Nature of the Gods in the Iliad

The Homeric idols know they ar better than the somebodys that serve them and do non c be very oftentimes(prenominal) when they fight and choose quarrels. The gods can ever proceedingly withdraw from the difference of opinion and never guide to worry nigh dying or suffering that the valet de chambre live with every day during the struggle. This is where we sympathise the motivations of the gods, their relationships with mortals, relationships with separately early(a) and the magnatefulness and say-so of genus genus genus genus Zeus.The motivations of the gods differ greatly throughout the Iliad, including the legislations they tolerate with soldiers who were fighting in the struggle. For example, Aphrodite has a sp atomic number 18 relationship with the Trojan hero, genus capital of France. When he is injure In a battle with Menelaus, she whisked Paris away with the sleight of a goddess. (3, 370-400) She took Paris away from the fighting because she samed h im because he chooses her as the prettiest over arrest and genus Athene in an earlier part of the fable. She salvage him out of her own honor, non for Paris life. Selfishness was adept of the motivations of the gods.When the non-Christian priest of Apollo has his daughter pledgen by the Greeks and they refuse to give her seat he prays to Apollo saying try on me, Silvereye, Protector of scarlet Grant me this prayer Let the Damns earnings for my tears with your arrows. Apollo heard his prayer and descended Olympus crags pulsation with fury, bow slung over one soldier, the arrows festal In their case on his back as the angry god go Like night down the mountain. (1 , 45-50) Because Apollo valued prayers to him he sent arrows that rained down on the Greeks for nine days causing galore(postnominal) of them to die from the plague.The reason Apollo retaliates is cause he feels insulted that the Greeks do non respect his priest and In return himself. He starts killing the G reeks out of selfishness and the desire of Keels_ Even the gods cute honor. This motivated them to go to war with the mortals. The gods too value control and government agency. They use the heroes of apiece side as pawns in their war to come over which gods will win and see which are stronger. The gods motivations differed from one god to the next, and this on occasion caused conflict between them. The gods are displayed as one big, dysfunctional family.The gods relationships with each there are found on qualm and hatred between each separate. The gods impart conflict about everything Just identical some humans do. Their conflict ordinarily plays out in the mortal land and Is willing to fight each other to affect the outcome of the war. Even though Zeus is the most powerful and threatens the others often, they placid continue to go over against him Just non in fighting him. Hear tricks him, genus Athene financial aids some of the heroes, and Poseidon helps the Gre ek side when Zeus is knocked out. They do this to show that they think they are smarter than Zeus and want power.Zeus realizes this ND says Hear you scheming blotch, this trick of yours has pointn swagger out and routed his phalanx. (10, 15-MOM Zeus becomes furious with Hear because she tricks him into f aloneing asleep for a large enough time while she and Poseidon help the Greeks, which were against Zeus because he was helping the Trojan. This was scarcely a simple trick and did not Involve fighting Like most of the war. Athena says she will protect Dimmest, son of tudes, and she stands on Greeks side. Athena agrees to do this because she doesnt like Ares because Ares turned Trojan and abandoned theI off-key his spear home to the pit of Ares belly, where the kilt-piece cover it. Athena seriously injured the god Ares besides could not kill him because he is immortal. This made him back out of the war and gave the Greeks the upper hand once again. The gods were always again st each other because of personal reasons and this caused some humans to die because of what they chose to do. The gods seem to have a unique relationship with the mortals in the epic poem. The gods do not rattling care much about what happens to the humans.The gods do not everyow something to append to the mortals based on this outside force that predestines everything. The gods, oddly Zeus, believe heavily in mountain. Zeus tells the other gods that idolizes something may interfere with fate, If Achilles is the alone fighting out there, the Trojan wont last a minute against him I fear he may exceed his fate and demolish the w tot bothy. (20, 20) He sent the gods into the war to stop Achilles from destroying the Trojan army sooner it was foretold. This causes much more death but that does not guinea pig as much as fate to the gods.Not raze the every last(predicate) and powerful Zeus would try to sees with fate. Zeus wishes to alter the destiny set for his son, and in s pite of his tops(predicate)ity to the other Olympian (not to indicate the other minor gods and goddesses), he is unable to resist the authority of his daughters, the requirements. Hear unconstipated makes him not go against fate. Zeus says Fate has it that Sarandon, whom I love more than some(prenominal) man, is to be killed by Patrols. Shall I take him out of the battle while he still lives? (16) Hear says A mortal man, whose fate has long been fixed, and you want to fulfill him from rattling death. 16) So Zeus mum that he should to change the fate for even his dear Sarandon. This shows us once again that fate is more powerful than all of the gods. Zeus does care some about the Trojan, but he is just repaying a favor to Thesis, Achilles mother. Thesis begs Zeus go forth the Trojan the upper hand until the Greeks harmonize my son the honor he deserves (1, 540-541) and Zeus does it. He made the Trojan army start winning battles Just because of a personal debt to a goddess. This shows us how much he really cared for the outcome of the war.Zeus was the strongest of all of the gods and the mortals did not mean ere much to him. The power and authority of the leader of the gods, Zeus, is very commonplace throughout the Iliad. Zeus focuses on having the upper hand compared to all the other gods when it comes to power and authority. He never gives up the casualty to remind the other gods who is the strongest of them all. Zeus was doubtless stronger than all of the other gods put together. He is even so certain of his power as to say that he could take them all on without breaking a sweat.Zeus tells the other gods These two hands are more powerful than all the gods on Olympus imbibed (8, 462-463) Zeus bragged throughout the entire myth about his power. All of the other gods knew not to fight against Zeus so they all tried to outsmart him which worked on occasion. Zeus to the other gods Come on. Hang a gold cable down from the turn over. All you gods and goddesses holding the end couldnt drag me down from the sky to earth Zeus the Master, no matter how hard you tried. (8, 20-30) He knew he was that much stronger than all the others. When he told the gods they could interfere they did.When he told them they couldnt they listened for the most art. His authority was unmatched by any of the other gods. Affect the gods at all except it excites them into doing battle with each other and choosing a favorite side. They gods may have fought the battle but their magnate made them unable to die and they did not suffer making them far superior to the mortals that were fighting for their lives on the battlefield. The nature of the gods is seen in the epic through their motivations, how the mortals where treated by the gods, how they saw each other as gods, and Zeus strength and prowess above all the other gods.