Greek Gods In The Iliad Essay

When one hears the word God the image that may come to mind is an individual of supreme power and control, unable to be corrupted, and one whose intentions are “pure”. In the Iliad the gods are not portrayed in this manner, but rather are continuously playing a major role in the war. The Greek Gods are given extreme power over the mortals and use it to instigate, further the conflicts during the war, and ultimately secure one’s fate. This is evident from the very beginning when the Gods are insulted by humans or when they favor one person over another. In Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, the divine intervention of Gods such as Athena, Apollo, and Zeus play a major role in influencing the future events of the battle. If Homer depicted the Gods
She is a strong supporter of the Achaeans and uses her intellectual “powers” to help encourage and advise the warriors Achilles, Diomedes, and Pandaros. The first time the reader is exposed to her persuasion abilities is in Book 1. Athena prevents Achilles from losing his temper and attacking Agamemnon, promising him greater glory if he waits. Athena's intervention alters the course of the war. If Achilles had attacked Agamemnon there could have been two possible outcomes. If he won he would have disrupted the chain of command and if he lost the storyline would have ended. Without Agamemnon there is no war, without Achilles there is no hero and no rage. Again her interference in the war is apparent in book 4 with her relationship with Pandaros. Athena is not in favor of the truce between the Achaeans and Trojans and thus, is sent by her father to prompt Pandaros to break it. “ Athena halted beside him, let her challenge fly: Here’s glory, son of Lycaon - let me tempt you with your archer’s skill! Have you the daring to wing an arrow at Menelaus? Just think what thanks, what fame you’d win in the eyes of all the Trojans, Prince Paris most of all.” (Book 4, Lines 107-110) This shows that Athena is the one who instigated the restarting of battle by having Pandarus shoot at Menelaus. Even though the course of battle favors the Trojans, they are forced by divine powers to break a truce that they might not otherwise break. This
Apollo is disturbed by the slaughter of the sleeping Trojans so he decides to wake up the Trojans in order to have them defend their camp. “But Apollo lord of the silver bow kept watch. No blind man’s watch, no, Apollo saw Athena take Tydides in hand, and raging against her plunged into the main mass of Trojan fighters to rouse a Thracian captain called Hippocoon, a loyal kinsman of Rhesus.” (Book 10, Lines 595-600) Apollo is essentially fighting back against Athena’s actions of helping Odysseus and Diomedes. This intervention not only shows that the gods let their emotions determine their role or actions during war, but it also demonstrates that the gods have certain limitations and tend to use the mortals as pawns to get what they