Roles of Gods in The Iliad

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“Nine days the arrows of god swept through the army.” (Homer, The Iliad, 1.61) The Iliad written by Homer portrayed the war between the Achaeans and the Trojans. In addition to the mortals fighting each other gods also intervened in the war between the two sides, the gods in The Iliad played very significant roles in the battles; they brought divine powers on to the mortal sides of the war, Greek gods embody many human characteristics, there are many themes in The Iliad that construct the interventions of the gods, lust, jealousy, revenge, anger, pride, and favoritism are some of the reasons why the gods of Olympus got involved in the Trojan War. The gods of Olympus used humans as their puppets while the gods engaged themselves in conflict against each other. Lust is one of the major themes in the interference of the Trojan War; Aphrodite goddess of beauty and lust is to blame for the beginning of the Trojan War. The goddess promised Paris the prince of Troy the most beautiful woman in the world if he chose her as the fairest of them all. At the beginning it was Zeus who was suppose to pick between the goddesses but Zeus passed up the chance and used Paris as the puppet to choose between the goddesses. The choices Paris was to choose from were Hera, Athena and Aphrodite; all three goddesses had to bribe the young prince with favors. Hera queen of the gods promised him power over all of Europe, Athena bribed him with the victory of the Trojans leaving Sparta in ruins and Aphrodite assured him the most beautiful woman on earth. Paris blinded with lust chose Aphrodite as the “fairest of them all” leading to the downfall of Troy. The “most beautiful woman on earth” happened to be Helen of Sparta, having a god promise him his priz... ... middle of paper ... ...ll gods partaking in the Trojan War; a majority of the gods in Olympus chose sides between the Trojans and the Achaeans, intervening with the battle. Major gods such as Apollo, Aphrodite, and Artemis joined the side of the Trojans while Athena, Hera, and Poseidon joined the Greeks. Pride is a critical topic among the gods because none of the gods wanted to lose the war. Each god had different opinions on which side should win the war; Apollo wanted the Trojans to win the battle due to his anger towards Agamemnon and the Achaeans fighting against Athena “[…] [B] ut Phoebus Apollo spotting her from Pergamus heights – the god grim set on victory for the Trojans – rose to intercept her … (7.23- 25) Favoritism is another theme in the role of gods interfering in the Trojan War; most of the gods up in Olympus favored a mortal on either side of the war. Hera

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