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Gods & goddesses in Homer's iliad
Examine the role of gods and goddesses in the iliad
Examine the role of gods and goddesses in the iliad
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Faakirah Hendricks The god and goddess is important because they play an important role in the Iliad. Gods and goddesses are significant in the Iliad because they were a part of the culture and daily lives of the Greek people. Many of the characters in the Iliad are gods, goddesses, and the children of gods. Many are the children of gods and humans. The Greek cultures worship these gods and daily lives are built around the code of morality they dictate. The gods were worshiped and also sacrificed too. They have a higher power than majority of anyone especially the goddess they have a lot of power. Many Greeks thought their life was for the gods and goddess. They constantly prayed to them and honored them, in fear of something …show more content…
bad would happen to them if they didn't. They basically thought their whole life was about the gods. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and daughter of Zeus, although she was said to have been born of the foam of the sea. She protected Helen, to whom she gave great beauty. Also she rescues Paris from Menelaos and brings him to Helen. Aphrodite is married to Hephaestus but maintains a romantic relationship with Ares. She supports Paris and the Trojans throughout the war, even though she proves somewhat ineffectual in battle. According to the Iliad Aphrodite was a rather weak, frightful goddess. She intervened in a battle to save her son Aeneas and the results were her getting attacked wounding her on her wrist. Aphrodite is one of the active gods in the Iliad and she actively fights with the Trojans. Apollo was the archer god, cause of plagues, god of prophecy and a divine singer. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. Apollo is the god of the sun and the arts particularly music. He supports the Trojans and often intervenes in the war on their behalf. In the beginning of the Iliad he sends a plague upon the Achaeans because Agamemnon dishonored his priest Chryses. Apollo later on helps Hector in the killing of Patroclus. At the end of the book he complains about the treatment of Hector's corpse which then leads to the gods arranging something for the body of Priam. Apollo is also called Loxias which means “tricky.” Ares is the god of war, son of Zeus and lover of Aphrodite. He also supports the Trojans and Zeus describes him as “the most hateful of all the gods who hold Olympos.” He made a promise to Hera and Athena that he would support the Achaeans, only Aphrodite likes him. Ares represents the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war. Ares was a god of action and determination. Ares was disliked by both of his parents, when Ares appeared in a myth he was represented as a violent personality, who faced humiliation through his defeats. Zeus hated him more than anyone else on the Iliad. Hera was the jealous wife and sister of Zeus; she is on the Greeks side because of her anger at the Trojans over the judgement of Paris, and she repeatedly argues with her husband. Zeus, over his sympathy for the Trojans. In the book she inspires Achilles to call an assembly to deal with the plague. She seduced her husband Zeus to distract him while the god of sea which is Poseidon aids the Greeks on the battlefield. Hera was an evil person and was against the Trojan and she wanted the Greeks to win the battle. Hera’s anger brought on by Zeus having pity on troy makes her the boldest of the gods who challenges Zeus. She is the biggest supporter of the Achaeans and is willing to go to any lengths to achieve the defeat of Troy. Hera is the goddess of women and childbirth and the queen of the gods. She is a conniving, headstrong women; she goes behind her husband back when they disagree, working with Athena to crush the Trojans who she passionately hates. Zeus, the king of the gods who could control the weather. Zeus was the husband of Hera. The ancient Greek poet, Hesiod called him the 'cloud-gatherer' and the 'thunderer'. His most powerful weapon was the thunderbolt. The ancient Greeks believed that when lightning struck the earth it was a sign that Zeus was present. Zeus was also concerned with hospitality, if you treated a guest or stranger badly you could outrage Zeus. He is natural between the mortal’s conflict and he tries to keep the other gods from participating in it. I touched upon some of the god and goddess in the Iliad they became an important role in the book because the god and goddess are the people the mortals look up too.
They had a big effect on them because they were also a main focus in the book. Without the god and goddess how would things worked out. Would the Trojans and the Greeks be able to survive without them? In the Iliad I see the god and goddess saving majority of the Trojans and Greeks life when they are at war. Goddess means “a female being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by people”. As you can see the mortal people worshiped the god and goddess because they felt as if they did not worship them something bad would happen to them. Yes some god and goddess were nice and some were evil. Of course their people trusted them to protect and be there for …show more content…
them. Greeks gods are better known than Roman gods but they all are basically similar people. Greek and Roman mythology often have the same Gods with different names because many Roman Gods are borrowed from Greek mythology. Gods in Greek Mythology, is the collection of stories or myths of the ancient Greeks about their gods, heroes and the natural world. When Gods in Roman mythology, is the mythological beliefs about gods in the city of Ancient Rome. Now the time period Iliad distrusted 700 years before the Roman civilization and there was no exact date of the start of the civilization. The Roman came 1,000 years after the Greeks; Greek gods had beautiful bodies with gorgeous muscles, eyes and hair would enhance their looks. While Roman Gods did not have a physical appearance represented only in the imagination of the people. The Greek gods of love play a very important in Greek mythology.
The gods of love and desire would cause the greatest joy and the greatest pain among both gods and humans. They are god and goddess people look up too. In today’s society we have different religions and people believe in their own beliefs. Many people believe in different things and who they look up too. As you see the Trojans and the Greeks looked up to the gods and the goddess throughout their life. In today’s society we all are different, but for me I am a Christian and I pray to god for everything. The Trojans and the Greeks pray to their god and goddess when they need something, but they actually appear to them. They are there to protect and help their people physically and emotionally and they can physically see them. As for in today’s society we are not able to see god, but we know he is there and who we
worship. They are unaware of the fear of death and sometimes seem unable to grasp the pain and horror that fighting and dying bring to mortal warriors. The gods have ichor, an immortal fluid, rather than blood; they eat ambrosia and drink nectar. They live on Mt. Olympos, even though in the Iliad Zeus often watches the battle from Mt. Ida. The gods can and do change shape and interact with humans. Occasionally, the gods fight humans and suffer wounds, but this doesn't cause the gods any real harm, because the gods cannot bleed or die. They look like humans, although they are taller, larger, more beautiful, and they often exhibit human emotions such as anger, envy, and deceit. These gods and goddess had very powerful powers to do whatever they want. They could take over the people if they wanted too. Out of all of them Zeus was the strongest one, he was the king of all the gods. As you can see the gods and goddess have a big role in The Iliad and they meant a lot to the people. They are very powerful and can take control of anything and everything. What I have touched upon was the importance of the gods and goddess and who they are. Also you can compare these gods and goddess to the society we live in today. They are just as important as the god we worship today. As you can see they all play a different role as a god or goddess and it’s important that they do the right thing.
The ancient Greeks did not contribute in religion so much as the Hebrews did, their contributions were more towards writings and art, great epic poems, and democracy. Some of the greatest philosophers came from Greece, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Homer, also Greek, wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the greatest works of all time, and also some of the more accurate records we have of life in that period of time. The government of Athens became the basis for many of the governments of society today. Their idea of a government run by the people was revolutionary and quite effective; their democracy was unique in its time. The Greeks also gave us the Phoenician writing system; they also had a polytheistic religion, sacrificing things to different Gods to gain the favor, respect or merely to please that particular God. The main contribution of the Greeks was their writings, and their philosophy to modern times. The Greeks also were responsible for building a library to hold some of their greatest works in Egypt, one of the first of its kind.
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
The Olympian religion lacked the presence of true sentimentality, and the gods were not seen as forgiving or "flawless" as the Christian God is often portrayed. 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.
When we look at Greek Mythology we often run into the gods of that era. Sometimes they are merely backdrops to the human element of the story but in stories such as The Odyssey the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the story.
Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
The Iliad and the Fate Of Patroclus Throughout The Iliad Of Homer, the constant theme of death is inherently. apparent. The snares are not. Each main character, either by a spear or merely a scratch from an arrow, was wounded or killed during the progression of the story. For Zeus' son, a king.
Change, in The Iliad, appears in many forms, but most originate from the actions of others. It is human nature for men to follow their will almost without any regard for those around them. This unwavering willpower brings change upon the weaker wills of other men. Faced with change, the weaker man’s path is altered either slightly or drastically. From this alteration, man is given choices or must make it himself. Through these experiences, they become more aware or more confused with what goes on around them. Regardless of whether they deal with it or not, they accept that change is inevitable and will continue forward. Knowing their lives are comparatively ephemeral to the immortals, they have the tendency of seizing the day. It almost sounds humbling when they say, “no man can turn aside nor escape…let us go on and win glory
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, gods are presented as remarkably human in almost every way. While it is assumed that gods are divine entities incapable of human transgression, they are portrayed with all the flaws of mortals in The Iliad. The gods are a manifestation of human emotions consequently helping to explain the behavior of the humans in The Iliad. The actions of the heroes are what determine their fate, not divine intervention. Ultimately, the humans in The Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of
treachery among the Gods that is so prevalent in the Iliad, is nowhere to be
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
Homer's Iliad is commonly understood as an epic about the Trojan War, but its meaning goes deeper than that. The Iliad is not only a story of the evolution of Achilleus' persona, but at times it is an anti-war epic as well. The final book proposes many questions to the reader. Why not end with the killing of Hektor? Most stories of war conclude with the triumphant victory of good over evil, but in the Iliad, the final thoughts are inclined to the mourning of the defeated Hektor, which accentuates the fact that good has not triumphed over evil, but simply Achilleus triumphed over Hektor. Ending with the mourning of Hektor also brings to center stage for the first time the human side of war and the harsh aftermath of it. We see that war not only brings great glory, but also much suffering and anguish. Homer puts his anti-war views on display.
In The Iliad, the gods and goddesses have completely different roles. The females are usually the ones in the battle fighting, while the male gods are putting courage into hearts, but that isn’t to say that is all that they do. This is a completely different role than the mortals have. While the men are out in battle, the women are knitting and cooking. The women are also described so that it seems like they are property and not humans, and that they don’t have any feeling. Where the female gods act and are treated as if they are equal, if not ranked higher.
Divine Intervention is a “direct and obvious intervention by a god or goddess in the affairs of humans”. In various myths such as the Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Herakles, divine intervention was called upon in order to restrain a hero’s destructive or too powerful forces. Although the divine intervention was used to impair different heroes, the purpose to constrain was the same in all the narratives.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are two classic stories told by Homer. Within these two stories the roles of the gods are very important to the story line and how they affect the characters throughout. In the Iliad, more gods are involved with the characters whereas in the Odyssey there are only two major gods that affect two major characters. The roles of the gods in the Iliad are through two different stances of immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal. The roles of the gods in the Odyssey are through two major gods and they affect the plot as Poseidon versus Odysseus and Athena versus Telemachus.
Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.