Divine Power In The Iliad

Do you possess superhuman abilities that will allow you to fight gods? Do you have a mother as a goddess? Do you even have the Gods supporting your decisions? For most people, the answers for all the previous questions are negative, but that is not the case for the heroes of Homer’s Iliad. Homer’s Iliad is an epic tale of the Achaean/Greek army as they attack the Trojan city of Troy. Throughout the tale, the plot is driving by Homer’s tragic vision of a hero’s life. Homer creates his vision with consideration for human virtue and the intervention of divine powers. While intervention of divine powers play a major role in the plot, they contribute less to human virtue.
Throughout the story of the Iliad, human virtue seems to take a back-seat …show more content…
The Gods use their abilities to do a multitude to humans in life and warfare. Initially, this does not seem problematic in an epic tale. In most stories, a hero receiving divine power to “save the day” seems nothing less than essential to a plot, but Homer’s Iliad takes a different route. Before acknowledge the intervention of divine powers in the war of the Iliad, one should look at Achilles. Achilles is the son of Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons and the nymph Thetis. Nymphs are goddess that play minor roles when compared to goddess like Athena and Hera, but they are nonetheless powerful. Being the offspring of two significant individuals , Achilles was destined to be remarkable physical whether he was a hero or not. Aside from the birth of Achilles, The Gods bestow divine power affecting war would be Zeus’s numerous occurrence with the Achaeans/Greeks. Zeus sends evil dreams to the Achaean leader Agamemnon to tamper with his morale. Zeus’ effect on the war was so tremendous that his wife Hera slept with him as an attempt to drift him away from the outcomes of the war. Once Zeus awakens and acknowledges what has happened, he dares all of the gods to intervene with the war or they will face his wrath. Zeus is the embodiment of divine powers and intervention in the story. He is the force that ultimately dictates the end of war and that single-handedly hindered further divine …show more content…
In one hand, you can choose to live your life as best as you can by helping others, fighting for what you deem right, or however you define doing your best. On the other hand, you can choose to live according to the outside forces. In the Iliad, the hero Achilles lived in the median. Achilles chooses to die an honorable and glorified death, instead of not fighting at all, and living a peaceful life. Achilles acknowledges that there are powers beyond his control, but what he values is something that can not be controlled and that what makes him a hero outside of his abilities and background. Homer’s vision is that we all face challenges, sometimes outside of our control, but depending on what we value and who we are determines our reaction. Tragically , we are heroes dying for what we believe in and our virtues, whether they are according to a divine power or