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

It can be argued though many different examples and quotes that Homer is either a feminist or a sexist. Personally though, I believe Homer should be considered an early feminist because he makes one of the most active and powerful characters, Athena, a resourceful and intriguing personage. Athena, the gray eyed goddess, is considered (by even the gods) to be very cunning and powerful. An example of Athena being powerful and crafty is that Zeus, the King of the Gods allows Athena to carry his lightning bolts. Would Zeus have trusted a weaker sex to his most powerful weapon. The answer is no, he trusted a mighty Goddess. To counter the example of Homer being sexist, Homer wouldn't have written down stories then change them, he would hear stories and blend together the common points of the story. To say that Homer is sexist is saying that the entire Greek society is a sexist body.

To accurately describe whether Homer is sexist, one must see the other side of the argument, that Homer was a chauvinistic writer. An argument come when Telemachus tells Penelope to go to her room and to keep the maids busy and such. Then later he says that in Odysseus' place he is the master of the house. This defies common knowledge that most of the time a person who is older is more wise. Telemachus takes control, thinking that his mother is not up to the task of dealing with various problems. These quotes show how some characters are sexist,. I believe that the word sexist was not around in Ancient Greek Times and therefor cannot be applied to this ancient Greek work. The arguments I supplied may only be used if the word sexist was around in that day and age.