Comparison of the Gods in Homer’s Epics with the God of the Hebrews

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There are many similarities and differences between the Greek gods and the Hebrew God. These similarities and differences are revealed in the character and functionality of the gods. The revelation of similarities and differences can also be seen in man’s relationship to his god or gods. Homer was instrumental in documenting the oral traditions of the Greek gods in his poetry. Moses, the Hebrew leader, is attributed with documenting what he witnessed from God in the Torah. The Greek and Hebrew belief systems were established for the purposes of explaining the world we live in, the phenomenon in nature, and the existence and purpose of man. The Greeks were polytheistic and had more gods than they could probably keep up with. In contrast the Hebrews had only one God. Regardless, the Greeks and Hebrews shared the same desire and that was to find answers to questions about existence and the purpose of life.

The character and functionality of the Greek gods vary from god to god. Zeus was the chief of the Greek gods and considered the most powerful. This may be a bit misleading because even though he held the highest rank, the lesser gods did not always submit to his authority. The lesser gods did things at times that they knew would go against the wishes of Zeus. It is apparent that all the gods did things for their own pleasure and men were the pawns in the games they played. This can be seen in Homer’s The Iliad. Zeus loved Sarpedon and wanted to intervene to save him from injury or death. Queen Hera advised Zeus that it would be unwise to intervene because the other gods would see it as favoritism. Petroclus killed Sarpedon. The god Apollo avenges the death of Sarpedon by stripping away Petroclus’ armor rendering him

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defenseless, and thus he is killed by Hector. It is apparent that the Greeks felt that the gods ordered their destiny. According to Alexander Murray, “…man himself, and everything around him, was upheld by Devine power; that his career was marked out for him by a rigid fate whi...

... middle of paper ...

...ary, the Greeks and Hebrews shared the common belief that gods or God had the final say so as to the fate of man. The gods were all knowing, all powerful, and could be anywhere at all times. Gods were immortal and man was mortal. There are some contrasts but these contrasts only show the differences in Man’s relationship to his god. The Greeks and Hebrews borrowed from other cultures at least in part. The Greeks were conquerors and the Hebrews were normally the conquered. This probably explains the difference in man’s relationship to a god. Eventually we see that the contrasts are not that different and the comparisons are very much alike.

Works Cited

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Gibson, Michael. Gods Men & Monsters. New York: Schocken Books, 1977.

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942.

Homer, The Iliad. The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces. New York:

W.W. Norton Company, 1999.

Murray, Alexander S. Who’s Who in Mythology. New York: Crescent Books, 1988.

The Holy Bible. King James Version: Anchor Bible Concepts, 1996.

Tenney, Merrill C. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1967 ed.

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