This paper gives two examples from the Iliad of the ways in which godly intervention can have disastrous consequences for mortals. (3 pages; 1 source; MLA citation style.
IIntroduction
The ancient gods (who are still around, laughing at us I’m sure) were far more accessible than today’s deities. They appeared to mortals, made love with them, sometimes bribed them or incited them to war; it was a different age, and gods walked on earth. However, if the gods were more easily available, they were no less capricious and self-centered than our modern ones, and interactions between gods and mortals often left the mortals dead, turned into trees, pregnant or otherwise disagreeably surprised.
This paper briefly cites two examples of the way in which the gods’ intervention in human affairs had tragic results, as recounted in ancient poetry.
IIDiscussion
One of the best examples of the way in which a god’s wrath causes tremendous injury can be found in the beginning of Homer’s Iliad. There we read that the war began with the clash of Agamemnon and Achilles, and Homer asks “What god drove them to fight with such a fury?” The answer? A god: “Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto.” (1: 9-10).
It seems that Chryses, priest of Apollo, had a beloved daughter named Chryseis who was taken as a captive by Agamemnon. When Chryses goes to Agamemnon and offers him a rich ransom if he’ll return the girl, Agamemnon refuses, despite the fact that his friends and colleagues urge him to accept, and despite the fact that a seer tells Agamemnon plainly that it is Apollo’s will that the girl be returned to her father.
The Essay on Greek Gods 2 God Zeus Mortal
Greek Gods Zeus is the king of all the gods. Zeus had to kill his father who eats Zeus's brothers and sisters, so that he can free them. He than had to marry his sister Hera. He was not always with Hera, but with mortal women. Hera the wife of Zeus is always jealous of Zeus sneaking of to another women and gets angry all the time. She turns her wrath on humans and sometimes on her own husband. ...
Agamemnon sends Chryses away, and the old man prays to Apollo to punish him for his stubbornness. Apollo hears him: “Down he strode from Olympus’ peaks, storming at heart / with his bow and hooded quiver slung across his shoulders. / The arrows clanged at his back as the god quaked with rage, / the god himself on the march and down he came like night.” (1: 51-54).
Apollo, whom Homer repeatedly calls the “distant, deadly Archer” begins to shoot at the Greeks, first at their mules and dogs, but then at the men; Homer says he “cut them down in droves.” (1: 59).
Apollo kept up his murderous barrage for nine days “and the corpse-fires burned on, night and day, no end in sight.” (1: 60).
Thus the anger of one god costs hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent mortals their lives.
Often the gods intervene to protect a favorite, usually with the result that those left get even angrier and the slaughter that much more deadly. Late in the poem, we read that Poseidon, who is the god of the sea but also of earthquakes (he’s called that here) realizes that Achilles is about to kill Aeneas. He decides to save him, and he “poured a mist across Achilles’ eyes, / … and hoisting Aeneas off the earth he slung him far…” (20: 369, 372).
The effect is to preserve Aeneas but incense Achilles, who immediately realizes that a god is involved. Rather than backing down, he urges the Greeks to fight even harder: “No more standing back from the Trojans, brave Achaeans! / Now fighter go against fighter, out for bloodshed!” (20: 403-404).
The effect of this intervention is to spur Achilles on to commit the greatest slaughter we’ve seen thus far.
IIIConclusion
The ancient poets, particularly Homer, frequently tell us stories of the ways in which gods intervene in the lives of mortal men. They also reveal that these interventions, which are sometimes nothing more than a godly whim, usually have disastrous consequences for the mortals. But the old legends and ancient gods remain irresistible, providing not only proof of their existence but sometimes a helping hand; they would be a welcome addition to a world now floundering in uncertainty.
The Review on Homer Iliad Achilles Reader
By: KON JURE THOUGHTS Book Review The Iliad The name "Homer" is synonymous with great tales of heroic poetry. Although this genre of poetry hails the distinctness of being "Homeric" it is not certain that Homer himself actually existed. The book Prolegomena ad Hoe rum, published in 1795 CE. written by F. A. Wolf, translated "The Homeric Problem", set in motion numerous debates among scholars ...
IVReference
Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1990.
