The Powerful Women in Homer's Odyssey There is really no way to generalize the women in Homer's Odyssey because they all have their own traits distinct that make them big, strong and powerful women. A very powerful woman is Arete. He is as powerful as King Alcinous. His daughter Nausicaa is an amazing woman, even though she is so young. He shows great intelligence in handling Ulysses. These women I talk about above are great women in a way, but there are also some terrible women who still have amazing qualities. For example Clytemnestra who has great revenge and deceit. Another Homeric woman who breaks the mold is Helen. She's so independent and stubborn that it's almost scary. The qualities I apply to all these women are not the only ones, but they are the most memorable. In fact, some of them share the characteristics that I have already exposed. Another thing I'd like to mention before I continue is how different these women are from what I expected. I thought they would all be weak and completely under the control of the heroic men, but all the ones I mentioned are very powerful and could probably do without their men. I know Helen would be fine without Menelaus. Helen is extremely independent and quite evil. For the most part he just does what he wants to do. First of all, he ran away with Paris and started the Trojan War. Now, I know they say Paris got it, but I beg to differ. The best example I have is the story of the horse that Menelaus tells Telemechus. It begins with the men on the Trojan Horse waiting to ambush the city, and Helen circles her "Three times... / groping and stroking her flanks, / challenging all combatants, calling each by name -" ( Hom 4. 310-312). What Helen wanted to do was blow the Greeks' cover and help the Trojans win the war. This also shows how smart he is because the Greeks had been away from their wives for ten years and felt a little lonely. Homer tells us that Anticlus “was thrilled to greet her,” but of course Odysseus had to save everyone from her (Hom. 4.320). This whole story gives a lot of information about Helen and what she wanted.