Fate In The Iliad Essay

There are many lessons that can be learned from reading Homer's The Iliad. One of which is understanding the stages of grief. One can literally watch Achilles go through all five stages when he morns the death of his comrade Patroclus. Achilles moves through Denial and Isolation, Depression, Anger, Bargaining and Acceptance in the short time after his close friends death.

Fate bound the gods in Book 22 lines 190-209. As Achilles was face to face with Hector, Zeus showed pity for Hector. In this scene, Zeus knew that Hector was destined to die. Zeus wanted to save Hector, but was persuaded by Athena that it was Hector’s time. Athena argued with him that if he would step in and save Hector that many other gods would be upset with his actions. Not only would the gods be angry, but death was Hector’s fate, and the gods were bound to it. This is an example of how fate outweighed what the gods wanted to happen. Zeus was wrestling with the thought of saving Hector or allowing Hector to meet his fate.

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.

The Iliad, written by Homer, is an ancient Greek epic that tells of an omnipotent and omniscient hierarchy of Greek gods and their intermingling in human affairs, as perceived by Greek culture. Zeus, who was the most powerful of the gods, demonstrated that he - and he alone - was not only the foremost adjudicator of the mortals, but also the only true judge in the courts of fate. Strongly suggested by the story, this leaves the reader with an obscure sense of fate. In the twenty-first century, the amount of people who believe in fate as a force varies according to personal belief. However, this certain belief in fate happened to be relevant

In these stories, the greek gods have undeviating power and control everything that happens on the earth. They have caused the plague on Thebes and have caused Oedipus to fulfill his prophecy. Oedipus the King is not the only story that exhibits this sort of theme. Homer’s The Iliad also hints that the gods have power over all the events, despite what happens. They have given the greeks a plague as well, and they also have predetermined that Achilles is the one that kills Hektor. Hephastos says that he wants to protect Achilles from hard fate”(18.91-93), and Zeus weighs Achilles’ and Hektor’s portions of death on a scale, and Hektor’s is heavier proving that he is fated to die earlier(22.112-117). These instances lead the reader to believe that fate is inescapable in greek culture. By comparing these two texts briefly, the reader can get a better understanding on why and how fate always occurs no matter what choices are

In enacting justice on the nation of Troy, Agamemnon decided that, in order to receive help from the gods, he had to sacrifice his daughter. This then turned around to Clytemnestra, his wife, enacting justice on Agamemnon by killing him. Finally, in a morbid conclusion, their son Orestes enacts justice on Clytemnestra for killing Agamemnon. One thing remained constant in the emotions of the people within this play who were committing murder, that is, their heavy reliance on “the gods”. One who specifically who placed his fate and decisions in the hands of “the gods” nearly entirely was Orestes. He was very submissive in Aeschylus’s depiction and used Apollo as his guiding light. Apollo helped him in providing him the orders to avenge his father’s death, of which Orestes followed with little trouble. Afterwards, however, Orestes began to feel the mental repercussions of his vengeful act. Orestes was being tortured by the Furies who favored Clytemnestra’s point of view. While Orestes was being tortured, he once again, relied heavily on a god, Apollo, to help shield him from the Furies wrath and salve his mind. In a final act of reliance, Orestes depended on Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to omit him of his crimes before a jury, the Furies, and Apollo. Though this provides a legal relief to Orestes, the weight of his decision to kill his own mother is something that will stay with him ‘till death.

“then Father Zeus held out his sacred golden scales:” (Iliad, 22, line 249). The scales illustrate the doomed fate of Hector, the glorious son of Priam. This highlights the resonating theme of the Iliad: predestined fate. The opening statement of The Iliad contains the phrase "the will of Zeus," and this reflects the Greek's belief that man is in the grip of forces that he cannot control.  It is another way of saying that all things are fated and not in the hands of man. In the Iliad, characters struggle with the concept of fate by debating, fighting, and accepting their destiny. Time and again, we are reminded how it is hopeless to escape fate.

The play Antigone, composed by Sophocles, informs us that fate cannot be controlled by anyone. Fate is an essential part of many tragedies. As for the characters in Antigone, their fates end up being unavoidable, whether it is due to the reason that they refused to accept it until it was very late, or they accepted the fate and permitted it to come to pass. The character’s lives possess set conclusions, and there exits some clues on what these conclusions shall be, and when they shall happen. The characters are frequently capable of knowing their fate and reacting to it. At certain periods, characters accept their fate since it is vital to them, or they trust that it is unavoidable (Stegar, 1). A vital theme of Antigone is the conflict amidst fate and a person’s action. Whereas free decisions, like the choice of Antigone to disobey Creon’s orders, are important, fate is actually accountable for most of the very overwhelming and vital occurrences of the trilogy. Through raising the fate’s significance, Sophocles implies that characters cannot be completely accountable for their undertakings. It gets challenging, for instance, to blame Oedipus for marrying mother, provided his ignorance (Shmoop, 3). The main character’s fate in the play “Antigone” by Sophocles shows the risks of extreme pride. The forces of the gods or fate, bears grave and weighty impacts on the lives of human beings. Various tragic results might certainly arise from the will of the gods, and not simply a

Divine intervention plays a major role with the characters in Homer’s Iliad. In several we can find Zeus, often in the presence of other gods or goddesses, weighing the fates of certain characters or groups. In one scene, Zeus debates whether or not to save Patroclus from death and let his son Sarpedon live, or letting Sarpedon slay Patroclus and live. In another scene, Zeus weighs the fates of Achilles and Hector, determining which one should die in the battle between the two. Also involving Patroclus, Zeus becomes angry that Patroclus has killed his son and plans to kill him by letting Hector slay him down. Finally, in the first few books of the epic, Thetis warns Achilles that if he enters into battle he will indefinitely be killed, implying that she knows this for a fact and this is destined to happen. In all of these scenes, the gods are involved and can be found debating or determining the fates of characters or warning the characters of what is to come in the future.

One proof of the influence of fate is when Hera says, “though afterward he shall suffer whatever fate spun for him with the thread of his life on the day his mother bore him.” Achilles’ fate was decided before he could make any of his own life choices. Another way human’s free will is checked is by God intervention. Throughout this section of the Iliad, various Gods intervene in human affairs. Apollo wanted Aeneas to fight Achilles, so he took the form of Priam’s Son Lycaon to convince him. Free will in the Illiad is not presented as a desirable characteristic because it could contract a person’s fate. The Gods have to interfere to make sure humans are staying on track. Poseidon said, “It is surely already decreed that Aeneas shall outlive the war,” so he had to intervene to make sure Aeneas wouldn’t be killed by

What is fate? Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. Fate for Sophocles is less about the external human being but something ingrained in them and transcendent. Prophets and higher stature characters in this play show the will of the gods and indicate future events, but the individual is the one who gives substance to the prophecies. There is an element of freedom granted to human beings, an ability to choose if the gods are powerless. A fatalistic world view, seeking in the non-human forces may be irrational and often an unhealthy force. The two views in this story, the first being negative and the second, having a fatalistic view of life. Having a fatalistic view of life

Decisions are built on the idea that there is a choice to be made. This choice reflects ones future and these decisions often made based on a person’s thoughts, emotions or the intentions of others. Euripides’ play Hippolytus and the Homeric Epic; The Iliad mortals are liable for their futures to some extent, while at the same time they also become a fatality to the gods. A human’s decision causes them to be responsible for their own fates, but often times these decisions also cause them to become victims of the gods and goddess. In the Iliad and Hippolytus fate is seen as the unknown future that is not thought about until it actually occurs, which causes characters like Agamemnon and Hippolytus not to think logistically or obey the gods, but rather use their egocentric characteristics when making judgments, leading them to ultimately become victims of gods/goddesses.

Fate or free will is evident in the poem The Iliad. In the Iliad, there are endless struggle between the ideas of fate against free will, throughout the whole poem. More specifically, in Books 6 and 22, it

The Iliad is an epic that tells the story of how Achilles avenges the death of his friend Petrocolus. Many of the events that took place were influenced by the God’s. The God either had control of the situation or took control of the situation at some point in time, not allowing the free will of the mortals to interfere with what was destined to happen.

Within both works there is a sense of a sacrificial character, whether intentional or not. Though this instance is more nuanced and less central within The Iliad, there can still be a connection drawn between these plots in both works. The character that is “sacrificed” exhibits characteristics that compensate for the tragic flaw of another character, in both cases, the one that essentially causes the death. These deaths highlight inherent flaws within those around them and provide an antithesis for each respective tragic flaw (one might call this a “tragic virtue”), begging the idea that the nature of the sacrifice is to rectify the errors of another and bring awareness to the fault at hand. The concept of a tragic virtue serves to illustrate the innocence and purity of each sacrifice. Just as Patroclus’s humility and selflessness juxtaposes Achilles’s pride, Iphigenia’s eventual maturity starkly contrasts Agamemnon’s indecisiveness and immaturity as a leader. The sacrifice of a tragic virtue in order to counteract and expose a tragic flaw can be exhibited in the connection between the characters within the contrast, the uncorrupted nature of the victim, and the reaction of the perpetrator of the death and their respective behaviors afterwards.