Comparing and contrasting Eve and Pandora

In Edith Hamilton's Mythology, the behavior of the Greek gods illustrates that in Greek society, the Greeks understand the fundamental nature of having flaws. The Trojan war started due to the actions of a Greek goddess of discord Erin who was not invited to a banquet, “Resenting this deeply, [Erin] determined to make trouble—and she succeeded very well indeed” (Hamilton 254).Erin's jealousy and wrath cause her to disrupt the peace among the gods and start the Trojan War. The Greeks recognized this ability to be imperfect and evil among humans as well as gods. The understood this significance so much that they created gods that were evil or impure in nature like Erin, rather than making every god perfect. Another example of a god exhibiting

Although Zeus is the greatest of the immortals and is able to control their actions, the other gods have distinct abilities that allow them to either help the Trojans or the Achaeans. Poseidon’s loyalty lies with the Achaeans; however, he decides to help out the Trojans by saving Aeneas. In my eyes, Poseidon is not a traitor and rather a responsible and compassionate immortal. Sometimes, moral obligations outweigh personal responsibilities. For example, as much as Zeus wants to save his son from his fated death, he does not allow for his personal desires to get in the way of his job of protecting the prophecy. Because the gods of Olympus are so involved in the war effort, the mortal warriors are aware of the intervention of the immortals at times. When paranormal and unexplainable activities occur on the battlefield, such as the disappearance of Aeneas, the warriors do not think much about it since they understand that the gods must have intervened. The personal connections many gods feel to the mortals results in their intervention in the Trojan

The Greek gods are highly partisan beings in the Iliad. The Greek gods side with different armies there is no side that is more 'moral' or favored by the gods than the other. The Trojan War itself was largely begun because of a rivalry between Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. The gods also favor certain mortals Athena prefers Odysseus, for example, while Aphrodite adores Paris. This favoring is not based upon the moral behavior of these particular humans but is instead based in the gods' own prejudices. The gods do not act as moral guides in a Judeo-Christian sense. They are anthropomorphically rendered, jealous, unpredictable, and at times vengeful. They have more power than humans and demand humans' respect, but that respect is commanded by their greater power, not their greater morality. The gods also deliberately insert themselves into human affairs, egging on the Trojan War when it seems to be flagging, or favoring one side over another. "Make all haste, and invent/Some mean by which the men of Troy, against the truce agreed, /May stir the glorious Greeks to arms, with some inglorious deed" (59). However, even the gods have limits Achilles mother Thetis, although a goddess, cannot prevent her son's death, which she knows is inevitable. Q2.In Book 1, with whom is Achilles angry? Why? What does Achilles vow to do in response?

These sorts of battles and gang ups between the gods occur all throughout the book because while the gods are trying to control the fate of human activity, they are also competing with the other gods around them. For example, later on in book XXI, Hera and Artemis get into a fight over mere mortals, “She spoke, and caught both of her arms at the wrists in her left hand and with her right hand stripped away the bow from her shoulders, then with her own bow, smiling, boxed her ears as Artemis tried to twist away, and the flying arrows were scattered” (21. 489-492). This example of the gods fighting connects with the intervention between Achilles and Skamandros because in both cases, gods hold different sides on arguments and tend to fight (verbally or physically) over

Not all gods were particularly in good terms with the Greeks. In Homer’s, The Odyssey Poseidon was the main protagonist and he wasn’t in good terms with Odysseus: “He spied his enemy Odysseus at the distance” (3). Poseidon also turns the ship of the Phaeacians “ into stone and rooted it firmly to the bottom with one blow”(95). Even though Odysseus and Athena have a great relationship, Athena didn’t like the suitors: “ Then Athena caused the suitors to become panic-stricken”(204). Athena also made the fighters drop “ their weapons” and “ went back to the city, anxious for their

During the Trojan War, the gods were viewed as powerful but they were also divided and limited. While the gods were viewed as powerful during the Trojan War , they were also divided amongst which god was on the side of the Trojans or the Greeks. Before the war started, three goddesses have been trying to decide who was the most beautiful. The choices were Aphrodite, Hera, or Athena, they asked Zeus and he told them about Paris considering that he is a great judge of beauty. Once the goddesses found Paris, each were trying to bribe him with the best thing the goddess could provide.

When looking at the book, The Odyssey you often come across Greek gods. The gods’ ultimately have total control over humans through their supernatural powers without the humans knowing about. The Greek god’s would interfere with fate and cause things to happen that might have not happened in the beginning. Zeus in particularly is the king of all kings when it comes down to the Greek gods, followed by his daughter Athena who is full of wisdom. The gods interfered with other people’s fate instead of letting them make their own choices.

It’s hard to believe that simply an apple started the Trojan War, isn’t it? Three goddesses, Hera, the queen of all the gods, Athene,

The Iliad uncovers the truth behind what Greeks believed to be the role of women in society. The Greek goddesses and the mortal women represent two sides that women had in society. The Greek goddesses held power over the war, whereas, the mortal women are there as prizes or timé. Aphrodite is the prime example of a goddess who held a lot of power, mainly by using manipulation, in the Trojan War. Helen represents the quintessential idea of a woman representing timé. These two portrayals of women in Greek society depict how people recognized women’s role in society, with Aphrodite representing a woman with power as a manipulative goddess and Helen representing a woman who was merely timé, a prize to be obtained.

Christine makes the right decision when she unmasks Erik. In doing so, this reveals the basis of his love; truly, he does not love her, he desires her only to fulfill himself. In reaction to her, when his mask comes off, he declares, “So I shall keep you here!. . . . (Leroux, 123).” Realizing she will not stay, he holds her back, “now that you know my hideousness, you would run away for good. . . .(123).” True love does not “imprison” a person “underground, for love! . . . (119).” Even more, after announcing his desire for marriage, he tells Christine what will happen if she refuses, “...answer...no, every body will be dead and buried! (211)” This means that if she chose no, he would kill “everyone,” more accurately, she would be the instrument of their demise for “If you turn the grasshopper...we shall all be blown up (235).” If he really loved her, he would not have reserved killing her as a last

To a certain extent, the role of the gods in Homer's Iliad can be summed up by the following remark by a character in an entirely different literary work, Gloucester from Shakespeare's King Lear: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / they kill us for their sport."

The gods do not have the need to follow their fate, humans, however, have to follow their fate. The gods follow their ideal fate in order to keep balance in the world. For example, when Zeus’ son, Sarpedon, is in "...the hands of Menoitios' son Patroklos...” (Book 16), Zeus thinks about saving him. The issue with this is, if Zeus decides to save him, the other gods are going to believe that they can do the same and save their children. This will alter the fate of a

Throughout Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war, art, literature, and more. She is also known of in her Roman form, Minerva. She appears in The Iliad, The Odyssey, and numerous other Greek epics throughout history. In this essay, the controversy of Athena’s favoritism between heroes, or demigods, will be analyzed. In The Iliad, Athena uses supernatural intervention to interfere with mortal warfare; she assists and favors select heroes, like Odysseus, in which she honors them with kleos (glory) for accommodation in war.

The Iliad during the Trojan war is a very interesting story that could cause debate upon fellow readers. It brings up a lot of questions and thoughts about the gods and greeks of this time period, such as what is more important to them, justice or mercy? Also, it highlights the view that they have on war and whether it is tragic or glorious to them. During the Iliad, justice and mercy both play very important roles throughout the multiple books and are seen by different characters during the war. Also, it shows what the gods are like and how they view themselves and humans.

In the Iliad, the Gods seem to see the Human people as a game and toys, that they are not that important. When the war between Menelaus and Paris, the God’s was an audience from above wagering bets on who would win over Helen. The gods did not care a bit about them. Zeus and many other Gods “sat in council conferring across Olympus’ golden floor as noble Hebe poured them rounds of nectar. They lifted golden beakers pledging each other warmly, gazing down on Troy…” (Book Four, 1-4), The Gods watch the people of Troy fight for their lives as they gather a party. This is different from many cultures because if the Gods see something negative happen, they execute something to try to fix it instead of enjoying the people’s pain and suffering. At this point of The Iliad, the Gods that we have read