirates of the Caribbean could be the movie that changes that. He says that a big part in its success is how well it was made. With the technology available they were able to digitally turn real people into skeletons and back again which was a very intriguing aspect. Something I found interesting was that even after all that praise, the critic only gave the movie a 3.5. Its one of my favorite movies so personally I would give it a 5!


http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-The-Curse-of-the-Black-Pearl

Relaxation

When i was younger and having trouble falling to sleep, my dad would always tell me to "say goodnight" to my body starting with my toes and ending with my head. He said that by the time i got to my head i would be completely relaxed and fall right to sleep but i thought it sounded ridiculous. That may sound a little funny to you too but I just read an article from the Mayo Clinic which basically says the same thing. The article talks about how even if you don't have a lot of stress in your life you can still benefit a lot from little relaxation techniques. One of the relaxation techniques was called Autogenic relaxation. In this technique you simply visualize a peaceful place and focus on either relaxing breathing, slowing your heart rate, or slowly relaxing one part of your body at a time, which is what reminded me of my dads old trick. With this relaxation tip you can gain more energy, better concentration, fewer physical and emotional responses, and overall more efficiency with your daily activities. After reading this article i am going to try and help my body relax more with these simple techiniques and i suggest trying them on yourself!