Meleanus And Paris

In book 3 of the Iliad, Paris and Meleanus engaged in a duel meant to determine the outcome of the Trojan war. If Meleanus defeated Paris, Helen would be returned to him and Troy would surrender. If Paris were to defeat Meleanus, Helen would remain his and the Argives would return home in defeat. The battle was left unfinished as Aphrodite intervened and took Paris from the battle grounds before Melanus had a chance to strike a finishing blow.
At the start of book 4, Zeus now must determine how to proceed with the war since the duel between Meleanus and Paris was left undecided. Although it is ultimately Zeus’ descision, he sits in council with the other gods and voices the two available courses of action. While it is clear that Meleanus

was about to win the fight, Zeus provokes a response from Hera by discussing two options of how to proceed and thus opening up a dialogue. The first option is allowing the fight to end on the terms of the truce that the two armies agreed upon meaning that Helen would be returned to Meleanus and Troy would surrender. Alternatively, Zeus could renew the fighting and let the war continue down its fated path. Hera and Athena are greatly opposed to the first option as they want nothing less than Troy’s complete destruction and Hera especially has invested much in the war. Hera becomes angry at Zeus for suggesting a peaceful end to the conflict and tells him that the other gods would disagree with this choice as the too all have favoured fighters whom they have invested much in.
Zeus counters by telling Hera that her anger at Troy is excessive and it seems she would only be satisfied if she herself could destroy Troy . This is Zeus suggesting that Hera is too passionate about destroying Troy and thus any solution she proposes will be too harsh or insuitable. Additionally, he cautions Hera in escalating their argument as he is the most powerful of all the gods and if he desired, he could destroy any of the cities Hera loves no matter how much she protests or debates. Hera checks her anger and takes on a more submissive approach to achieve her goal of restarting the war. She knows Zeus is more powerful than her and he very easily could detroy her favourite cities and she would do nothing as going against his will would be futile. However, Hera is stubborn in her desire to see the war continue and makes the point she too is a powerful goddess in her own right. She shares a lineage with Zeus and she is his consort thus making her queen of the gods and has some influence over them so Zeus should at least consider what she is saying.
Hera tells Zeus that they should not quarrel over how powerful each of them is and brings the focus back to the war as the fate of Troy is already sealed. Hera knows that Troy is fated to fall, but it must fall in a way that means its utmost destruction. Instead of pursuing a more drastic course of action, Hera suggests that Zeus send Athena to reignite the fighting and encourage the Trojans to break the truce first so they may gain the advantage and push the Argives back. This course of action aligns suitably with Zeus’ promise to Thestis EXPAND?. It is clear that the choice is ultimately Zeus’ to make, but taking into account Hera’s stakes in the war as well as the stakes of the other gods, Zeus does as Hera suggests and sends Athena to reignite the fighting AWKWARD WORDING
NEED A CONCLUSION .