Zeus And Hera Loathe In The Iliad

Improved Essays
During The Iliad by Homer, there is this countless war between the Trojans and Achaeans. Different bias is seen through the gods, and how they try to aid their preferred side to help them win the war. In book 8, Zeus proclaims that any god who interferes with the war will face serious consequences. Both Athena and Hera loathe the Trojans, and they want to help the Achaeans trounce the war. Athena and Hera are unable to bear any more suffering on the Achaean part, and they prepare to interfere. Zeus sends these goddesses a message through Iris to recall his order to stop meddling furthermore in the war. They both obeyed and went back to Olympus.

We see the ethical appeal when Zeus warns them about their consequences, and they decide to suppress any involvement with the war. Athena and Hera back off knowing that Zeus has power, being the god of the sky and the ruler of the Olympian gods. He convinces Athena and Hera to go back to Mount Olympus because they understand that they cannot compete with the mighty Zeus. Zeus uses ethos to emphasize his authority to keep the gods under his rule, and show respect and obedience towards him.
…show more content…
This example shows the rank of Zeus and his authority to rule over the other gods. Homer uses this literary device to expand on the idea of the roles the characters had over each other in Greek

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Homer dichotomizes the brutality of war against the peacefulness of family in The Iliad. As Book 6 opens, Homer states that the Greek and Trojan armies “spread like hemorrhage across the plain” (Homer 69). The Trojans are so brutal, that the Greek armies pull back because it seems as if “Some god had come from the starry sky/ To help the Trojans” (Homer 69). Utilizing these similes, Homer makes it clear that the war is bloody and violent.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ares complains about being Athena’s direct target and suffers the consequences of storming the battlegrounds and attacking the Achaeans. Athena has the desire to stop Ares and is doing it for more than one reason. In the beginning…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the epic poem, The Odyssey it is Zeus’s job to keep the gods at peace. Poseidon wants to punish Odysseus for his wrongdoings, whereas Athena wants him to have a safe journey home. This leaves Zeus in a difficult position. In Book five Zeus decides on the fate of Odysseus. As a result of Zeus’s decision he is able to please both of the gods, but also is able to test Odysseus and what he is willing to sacrifice in order to return back home.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Each God or Goddess in Ancient Greek life had a role. Some provided people with a sense of hope, some provided people with fame, and the Goddess Athena provided a sense of authority for humanity. In The Oresteia, a trilogy written by Aeschylus her power is shown in many ways, stemming from the fact that she is the Greek Goddess of War, a job that requires a person to have a sense of strong authority. In a war zone, authority is necessary to gain and maintain control and to provide structure and order. Without these characteristics a person would not be successful in a war and being that Athena is the Goddess of War, it is necessary for her to show this type of control.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Zeus is always wondering about neighborliness. If the peoples of Ancient Greece were arguing or not respecting each other, Zeus will be very angry with them. The Olympic Games were dedicated to Zeus. Hera Picture Zeus was the husband of Hera, who was also the queen of the gods.…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In order to get what they wanted, warriors from the Iliad used aggression to gain justice. Both the Trojans and Achaeans were fighting for what they wanted: a personal definition of justice. For the Achaeans, it was to keep what they had taken, and for the Trojans it was to take back and fight against what they lost. Nevertheless, both groups had a similar root for their war: both wanted to prove they were stronger and tougher than the other side and prove their dominance over the other. Instead of peaceful means through a truce, they decided on a more proactive choice – “…death and all future pain to them!”…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Homer’s Iliad, Greek leadership and government was portrayed as a hierarchical structure that ranked from ordinary humans (at the bottom) to the mythical Olympian Gods (at the top). In between these two extremes, many varieties of leadership positions were presented. For example, the central monarch or king would be viewed as a sort of intermediary or messenger between gods and men. In this essay, I will begin by explaining some of the forms of leadership presented in Homer’s…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Beg no more, you fawning dog - begging me by my parents! Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw- such agonies you have caused me!” (Iliad, lines 184-187) Achilles, the Greek warrior gloats over his enemy Hector of Troy. Prior to this battle of vengeance, Hector had killed Achilles’ best friend Patroclus, dishonouring him by not giving him a proper burial and by taking his armour. Enraged, Achilles seeks revenge for his friend and slaughters Hector.…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Wynona Ryan The Odyssey The Odyssey, an epic poem written by the blind poet Homer, is the story of the resourceful Odysseus, king of Ithaca. The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus’ years of hardship in trying to return home to his wife and son after victory over the Trojan war, with the interference of gods and goddesses. The epic poem was then adapted into a film, also named The Odyssey, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky in 1997. This essay is the discussion of the differences and similarities between the epic poem and epic film.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Theme Of Revenge In Iliad

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Homer’s Iliad is one of the greatest pieces of Ancient literature. It has a lot of prominent motives that are influential and could be traced even in the modern literature. As a matter of fact, it has a lot of interesting concepts; however, one of the most dominant ones is the topic of justice and vengeance. The war itself is just a personal motivation of Agamemnon to deal with Troy and to punish them for their deeds in the past, the Greeks just want revenge, even though the Troy Priest of Apollo Chryses asks for a forgiveness. The gods play also one of the central roles in the poem.…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore, a key factor for inspiration is the ability to relate to the personages you are trying to inspire. However, the gods are only able to relate through deception. Instead of humbling themselves and forming a connection with mortals, they change their appearance to a family member or companion in order to become more relatable. During the onslaught of Patroclus, Hector debates with himself on whether or not to retreat in order to save the lives of his men. As he was contemplating, Apollo appears in the form of Hector’s uncle, Asius, and convinces him to fight Patroclus (436).…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    First, Homer portrays the characters as fearsome and untouchable then surprises the reader by showing their venerability. Zeus is the first character to be an example of this. No god can oppose Zeus. Even if…

    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Around the world, artists use nature and the world around them to create beautiful pieces of art like paintings and pictures. These painters mimic the details they see in the world around them, then they manipulate them to make them more beautiful, perfect, and fitting than they ever were. Similarly, Homer used the Trojan war to make The Iliad. Around 800 B.C., Homer wrote The Iliad. The Iliad contains distinct details that show that some outside inspiration was used.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The War God doesn’t care which one he kills” (Homer 234). He shows bravery even though he knows that his death is coming. In result of Hectors excessive pride, his death and the loss of his fellow warriors. Agamemnon lives through the war by hiding during battle, but Hector fights till the very end. It shows the total difference between these two characters, who assumingly are the antipodes of each other: Hector is a brave commander, who has a dignity and skills in the battle, and Agamemnon, who does not care about his army and hides behind their backs during the battle.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Fate is very important to Zeus and he believes that it should not be tampered with which is why he is cautious to not go against fate. Zeus, unlike the other gods, remains neutral when the war begins because he values justice and the true fate of the mortals based on only their decisions. He does not directly interfere with the mortals to give them advantages over the each opposing side and does not favor neither the Trojans nor the Achaeans. However, there is a bit of flexibility with Zeus’s will when Homer manipulates the will of Zeus to give or withhold glory from each side of the war. Homer manipulates this by using the other gods to interfere in the war by giving the mortals inspirations that the gods give them, this interference can impact fate indirectly by the gods and if the mortals choose not to use the muses that the gods give them then mortals will directly impact fate.…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays