Hector And The Greek Gods In The Iliad

Back in the time of the Greeks, there was an epic poem, called The Iliad, written by the poet Homer, which was originally told by word of mouth. It was later written down and translated, which allows us to learn things about the ancient Greek values. The Iliad centralizes around the demigod Achilles, the hero Hector, and the Greek gods during the Trojan War. It covers many different events, including internal disagreements within the Greeks, as well as the battles between Greeks and Trojans. The climax occurs when Achilles and Hector battle each other; eventually resulting in Hector’s foreshadowed death. In The Iliad, by the poet Homer, the most prevalent and important theme throughout the epic is the impact of and the interference of the Greek …show more content…
Apollo “halted and let fly, and the bowstring slammed as the silver bow sprang, rolling in thunder away. Pack animals were his target first, and dogs, but soldiers, too…nine days the arrows of the god came down broadside upon the army” (1.56-59/61). This quote shows how Apollo, one of the Greek gods, directly interferes with human events by killing animals and humans, simply to get the Greeks to listen to one of his priests. This is not something that would have happened naturally, therefore it supports the idea that the Greek gods impact and interfere with the natural chain of events.

As you would expect, Apollo is not the only god that interferes with human events. Another god who is guilty of divine intervention is Athena. She does this by starting with the climactic fight between Hector and Achilles. As spoken by Homer, “(Athena) seemed Deiphobus in form and resonant voice... this way, by guile, Athena led him on” (22.270-271,293). Essentially, Athena assumes the form of Hector’s brother and convinces him to fight with Achilles, which almost dooms Hector to his