en. Women and men are represented differently in this regard. Eumaios recounts that he had come to Ithaka as a captive of Phoinikia who was seduced by a roving seafarer. The seafarer had " [made] such love to her as women in their frailty are confused by"(XV line511-12). Artemis eventually killed Phoinikia for her treachery but there is no mention of her twin brother acting the same way towards the seafarer. This gives a generalization that male seducers are acting out on what is normal living but seduced females is seen as weak and treacherous. The treachery that women with lack of morals are unable to avoid exists even in the gods. Aphrodite shamed all the other goddesses by taking Ares to bed to the point where they did not come to see her caught in Haepaistos' web. However, the gods came to see the results of their adultery and even sympathized with Ares as Hermes said he would lie in several layers of chains to lie beside Aphrodite. Most treacherous of all is Klytemnestra whose seduction would give all womankind a bad name. Another portrayal of women is through the destructive natures of Kharybdis and Skylla and the hardships Odysseus is put through indicate women as the sources of evil and suffering in life and in the poem. This holds true not only to the monsters that offer Odysseus a choice between painful progress and ultimate destruction but includes almost all women. The greatest cause of suffering and destruction is by Helen who was seduced by the Trojan Paris that led to war. Although Helen is influenced to be seduced, it is the goddess Aphrodite who causes the war over a contest among the goddesses. The Trojan War led to many deaths of men and the painful journey of Odysseus to return home to his wife. On this journey, even Penelope is in part the reason for his Odysseus' troubles. His desire to be with his desirable wife costs him his crew and ship and puts him up against mortal dangers that nearly cost him...
