The Iliad is an epic poem written by Homer to record the events of the Trojan War. The Trojan War is famous for its massive, bloody, and deadly battles. A very interesting element of The Iliad is how Homer tells the story from both the humans’ and the god’s perspective. The gods in the story contain so much human characteristics that they feel more like humans than gods. This contradicts the image of gods. In The Iliad, the gods are not superior and great; they are the reason to why the war started, and they are the reason to why the war ended how it ended. The only difference between humans and gods in the The Iliad is how one side interacts with the other. No matter how cruel the gods are to the mortals, the mortals never stop praising the
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When the Trojan War first erupts, Hephaestus says “There’ll be no more pleasure in our feasts if we let things turn ugly” (Homer, 608) which suggests that the gods don’t join the war and let the humans quarrell become their problem. Furthermore, Zeus makes it clear that the gods are not allowed to step in and affect it in any way. However many gods still kill and save the heroes in the war based on their liking and benefits. One of the most biased gods is Apollo; Apollo is a major catalyst of the war. He protects the Trojans wall countless times when it was under attack, he also strips Patroclus of his armor so that Hector will be able to kill him. He knows that if he do not help the Trojans, they will lose the war for sure. To ensure their chance of victory, Apollo actively participates in the war. Another active participant is Athena, Athena convinced Zeus to not save his son, Sarpedon, however Athena herself lead Hector to his death. From this readers can see that the gods are participating in the war because they want to win the war. The gods separate and takes side during this war, and both sides want to win the war. Instead of listening to Zeus, all ods joined the war and fought for their victory and their …show more content…
For example in Book 2, Zeus sent a dream to Agamemnon convincing him that yielding war will result in victory, but that was just a trick. Zeus knew that if Agamemnon fought now, he’ll lose for sure and that is what Zeus hoped for, so he convinced Agamemnon to fight. Even when Achilles prayed to Zeus, Zeus wouldn’t save Patroclus, and he sat and watch Patroclus die. Zeus spared no mercy to the mortals even though his own son prayed to him. Each and every one of the gods used the death of a mortal hero in order to take a step higher in the war. How do they differ from humans then? Many historians have stated that humans are evil from the heart. As nice as we try to be, we still put ourselves in the center and act accordingly to that. We strive for our own benefits and often disregard other people. In society, humans use each other to climb higher, to achieve our goals. Ironically, all the gods are like such in The Iliad. They treat mortals like puppets and use them for their benefits. Our well-being doesn’t matter to them, what matters to them is the pride and glory once they win the war. In this case, how do they differ from us
When the Trojan War first erupts, Hephaestus says “There’ll be no more pleasure in our feasts if we let things turn ugly” (Homer, 608) which suggests that the gods don’t join the war and let the humans quarrell become their problem. Furthermore, Zeus makes it clear that the gods are not allowed to step in and affect it in any way. However many gods still kill and save the heroes in the war based on their liking and benefits. One of the most biased gods is Apollo; Apollo is a major catalyst of the war. He protects the Trojans wall countless times when it was under attack, he also strips Patroclus of his armor so that Hector will be able to kill him. He knows that if he do not help the Trojans, they will lose the war for sure. To ensure their chance of victory, Apollo actively participates in the war. Another active participant is Athena, Athena convinced Zeus to not save his son, Sarpedon, however Athena herself lead Hector to his death. From this readers can see that the gods are participating in the war because they want to win the war. The gods separate and takes side during this war, and both sides want to win the war. Instead of listening to Zeus, all ods joined the war and fought for their victory and their …show more content…
For example in Book 2, Zeus sent a dream to Agamemnon convincing him that yielding war will result in victory, but that was just a trick. Zeus knew that if Agamemnon fought now, he’ll lose for sure and that is what Zeus hoped for, so he convinced Agamemnon to fight. Even when Achilles prayed to Zeus, Zeus wouldn’t save Patroclus, and he sat and watch Patroclus die. Zeus spared no mercy to the mortals even though his own son prayed to him. Each and every one of the gods used the death of a mortal hero in order to take a step higher in the war. How do they differ from humans then? Many historians have stated that humans are evil from the heart. As nice as we try to be, we still put ourselves in the center and act accordingly to that. We strive for our own benefits and often disregard other people. In society, humans use each other to climb higher, to achieve our goals. Ironically, all the gods are like such in The Iliad. They treat mortals like puppets and use them for their benefits. Our well-being doesn’t matter to them, what matters to them is the pride and glory once they win the war. In this case, how do they differ from us