Role Of Zeus In The Iliad

n Homer’s The Iliad, although Zeus may seem impartial in his involvement in the Trojan War, he covertly favors the Trojans. Gods play fundamental roles in the war, and almost all have defined positions, except for Zeus. Zeus is the almighty “god of all gods”, but his position is supposed to be unbiased and just to both sides. During the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, there was an ongoing dispute concerning the most beautiful goddess between Hera, Aphrodite and Athena. They then asked Zeus to pick the winner; he declined telling the Trojan Paris to give a golden apple to the most beautiful goddess. Paris picked Aphrodite; she told him that he could have the most beautiful woman in the world. He picked Helen, the wife of the Spartan King Menelaus.

Before Menelaus and Paris fought in Book 3, Agamemnon prayed to Zeus, “if Paris brings down Menelaus in blood, he keeps Helen himself…but if Menelaus brings down Paris the Trojans surrender Helen…but Zeus would not fulfill their prayers” (3.335-9). Then Menelaus prayed as well, “Zeus, king, give me revenge, he wronged me first Illustrious Paris crush him under my hand”(3.409-10). Zeus did not answer either of their prayers and in both the exact opposite occurred. When Paris and Menelaus fought, Menelaus had Paris “choking, strangling [and] now he’d have hauled him off and won undying glory but Aphrodite Zeus’s daughter quick to the mark…snatched Paris away”(3.431-9). Menelaus would’ve outright killed Paris winning the duel, and having his wife Helen returned to him, but Aphrodite swooped in and saved him. Zeus then claimed that Menelaus won and that the war is over, but Hera stops him and tells him that she desires the whole city of Troy to go down in flames. He accepted Hera’s remarks and he renews the fighting between them. He is the almighty and could’ve stopped Aphrodite from saving Paris, but instead he just argued about how it was wrong. The treaty had been violated and Zeus disregarded both Agamemnon’s request and Menelaus’ plead to kill

“Father Zeus held out his golden scales: in them he placed two fates of death…one for the Trojan horsemen, one for the Argives...down went Achaea’s fate settling down on the earth…Zeus let a loose a huge crash of thunder, hurling his bolts in a flash against Achaea’s armies” (8.88-9). Zeus’s thunderbolts scared off the Achaeans and forced them to retreat once again. Agamemnon claimed, “Zeus’ heart has turned -his mighty heart is set on Hector’s offerings more than ours”(10.53-4). The Achaeans especially their leader were petrified knowing that Zeus was fighting against them. “Zeus flung strife on Achaea’s fast ships”(11.3) and “Zeus drove a swirl of panic deep in their lines and down from the vaulting skies released a shower of raining blood”(11.60-1). Zeus flipped their ships and sent down blood which allowed Hector to breach Achaean fortifications. Zeus is unrelenting, pounding the Achaeans every chance he gets, taking away the only thing that drives them