The Flaws Of The Greek Gods In Homer's The Iliad

Homer incorporated themes reflective of polytheism, heroes, and society into his poems. Ancient Greek culture is incorporated into his themes by the Greek gods being key characters in his epics. Gods have no moral code or rules of conduct to justify their actions so they are always seen as just and right. This reflects the ancient Greeks view of higher power and that power upon man (Versényi 21). The gods are seen as all powerful except when fate is in play. The gods are seen as weak to the defining power of fate to the protagonist to demonstrate how death is inescapable (Versényi 28). A common theme seen through Homer’s use of polytheism is the lack of peace between each god and they all come together under a common cause, to help

“As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies” (6.146-50)

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

Throughout their histories, religion has played a central role in Mesopotamian and Greek culture. Both peoples built mighty temples and made countless sacrifices in the name of their gods, but the exact nature of their relationships with their gods remains a mystery. Historians are left to guess at their customs and traditions from the works they left behind such as Homer’s epic poem The Illiad and the anonymous epic poem the Epic of Gilgamesh. From these texts, it becomes apparent that the Mesopotamians’ relationship with their gods was one founded on a sense of respect while the Greeks’ was one rooted in fear. Correspondingly, the Mesopotamian gods are more restrained and nurturing in their interactions with humans while the Greek gods are brash and patronizing, though neither set of gods is greatly concerned with the wellbeing of mortals. In both cultures, humans and gods share an undeniable connection in their range and expression of emotion. As such, though Mesopotamians and Greeks take different approaches to interaction with their gods and vice versa, the relationship between humans and gods is fundamentally the same in both cultures.

In ancient times, gods were a holy image in people’s mind. Each god had its own role in the universe. Such as the role of creation, the controller of the nature, and the role of the destiny control. The gods had extreme powers, and controlled everything in the world. Worshiped gods became a daily routine for ancient people. In the minds of people in ancient times, worshiped their gods were to prevent these gods became furious, and punished them with their extreme power. Even though the gods were extremely powerful, in many epic texts we could see they also had emotions and characteristics that were just like humans. However, there were still some major differences between the gods and humans.

In The Iliad, Homer plays with the ideas that Zeus, the god and leader of all, ultimately may not be in charge. Countless times during the text, Zeus bends to the wills of prophecies, mortals, and even other gods. As the story develops, Zeus becomes less in charge and more of a puppet for mortals and gods who have contrivances for and against him. Through prophecy, Achilles, and Hera, this essay will glimpse at the idea of Zeus simply being a puppet on strings in the hands of war.

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

The gods were more involved in the Iliad than in the movie Troy. In the Iliad they manipulated people’s emotions, the weather, the outcomes of battle; they would disguise themselves to trick the characters into the move they wanted them to make, physically trip them up to give the opponent a better standing. In the movie the gods had no visible role they were more of a believe system and a thought process. The characters believed that there were signs from the gods letting them know how to proceed. An example of this is when determining wither to go into battles after a farmer saw a sparrow with a snake

Consequently, once the gods’ attributes are assimilated with human attributes, particularly immoral attributes, the reader begs to question their intentions. Even the greatest god, Zeus, acknowledges that the gods are the cause of the human’s miseries when he says, “ah how shameless—the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share” (1.36-39). Although compounded by the humans themselves, Zeus makes it clear that the gods are the

The gods in the Iliad are manifested not just to have a direct hand in the lives of mortals, but moreover to be picky about whom they would like to help. Greek religion held powers and fears of all kinds so therefore the reasons behind their motivation and resolutions is not like the modern Christian notion where they think that whoever deserves to have the honor will be it. From what I have read to see, its gods were within the world, one that they did not create. Power such as gods, spirits and nymphs did not die but yet were born. The Greek gods were immortal and had a long life with all

When Zeus wants the Trojans to win, he will turn nature against the Greeks, slay one of their heroes, or send one of their loyal immortals down to turn the tide of battle. If Hera wants to get back at him, she will do the same thing against Zeus's people, the Trojans. In the Odyssey, things are very different. The Gods of Olympus generally will not interfere unless they are asked to such as when the Cyclopes pray to the wrath of Poseidon after he is blinded by Odysseys. The Gods do not automatically view all humans as simple as supplicant whelps, whichever. Athena's conversation with Odysseys are remarkably free of the aloofness and strict affectation that so spread through the discourse between the Gods of the Iliad. They do not have a greater respect for human life in general (witness the casual slaying of Odysseys companions, and the Athena backed bloodbath which occurs when Odysseys returns home) but they have a greater respect

The personalities of the gods are as broad as there are stars in the heavens, and as such the ways that these gods interact with mortals vary. The purpose of gods intervening with the days of man comes down to two things, good or bad; there are gods who are caring and loving towards mortals while others view man as pawns which they can use for their own personal agenda. A few gods that capture and exemplify the various personalities of the gods can be found in Ovid: The Metamorphoses of Ovid and Homer: The essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although the ways man and the gods communicate and get each other’s attention are different, there are reoccurring and overarching themes such as desire, and loyalty that make each intervention between gods and mortals similar.

Q1.Describe the relationships between the gods and mortals in The Iliad .What are the Greek gods like?

Throughout the Odyssey, the presence of divine intervention overwhelmingly shapes the story as a whole. The relationship between humans and gods within the book can be characterized as one that provides humans options, commonly in the form of an omen and according to their choices, will result in a set punishment or appraisal. From an individual’s choices in life and the aforementioned trials, a god or goddess will positively or negatively impact the person’s life. This divine intervention drives people to practice holy acts out of self-interest and fear which reveals that all humans at their base are not altruistic but, selfish and only care for events that will promote their lives. Their faith in or fear of the gods also provide insight on humans’ tendencies to divert blame, and be scared of the unknown. Throughout the Odyssey each and every character serves as a median to demonstrate how the gods intervene in humans’ lives that they either favor or despise and according to their subjective views on these people, they will construct their fate.

The portrayal of Gods in Homer’s “The Iliad” and the ancient Sumerian poem “The Epic of Gilgamesh” has many parallels and divergences in regard to their interactions and relations with human beings. Although there is a difference of nearly 1000 years between the release of both of the epic poems, a firm analogy can be established between these works. The Gods in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” are portrayed as more inconclusive and detached from humans while the Gods of “The Iliad” are shown as decisive and intimate with human affairs.