The Ancient Greeks believed strongly in their gods and goddesses, they believed that the gods often intervened in their lives. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer portrays relationship between the mortals and immortals as immortals have the ultimate power over mortals. The mortals are at the mercy of the immortals. The gods can be generous and supportive but also destructive to any human being. In the beginning of the epic poem, Zeus claims that mortals blame the gods for all of their miseries. “Ah how shameless- the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share” (Homer 1.37-50). Zeus is claiming that …show more content…
Humans have free will and their ideas to do what they please but the gods intervene with humans to help or harm them as they please. The gods expect respect from humans, such as sacrifices. In book 4, “ It was in Egypt, where the gods still marooned me. Eager as I was to voyage home… I’d failed you see, to render them full, flawless victims, and gods are always keen to see their rules obeyed” (4.390-394). Menelaus explains how he was deserted on an island because he did not make the proper sacrifices to the gods. This misfortune was cause directly by the gods; the gods wanted revenge because Menelaus failed to …show more content…
Poseidon wasn’t happy with Odysseys when his men killed Poseidon’s cows for food. Poseidon created the storm on the high seas and blows Odysseus on Calypso Island where he was captured. Due to having multiple gods in Greek religion, each god has a certain domain and they can’t interfere with another domain. All of the gods wanted Odysseus to be able to return home and reunite with his family except for Poseidon. “But my heart breaks for Odysseus, that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long-far from his loved ones stills, he suffers torments, off on a wave-washed island rising at the center of the seas” (Homer 1.57-60). Athena’s appeals to Zeus about all of the Odysseus past sacrifices moves Zeus to take pity as well. When Poseidon is absent from Mt. Olympus, the other gods are able help Odysseus home. Athena guides Odysseus to Ithaca, getting him past many dangers and obstacles. Zeus understanding of the humans is completely different from human understanding of gods. Zeus believes that humans think that they do nothing wrong and blame others for their actions. When Odysseus stabs Poseidon’s son, Poseidon was enraged. If he didn’t stab his son eye and then told him his name to gloat, he would have had a safe and easy trip home. Polyphemous curses Odysseus with invocation to Poseidon. Zeus wants humans to take responsibilities for their actions. The Gods control fate but the actions
The Odyssey has a lot of god’s but Odysseus gets the wrath of Poseidon because he punctures Poseidon’s son’s eye. After that day Odysseus’ life is ruined for 20 years trying to get back to his homeland of Ithaca. “(Zeus:) “For his sake Poseidon, shaker of the earth, although he does not kill Odysseus, yet drives him back from the land of his fathers. But come, let all of us who are here work out his homecoming
In the article “Stories of the Trojan War,” it talks about how the gods are raged by the disobedience of the mortals which caused uproar during the time (Peabody). One of the gods that seemed to have a raging authority was Poseidon, god of the sea. He made the journey of Odysseus very hard. For instance, Poseidon would make the sea’s rage, blew Odysseus and his crew off track, and last he strikes them with thunder. That ultimately destroys the crew; except for Odysseus who is left stranded until found by Calypso (Puchner). The actual cause of Poseidon’s anger was due to the fact that Odysseus had killed Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus in a horrific manner. Also, because Odysseus was not appreciative of the fact that Poseidon helped keep his secret of his plot to invade with the
The first way is that they act as an external strength in events involving humans, such as when Apollo sends a plague down on the Achaean army. Secondly, the gods also act as an internal force; for example Athena, the goddess in control of wisdom, holds Achilles back from attacking Agamemnon with a sword and convinces him to cut him with words and insults instead. Both of these obstructions were the gods’ direct influence on the mortal world. While the gods provide an important function in helping determine human matters of life, death peace and violence they also provide a sense of comic relief in the Iliad. Their squabbles, double dealings and inane arguments seem incredibly petty compared to the mass slaughter that is sweeping the mortal realm. I believe that Homer used the strife between Zeus and Hera as a divine [parallel to the enraged argument of Achilles and
The Greek gods were portrayed as humans, which meant that they were not perfect. That is, the gods made mistakes, felt pain (e.g. Aphrodite in love with the mortal Adonis), and succumbed to anger and their tempers (e.g.
Throughout The Odyssey, there is a reoccurring theme of either Odysseus being helped by the gods, or being punished by them. There are certain gods or goddesses that like Odysseus and want to see him get home, and there are some that want nothing less than to see Odysseus die at sea. Some gods have a major impact on his journey, while others have a minor impact, but Odysseus needed both in order for him to get home. We could argue that with all of the gods help, they were the ones who determined the course of events. However, even with all of the help he receives, he would not be able to get home without the skills that he had. Odysseus has skills and characteristics that most epic heroes had. Epic heroes had characteristics that are heroic,
Over the course of the play, Artemis does not interfere in the actions of Aphrodite, which shows that the gods, while divine, do have restrictions; in this case, it shows the gods cannot interfere with each other. (1328-1330) The gods are sometimes evil and revengeful, though, as can seen by what Artemis has to say about Aphrodite: "I'll wait till she loves a mortal next time, and with this hand - with these unerring arrows I'll punish him." (1420-1422) The relationship of mankind and the gods also needs to be discussed. This relationship seems to be a sort of give-and-take relationship, in part. The Greeks believed that if they gave to the gods, through prayer and sacrifices, that the gods would help them out.
Each god has a certain domain and cannot control another gods’ domain. All the gods including Zeus, the father of the gods, want Odysseus to be able to return home in The Odyssey. However, Poseiden, just one god, prevents Odysseus from returning. It is only when Poseiden is absent from Mt. Olympus that the other gods are able to take control and assist Odysseus in returning home.
Many Greek gods were seen as both benefactors and tormentors, typically it depends on which god or goddess you are researching about. The seemingly contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.
Throughout the course of his journey, Odysseus is haunted by the thought of his enemy, Poseidon, who has far more power than Odysseus and strives to keep him from returning to Ithaca. Poseidon still holds a grudge against Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus at his cave. Soon before Odysseus reaches Phaeacia’s shores with hope of rescue, Poseidon notices that “he’s [Odysseus] fated to escape his noose of pain” if he makes it to Phaeacia, and threatens to “give that man [Odysseus] his swamping full of trouble” to prevent him from reaching his destination (Homer 5:318-320). While Odysseus is among the most powerful mortals, he is not comparable to Poseidon. This is why, in a situation like this, it is an important skill to know your strengths, and act intelligently.
“Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family.
Odysseus is a man. He is not a god, yet he seeks protection and assistance from the gods because he knows that it is necessary. The authority of the gods over Odysseus and the other characters in this ancient epic is obvious. Through out the story, we see example after example of the gods intervening in the life of Odysseus. The story opens with Odysseus living on the island of Kalypso. He is being held against his will. He partially submits to her, but will not become her husband. He longs for his beautiful wife Penelope. The goddess Athena begs her father to allow Odysseus to return home. Throughout the epic, the characters are attempting to find favor with the gods. By making wise choices and being hospitable Odysseus and his family will be graced with kindness and protection. The characters go on living, all the while knowing that their lives are in the hands of the gods.
These two gods have different effects on the story: Poseidon is trying to cause pain and suffering for Odysseus, while Athena is trying to help Telemachus and give him hope that his father will return soon. The role of these gods is important to both journeys as Odysseus and Telemachus try to reunite their family.
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
the Gods in the affairs of humanity is much greater in the Iliad then in the