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Mortal Motherhood In The Iliad

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It is difficult to reconcile the image of Thetis' as a powerful goddess capable of disrupting the cosmic order1 with her presentation throughout the Iliad as a grief-stricken, helpless mother. Indeed, due to her reiterated mourning in regards to the mortality of her son, the grief experienced by Thetis presents her as more debilitated than the other gods and goddesses. Epithets such as 'blessed'2 and 'living easily3 describe gods and scenes like the wounding of Aphrodite4 seem parodic,5 which further emphasis the distance between mortals and immortals. Thetis is set between this distance, as an immortal goddess having begotten a mortal son, for whom she fully experiences the painful reality of mortal motherhood. Similarly, another god experiences

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