The god of mortals and immortals, Zeus, is mentioned on almost every single page in The Iliad. In the ancient society of the Greeks, they practiced polytheism, which means they worshipped more than one god (Speilvogel 364). Zeus was the son of the titan Cronus and he was basically the god of the weather. He had the ability to strike with lightning bolts. The Trojan War was between Greece and Troy. However, it was not only fought by mere mortals, but by immortals too, fighting for their own personal agendas. Every god and goddess interfered in some form in the war, but some did more than others. On the Greek side was Hera, Pallas Athena, Poseidon, Hermes and Hephaestus (20.36-40). On the Trojan side was Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Xanthus, and Aphrodite (20.41-43). However, some gods like Zeus did not officially take sides, but by their actions, someone could deduce what side they were on. In the Trojan War, Zeus, the most feared of all the gods, impacted the Trojan War definitively more than all the other gods; he did this both directly and indirectly.
The Iliad is an epic poem and is one of the earliest works of ancient Greek literature (Murnaghan 2). According to most scholars, it was written by Homer in ancient Greece (Spievogel 47). The Iliad was considered by the Greeks to be Homer’s major work (Rieu 5). There is some debate as to who Homer really was, or if he was even responsible for The Iliad, but this had no bearing on the fact that The Iliad was important in Greek society (Murnaghan 8). The Iliad was most likely an oral story preserved over time and finally written down at the end of the Dark Ages (Murnaghan 3). It covers only a small portion of the ten year Trojan War. The Trojan War began over Helen, the wife of Gree...
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...ings himself, Zeus gave the side he was on a preeminent chance in the war. Zeus prolonged the war by being on the Trojan side and cost many lives in the process. Using the power of his hand and of his mind, Zeus manipulated circumstances in order to influence the outcome of his desires.
Works Cited
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Murnaghan, Sheila. “Introduction.” The Iliad. By Homer. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000. Print.
Rieu, E. V. “Introduction.” The Iliad. By Homer. Bungay, Suffolk, UK: Richard Clay, 1954. Print.
Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization: A Brief History. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. Print.
Yilmaz, Tuncer. “Representation of the Gods in the Iliad by Homer: a Brief Analysis.” The Journal of Suleyman Demirel University Institute of Social Sciences (2012): 1-13. Print.
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Heroes: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkley: U. of California P, 1984.
In The Battle on the Plain (pg. 41), Zeus calls a meeting, telling all of the gods that they are not to help the Greeks or the Trojans, but Athena, who is Zeus favorite daughter, says that her and the other gods pity the Greeks, feeling that they will be destroyed by the Trojans. So Zeus allows the gods and
The Trojan War is one of the most known battle or war in history, if not the most known. It was a very, very long war, but there was one main source or reason of conflict that drove it to last so long, it seemed endless. Paris, a Trojan prince, was promised a wife as fair as the goddess of beauty by Aphrodite herself. The particular woman she promised was already married to a Greek King by the name of Menelaus. This started not only tension between the Greeks and Trojans but also anger because they were recently married.Helen should have returned to the Greeks for a few reasons that could have led to a shorter war, or even no war.First off, Greek King Menelaus is her rightfully wedded husband. The war would have been totally prevented if a couple of decisions were better made. Finally, she never really was in love with Paris. It was all manipulated by Aphrodite.
As Homer’s The Iliad begins, Achilleus, a god-like mortal and the greatest among all warriors, comes into light as a lead character; one whom brings about the complex issues within the poem. The poem forms while illustrating different overlying ideals such as anger, honor, greed, destruction, forgiveness, and others. Characters come and go, displaying the ideals and warlike lifestyle housed by the warrior-like men of ancient Greece throughout the text; however, Achilleus’ character develops portraying new and different values and beliefs of a soldier of his stature.
Homer’s Iliad has been a European myth for many millennia , the long poetic narrative written in the 8th century B.C. recounts a fearsome war fought over a beautiful woman. The reliability of Homers Iliad as a true historical document has been challenged for hundreds of years and only through archaeological studies can the truth be deciphered. The Iliad was written five centuries after the war, where the stories had been passed down through the oral tradition, therefore the type of society reflected within the poems resemble much more the time of Homer . The fact and fiction of the Iliad has been uncovered through archaeology. Archaeologist found a site in which they thought to have been ‘Troy’ destroyed by the powerful country of Mycenae in the late Bronze Age. They found large amount of material culture from where they could reconstruct the society, this included pottery, engravings, murals and clay tablets. A reason for the Trojan War has always inspired great controversy. The Trojan War according to Homer was fought over the abduction of a beautiful women but this theory appears improbable. Other causes which could have sparked a war is Troy’s geographical positioning. This made it extremely opulent, where other countries of the Aegean would trade there goods and use its harbour. The Mycenaean’s being an extremely imperial, violent and militaristic country would have seen Troy as a great opportunity to gain territory and wealth, on this motive the war took place.
...come of everything. They determine which warriors will succeed, and which will die and the fate of every single person. It is hugely important to praise and glorify the Gods, and if one does not do this or if one gives himself too much credit and glory, disaster will surely strike him. Achilles feels like his honor has been taken away from him, and wants the Greeks to learn their lesson and respect him. This war between the Trojans and the Greeks is not fought just over Paris taking Helen from her home but, the fact that the pride and honor that Menelaus feels has been taken away from him.
The gods are used by Homer to add twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. I shall concentrate on Zeus. however, and reflect on his actions and their outcomes in the Trojan War. and more importantly, the story of The Iliad. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek.
Lattimore, R. (trans.) (1961) The Iliad of Homer, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, reproduced in Readings book 1 (2006) A219 Exploring the Classical World, readings 1.1-6, pp. 7-62, Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Homer, Iliad is the narration of the Trojan war. The Trojan war was one of the most important and significant wars of Greek mythology, Homer described how the war was triggered by the abduction of the most beautiful women known as Helen. This paper will argue how the traditional view of this poem is accurate because it indeed was Helens beauty and her selfishness that sparked the Trojan war. Although Helen was not happy about the outcomes of her mistakes. This paper will present how Helen faced many forms of self judgment, how she created many relationships with significant characters, such as Paris, Priam and Aphrodite. Homers portrayal of this significant women was remarkable as we were able to feel her pain and anguish, the readers were
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Segal, Charles.
The Iliad is a classic epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and the rage of an Achaean warrior, Achilles. The book introduces the reader to the war and the personal battle between Achilles and King Agamemnon; because of this argument between these two major characters, Homer introduces the role of the gods when Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to go to Zeus and beg for his interference on Achilles’ behalf. The major role the gods play in the Iliad is their interference in the Trojan War as immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal.
The Iliad by Homer, was set nine years into the Trojan War. The war started because Paris, prince of Troy, took Helen from Menelaus. As a result of this, the Greeks and Trojans ended their long peace. Helen’s husband, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon declared war on Troy determined to bring Helen back. The Greeks settle on the Trojan beach which marked the beginning of the war. Because of this war, innocent Trojans lost their homes, husbands, sons, and their loved ones. Brother of Paris, Hector, died in combat. The war took away thousands of lives. Mothers of sons wept in sorrow. Helen was the main cause of the
the Gods in the affairs of humanity is much greater in the Iliad then in the
It is the underlying theme in works of Greek literature. Mortals became tools of the gods when convenient. The affairs of men were not always at the will of the gods however, in certain instances, the agenda of the gods permitted involvement in the human domain. By mating with mortals, the Olympian gods could produce children who be loyal to themselves and would be stronger and better than ordinary mortals. Hemitheoi, or demi-gods, were the fourth generation of humankind; the heroes of myth, the ones who fought at Troy or killed immortal beasts in order to save another (Zaidman 25). Homer’s epic the Iliad describes the last two weeks of the ten-year battle between the Trojans and the Greeks that has become known historically as the Trojan War. While the poem primarily focuses on the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon, the use of several Greek gods displaced the purity of the war involvements change the pace of the battle. The story of the Trojan War begins with the story of the apple of discord, the Golden Apple. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each believed that they deserved this apple, by virtue of being the most beautiful. Since the goddess could not decide among themselves and Zeus was not willing to suffer the wrath of the females in his family, the goddess appealed to Paris, Prince of Troy. When asked to judge
Zeus is the only exception to this; he makes judgement calls as to the other gods’ involvement in the war. Even when his own son Sarpedon, was about to die, Zeus chose to let the event go on unaltered (although he is mainly persuaded by Hera to allow this to happen). On the other hand, Hera displayed some of the more typical actions of the gods. After Paris judged Aphrodite the fairest over Hera, she was angry at and resentful towards the Trojan people, and sought revenge through her actions during the war. So she sided with the Greeks, along with the goddess Athena, who was also resentful towards the Trojans because of Paris’s