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Across Homeric writing, female characters are passively presented to maintain their role as natural victims. Since they are focalizers within the narrative they often convey themes of loss and suffering. Their lack of agency renders them unable to derail or develop the plot, leaving them to suffer the consequences, and more importantly, the losses within the war. This is witnessed universally across the characterisation of the women and their familial status in the Iliad: Thetis and Hekabe suffer losses as mothers whilst Andromache suffers loss as a wife. As a result of being cast aside in their respective female territories, the female characters, most notably Helen, access their version of independence and agency by blurring the accepted hierarchical practices between the genders. As such, the female characters’ level of complacency with their social treatment is instrumental in shaping their fate. This is most conspicuously demonstrated in the characterization of Helen and Andromache. Whilst Helen’s attempt at inserting herself into the plot ensures her survival, Andromache’s prioritisation of her husband’s wishes secures her foreshadowed degradation.
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