Preview

How Does Athena Criticize Hector's Dilemma

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
367 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Athena Criticize Hector's Dilemma
In Homer's Iliad the Olympian gods are prominent characters within the plot. In this particular passage the goddess Athena reprimands Zeus because he considers saving Hector. Athena criticizes Zeus for asking to interfere, but immediately after this scene, she is given permission from Zeus to go to the confrontation and ensure that Hector fights Achilles. Although Hector is supposedly fated to die in this battle, Athena still interferes to ensure that this fate comes to pass, which makes the concept of fate questionable. If Hector's death was fated to occur, why did Athena manipulate the situation? A reason for Athena's intervention and manipulation is her personal desires. Athena is angry when Zeus contemplates saving Hector because she is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    a way. Athena is a very wise goddess, knowing the difference between right and wrong, so she…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compare and contrast the two trials of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird and Twelve Angry Men.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Iliad, the gods play an important role in the Trojan War. The Homeric gods know they are better than the mortals that serve them and do not care much when they fight and have quarrels. The gods can always withdraw from the battle and never have to worry about dying or suffering that the humans live with every day during the war. This is where we see the motivations of the gods, their relationships with mortals, relationships with each other and the power and authority of Zeus.…

    • 1421 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two of the greatest works ever written, The Odyssey by Homer and The Inferno by Dante, are detailed, multi-sectioned poems about the journey’s of two men. In each story, the main character is given some sort of guidance by another character in order to aid them in their travels. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as the protector to Odysseus on his journey back home from the Trojan War to his family in Ithaca. In The Inferno, Virgil is requested to lead Dante through the depths of Hell in order to save his soul. Many similarities can be seen between the two characters as they both served as advice givers, protectors, and guides for the main character. While the two guides seem very alike in the way’s they help, it turns out that many differences can be observed between their ways. Athena and Virgil can both be perceived as escorts in the main characters’ journey, but they both are leading their pupils towards different endings and these endings can be representative of a much larger purpose that describes the two authors’ views on life at the time each poem was written.…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A famous Greek poet named Homer once wrote, “Her gray eyes clear, the goddess Athena answered, ‘Down from the skies I come to check your rage If only you will yield.’” With intelligence beyond everyone’s years and the graceful ferocity of a lion protecting her territory in battle, may athena’s wisdom forever rain down on mankind from the peak of Mount Olympus. Even though the other gods and goddesses proved to be powerful in their own way, Athena the Maiden Parthenos, Goddess of Wisdom & Battle is superior among the Olympians.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    While free will is still fully in play in the Odyssey and the choice is placed firmly in the hands of the mortals, the gods have no qualms about trying to influence mortal decisions through any means necessary. Whether it be going down to earth and giving characters advice while disguised as a mortal, like Athena did in the first book of the Odyssey towards Telemachus, or sending down messengers and sending people prophecies. In the first book, after Homer’s invocation of the Muses, it opens with a scene in Olympus wherein the gods hold a council discussing a mortal who went against all the warnings the gods gave him. Athena manipulated the conversation towards her interests in helping Odysseus make his journey back home to…

    • 1704 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zeus And Leda Essay

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In ancient Greek society, Gods were seen as untouchable. They could do what ever they wanted, face no consequences, and were never looked down upon. Zeus took advantage of that power and left Leda to experience the consequences of his actions. The unfortunate event that takes place between Zeus and Leda results in Leda receiving the knowledge and power of Zeus. Leda potentially has the power to see in the future which could be looked at in both negative and positive ways, and she also gained more power than she had before.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Movies have always played an alternative to books. At times similar story lines are evident as one watches an excess of movies in a particular genre. The similarity is obvious in "Sweet Home Alabama" and "The Notebook" since in both there is a seven year absence period for the couples, their choices in the types of lives they want to live are uncanny in appearance and the two girl 's reasoning towards the end of the movie are the same. The differences are plenty and they include the genre of the movie itself and its effect on the differences in both, their reasons for turning back to the countryside, and what happens when they do go back.…

    • 863 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This is clearly shown in the conversation between Athena and her father Zeus on mount Olympus, in which Athena asks her father what should happen to the Ithacans. The will of the gods is supreme to all other powers, and the decision made at…

    • 1355 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people like to think that they create their own fate, however some of their destinies might actually be swayed by an external means. Whether it is from parents, coaches, teachers, or even governments, an intervention from an outside force in any circumstance almost always influences and changes the events that were about to take place beforehand. An example of this takes place all throughout the epic, The Odyssey. Throughout Homer’s The Odyssey the gods play a critical role in influencing the lives of the characters, including Athena, Poseidon, and Zeus.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athena’s role as the institutor in The Odyssey is significant because the goddess begins to change Telemachus’s behavior and thoughts very dramatically. She implores Telemachus to mature into an adult and a chain reaction followed. This led Telemachus in search of his long-lost father, and eventually led to Odysseus’s return. To begin this process, Athena set off to Ithaca, disguising herself as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus. Then she went straight to the prince Telemachus in the palace. After feasting in her guest’s house, Athena advises Telemachus to “not cling to [his] boyhood any longer. It’s time [he was] a man”(Homer 87). Athena wants Telemachus to take some responsibility and put an end to the suitors’ endless game. She wants Telemachus…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odyssey Research Paper

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A characteristics of an epic hero demonstrated in Homer epic poems was the interference of supernatural beings either as allies or enemies. Ancient Greeks society believed in gods and goddesses who live above Mount Olympus and watch over mortals below. The Greeks believed that these gods and goddesses interfered with life below Olympus. This is seen in both Homers poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, where the gods interfered throughout the stories. In the Iliad, the gods interfered in both side of the war, by favoring who they were going to help. When Agamemnon did not return Chryseis, her father a Trojan high priest turned to Apollo for help. In turn, Apollo sent a plague throughout the Greek army. When Hector took Achilles armor from Patroclus,…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Greek mythology there is an innumerable amount of gods, most of which have a specialized function in both the realm of gods and humans. Yet, no god is more striking, more memorable, or more powerful than Zeus, the father of the gods of Olympus. His authority is far-ranging and definite; there is no revoking his command once it has been ordained. In the same fashion, there are hundreds of Greek heroes, yet there are none braver, stronger, or more wrathful than the swift runner Achilles who commands respect from all the Greeks and yields to no man. However, despite all their strength and authority, neither Zeus nor Achilles appears capable of eschewing or defying the omnipresent power that holds more sway than them: fate. Sans doubt, once a human is dealt his hand, there is nothing that he can humanly do in order to prevent his fate. As for the gods, with all their power and independence, they are still undeniably bound by the hands of fate. Fate is a peculiar phenomenon in that it has no limitations, yet it is a fixed occurrence that does not change over time or through the progression of different events that may influence it. Powerful men and gods such as Achilles and Zeus may do as their hearts and minds desire, because there is no one who can stop or defy them. Thus, the role of fate becomes clear, since fate is without desire or mind; its existence is to curb the ridiculous and emotional wishes of powerful beings who cannot be stopped otherwise.…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athena In The Odyssey

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ak to the people they are watching over such as the instance in the Odyssey where Athena comes to Ithaca to visit Telemachus and reassure him that his father will be coming home and recommends a journey for the boy and to wait a year to allow him to make it home (pg.296). Though Telemachus may have not known it was Athena this is an example of a seen and heard Goddess which allows for her to reassure the boy. It is also seen with Achilles and Athena in the Iliad when Achilles is about to fight to the death with Agamemnon, on lines 205 and 206 it says “Athena came sent by the white-armed goddess Hera who loved and watched over the two men” (pg 194). In this scene it goes on to display a scene of the gods taking their power of visibility and…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Change management is an embodiment of processes and mechanisms that are designed by an organization to effect transformation within the ranks of an organization.…

    • 786 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays