Fate And Free Will In Homer's Iliad

During Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey, his own guile, the gods’ obstacles and their assistance for him affected his destiny. Odysseus uses his crafty sense of trickery and guile to get out of situations, which allow him to reach his destiny of returning home. Many times in The Odyssey the gods who dislike Odysseus set obstacles to try to stop him from returning home. However, there are gods who favor him and give him assistance to reach his homeland of Ithaca.

Free will and fate are both prominent in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, free will is depicted whenever characters make decisions. In example, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Fate, in the Odyssey, is the consequences that are dealt out due to certain actions. In the case of Odysseus and Polyphemus, the consequence is that when Odysseus is on a ship heading home to reach Ithaca, Poseidon, being the father of Polyphemus, sends a storm at Odysseus being angry that Odysseus blinded his son. In that scenario, Odysseus makes the decision to blind Polyphemus to escape, and in turn, the consequence is that Poseidon attempts to hit him with a storm in the sea. The contrasting themes of

Godly colossal Greek epic, “The Iliad” constituted by the poet named, Homer, articulate the chronicle of the Brobdingnagian Trojan War. It is swarming with the interventions of the gods enchanting their coveted mortals (humans) and altering the heterogeneous scenes of the Trojan War. In this poem, gods have an assortment of relationships with humans which include love, fornication, and mother or father relationships. Gods interact with mortals in human shapes and stimulate them. Also, gods cognize that every human is eventually destined to die and they anticipate humans to pray to them for every obstacle humans encounter. However, for humans gods are omnipotent, authoritative, dominant, and immortals, who they supplicate to if they have

It goes without question to state that various times in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, violence occurs. Violence is typically thought of as it relates to physical violence, war, a way to resolve a conflict, yet is open to various other interpretations. In addition, it is arguable that multiple types of violence occur within that classical piece of literature. The most obvious type being physical violence, but including, yet is not limited to, psychological, emotional, sexual, and linguistic violence. Emotional violence is one that pairs easily within the other types, yet is equally as important. These types of brutality all contribute to the major theme of fate versus free will. This epic poem allows for readers to question whether people are truly free or if everything that happens is due to fate. If there is such a thing as determinism, then it would be safe to say nothing that happens in someone’s life is a free choice. In Homer’s, The Iliad, multiple scenes of violence support the central theme of fate versus free will.

Thetis goes to Zeus and propositions him, "…if ever amid mortals by word or deed I served you, grant my wish and see my sons honor!" (Book I; 466-68) Zeus in turn responds,

‘I entreat you, by your life, by your knees, by your parents, do not let the dogs feed on me by the ships of the Achaians… give my body to be taken home again, so that the Trojans and the wives of the Trojans may give me in death my rite of burning’ (22.338-343). This heart wrenching plea represents nearly the final words uttered by Hektor upon his death at the hands of Achilles. Hektor, who recently boasted of his martial prowess, vowing just moments before to do ‘some big thing first, that men to come shall know of it’ (22.305), is reduced to begging before his killer for the basic privilege of an honorable burial. In this moment of his famous Iliad, Homer offers a cynical reflection on human life and the social constructs mortals establish, especially the idea of the ‘heroic code’ that was so prominent during the Golden Age of Greece. Demonstrably, he implies throughout the work that since all humans are destined to die and memories have limited effect after death, the entire concept of the ‘heroic code’- and to a certain extent, conviction in worldly systems instead of personal beliefs- are pointless given the natural chaos of the world and man’s ultimate fate.

If there’s one thing one can count on when it comes to Greek gods, it’s that they’re critically flawed. Anyone reading Homer’s The Iliad can see the Greek gods act just like humans, constantly bickering, deceiving and throwing fits. The only people who can’t see through this facade of glorious immortality are the Greeks themselves. Throughout Homer’s entire epic, the gods continuously help the mortals based upon their own motives, and yet, the humans still worship them, ask them for help and forgiveness and blessings. Any reader would throw up their hands, disgusted that the humans glorify these beings that possess all the character flaws that mortals do. Homer is very successful in portraying humanity throughout his text, both through the perspective of the gods, and the perspective of the humans. While readers are allowed insight to both worlds, the characters themselves only see one dimension, resulting in the unequal nature of the humans constantly working to please the gods, sometimes to no avail. The Iliad exposes the fatal character flaws of the gods to readers, while also maintaining the mortal Greek perspective that gods are perfect beings, looking out for the greater good of mankind.

In the Iliad the line between man and god would often clash. A god could transport a mortal, sleep with a mortal, and also magically help that mortal. These gods seem to be the only ones who can change and decide fate. The gods can whisk people away or bend off an arrow and a sword. For example, when Paris fought Menelaus, he was whisked away by Aphrodite before Menelaus could do more damage. Their so called gods, weren’t so unreachable. In the Odyssey, we see how goddess’ and gods behave just like humans with their urges; example Calypso, who offers Odysseus everything if only he would stay with her. Plus Athena, made herself Odysseus’ guardian, she would give him advice and plead his case on mount Olympus. There we see how the gods decide a person’s fate and also act selfishly with disregard to mortal feelings. Toying with humans

Fate and free will played major parts in creating the characters and stories in many of the Greek mythologies and tragedies. The Greeks believes that the Gods and the Oracle's could predict a person's fate before or after birth, and that no one, even the Gods could intervene in that person's fate. They also believed that a person's or God could not create their own fate. This belief stems from the three fates: sisters, The Moirai or Fates were three sister deities, incarnations of destiny and life. Because of these three old women, fate could not be avoided or altered. As such with these stories, in the Iliad fate leads Achilles down his path of glory and his early demise, and cause Oedipus to sleep with his own mother and kill his father. Free will is the power of acting without constraint and fate; acting by one's own decisions. Even though Achilleus and Oedipus have fate, they both also have free will. For instance, Achilles has a double fate: if he goes home, he will live long without glory or if he stays at Troy, he will have lots of glory, but a short life. As such, in Sophocles Oedipus the King, when Oedipus was born he was fated to kill his father and lay with his mother, thought his ability of free will caused his fate to come true.

Priam invokes a pity in Achilles that insights the end of the gods plan for Achilles, which the gods construct. Apollo states to Priam, “You go in and clasp his knees, and beseech him in the name of his father and mother and his son, to touch his heart” (Homer 358). In this simple action, Achilles connects to Priam on an emotional level. This human connection allows Achilles to realize the blindness of his anger, so Hector was able to go home. As Achilles’ rage passes, Achilles’ fate becomes finalized. The finalization of Achilles; fate solely occurs due to the influential actions of the gods and their creation of an emotional ploy to make Achilles relate to Priam and give up his

Regardless of the time frame, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s epic the Iliad share both a copious amount of similarities and differences. For example, many common themes such as heroism, fate, and destiny are apparent in both works. Within the Aeneid and the Iliad, it is seen that the wars going on during that time were glorious that is why the role of gods were significant in leading both Aeneas and Achilles and influencing fate. In both texts, it is clear from the beginning that the role of the gods is to make Aeneas and Achilles fulfill their journey The Iliad focuses on the end of the Trojan War and the damaging power, while the Aeneid is focused during the aftermath of the war and underlies the foundation for the new civilization. This paper will address and argue the comparison of the role of gods and how each of the authors representation of the gods have influence on the lives of mortals.

Greek culture's ideas on fate manifested themselves largely through their mythology.  The length of a person's life, they believed, was determined by the three Fates, Clotho (spinner), Lachesus (Apportioner), and the fearsome Atropos (Inflexible).  These aged children of Zeus and Themis-- know to the Greeks at the Moirai--would unscrupulously spin out, measure, and cut the thread of one's life.  The balance of power between these three women and their father Zeus is difficult to understand.  In Book XXVI of The Iliad, we see the king of the gods fretting over the impending death of his mortal son Sarpedon.  Unable to cope with the idea of his noble child's death, Zeus inquires of Hera "Shall I pluck [Sarpedon] up, now, while he's still alive... or beat him down at Patroclus' hands at last" (Iliad 16.519-21).  In the end, Zeus allows Sarpedon to be slain as the Fates have willed.  Though Zeus has the power to override his daughters, the great orderer of the cosmos sees that doing so in this case would be beyond reason.

The concept of fate and the influence of gods on mortals’ lives are prominent aspects of Greek mythology. While the gods of Olympus are commonly presented as the primary manipulators of human lives, the Fates are the true creators of destiny. Gods may be able to affect human lives in monumental ways, but predetermined destiny and the Fates’ intentions ultimately reign. The gods have respect for this authority, as well, as they’re aware that a limit on their ability to intervene is necessary to maintain the order of the universe. This leaves one to question the amount of knowledge that the gods themselves have of fate, and whether they have their own free will to refrain from intervening or if they truly must submit to the authority of the Fates and their plans. The gods do have some knowledge of the Fates’ plan, but they are also wise enough to avoid too much interference and therefore don’t necessarily need to be commanded; they sometimes help guide mortals by sending them messages and symbols—and sometimes even influencing them for their own advantage—but ultimate fate cannot be avoided.

Contrastingly, the gods are purely mentioned in the film with the exception of the appearance of Thetis to Achilles. Gods are only prayed and sacrificed to, but they do not make an appearance in Troy. The gods have a major role in the Iliad however; they are depicted as having a grand amount of control over what happens. For instance, the gods had control over the battle between Paris and Menelaos. Paris escapes with the help of the goddess Aphrodite, who wraps him in a thick mist and carries him back home: “But Aphrodite caught up Paris / easily, since she was divine, and wrapped him in a thick mist / and set him down again in his own perfumed bedchamber.” (3. 380-2). However in the film, Hektor ends up killing Menelaos. As readers of the Iliad, it is known that Menelaos is supposed to survive. As the gods do not appear in the film, viewers do not have the opportunity to know what the gods are thinking or planning. Only readers of the Iliad are able to witness a conversation held between the gods. The film therefore provides no foretelling of what will happen in the future, while the epic does. There is also no sign of communication between the gods and humans in the film. While in the Iliad, gods tend to appears in dreams or even disguised as another person. Nevertheless, gods and anything close to mystical are not displayed

After reading Homer’s text, we realize that while it contains fine poetic history it is in fact about the human condition and how it affects people, Achilles primarily. The reality for people in the world of The Iliad is that they live under many gods, and that they can not please all of them; indeed, the gods are at odds with each other and to support one means to upset another. While the ideal condition for the Greeks is to possess sophrosyne, in reality there are too many uncontrollable external pressures to do so. Just as the gods who influence men are not harmonious, therefore, we find this quality also in the explanation of the human condition for Greek cultures.