The Iliad Book One

Achilles questions himself, "Should he draw the long sharp sword slung at his hip, thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnon now?--or check his rage and beat his fury down?" (108). Here, Hera has Athena intervene to keep Achilles from killing Agamemnon, which shows how the gods control Achilles' destiny. The argument between Achilles and Agamemnon clearly shows that the two men have different opinions about the power of the gods, what is holy or unholy, and what is proper treatment of other men. These differences are one source of Achilles' rage.

The Greeks in the Iliad believe in many gods. Each god has a specific “power” or “gift” that is

The Iliad: Book VI is about the continued war for Troy but Homer focuses a lot of the book on Hector, Prince of Troy. The Achaeans were overwhelming the Trojans so they were forced back into their city. The Trojans were weakened so the Achaeans took full advantage and slaughtered as many as they could. However, the Trojans anticipated this weakness and Hector asked his mother to pray to Athena for the army. Meanwhile Paris, Hector’s brother, had withdrawn from battle because of the grief he caused. But his soon to be wife Helen and Hector convince him to return to battle. Just before they head into battle Hector pays a visit to his wife and child to say goodbye for maybe the last time. His wife is convinced that he is near his death and mourns. Hector then meets Paris on the way to the city gate and they prepare to fight.

Ancient Greece was filled with so much character, from their religion to even the stories that followed them through generation to generation. One important thing to remember is how they took their religion very seriously and believed very much in their goddesses and their gods. This strong belief carried out into their everyday lives, where they began to believe that everything that happened within their day, was from the gods. With such a love and respect for these gods, they held them up on a pedestal and gave them all their respect and looked at them only as positive. These gods that play a role in their life, often act more as a spiritual guide more than anything. They take on mortal disguises to allow them to help the world without becoming noticed. As we can see in The Odyssey, the relationship between gods and mortals is close knit, but the main difference that is evident, is the power between the two. The gods may not be able to cause death upon a mortal, but they can do everything to lead towards that. In the book, the gods can make or break your day. We see within several relationships between the gods and mortals, that the power from the gods can be not only positive, but also negative. Each mortal has been influenced in some way by the gods, for either the greater good, or bad. Which goes without saying, that the Greek take their theology in believing in the gods, very seriously.

Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.

In ancient Greek culture the gods were seen as taking a very active role in the development and course of human history.  The entire Olympian pantheon, as well as many other less important divinities, meddles in human affairs to no end.  The people of the many city-states that composed Greece firmly believed that every aberration from normalcy was due to an act of the gods.  Homer, the author of The Iliad, coined the prevalent religious beliefs of the time in his epic poems, showing the gods as temperamental and willful, meddlesome and dynamic.  Homer’s entire poem is replete with instances of divine intervention in mortal lives, and no single major occurrence comes to pass unless it is the will of one of the many Olympian gods.  Few major decisions are made without consulting the gods first, and the handful of instances in which one leader or another takes initiative almost always fails miserably.  Life, according to the Greeks, is almost entirely rooted in their religion, as there is a god or goddess governing every aspect of the universe, and also because the gods so actively involve themselves in the everyday lives of mortals.

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?

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.

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

Here is one of the greatest if not the greatest of the gods, Zeus, complying with Thetis' plea to help the Trojans, and his biggest concern is upsetting his wife. This scene contrasts how the humans lives are in the hands of feeble gods who are sometimes unable to make uninfluenced decisions without the influence of others or worrying about what another will think or say to them simply because she will be ‘scolding all day long'. Another favor which helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Achaeans again involves Achilles and Thetis, however this time she seeks the aid of Hephaestus. Thetis goes to Hephaestus because Achilles armor is in the hands of Hector who killed Achilles dear friend Patroclus.

The Iliad: Book I, is about the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon in the beginning of the Trojan War. It shows how vigorous Achilles’ rage was and that he is no one to mess with. The book states “Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed”. This shows his fury in just a few words. Achilles was a Greek hero who was the son of a Goddess named Thetis. He was an incredible solder; brave, violent and godlike. However, Agamemnon was the commander of the Achaean Army. He was greedy, aggressive and selfish. He was described as “the most grasping man alive”. He absolutely hated Achilles. I feel that he was jealous of how respected Achilles was among the ranks in the army because of his superior skills in the field of battle. Agamemnon claimed Chryseis as his prize, after sacking a Trojan town. Chryseis was a daughter of a Priest of Apollo, Chryses. He offered an enormous ransom to get his daughter back. At first Agamemnon didn’t want it but the people round him persuaded him that it would be best to let her go so they could be released from the plague that Apollo put on them. Agamemnon then poised to Achilles that he is going to steal Achilles prize, Briseis. This is when Achilles’ rage shows at its best. He nearly draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but he is stopped by the goddess, Athena.

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

Growing up as a citizen of ancient Greek and Rome being raised to follow Greek and Roman mythology caused the ancient people to believe that they must act and behave like the gods. In creating this ideology, the people developed same personality and behavior habits as the gods in various myths. But even as the myths were written, the personalities of the gods and goddesses reflected the average human in that time period. The gods were so much like humans that it was normal to behave like them. Ancient Greek Philosophy stated “the gods depicted by Homer acted selfishly and were driven by emotions such as favoritism and jealousy. They behaved like ordinary people except they were immortal and had supernatural powers.” Unlike other religions were the gods have never sinned and are very different from humans, the gods in ancient Greek mythology make mistakes and commit horrific crimes that in today’s society would be highly unacceptable. For the people, it is a lot easier to be human and make mistakes rather than try to be perfect and sinless.

The Olympian gods shared all of mankind's virtues and faults. They were severe, punishing every unjust act, while protecting and assisting the just and the pious. They even had their own likes and dislikes which governed their behavior towards mortals. This was made very clear during the Trojan War (as portrayed in Homer's Iliad) when the gods got involved and assisted either Achaeans or Trojans, depending on whom each of them favored. The gods were vengeful but also excessively generous, while at the same time being propitiated by the material sacrifices they were offered by the faithful. The Greek deities had supernatural powers, particularly over human life, but were severely limited by the relentless force of fate (Moira).

The relationship between gods and mortals in mythology has long been a complicated topic. The gods can be generous and supportive, and also devastating and destructive to any group of humans. Mortals must respect the powers above them that cannot be controlled. The gods rule over destiny, nature, and justice, and need to be recognized and worshipped for the powerful beings as they are. Regardless of one's actions, intentions, and thoughts, the gods in Greek myth have ultimate power and the final decision of justice over nature, mortals, and even each other.