The role of Gods in the Iliad
... protect and encourage, they actually join in the battles, usually against each other, though in Book 5 Ares kills a Greek warrior and is in turn wounded by Diomedes, who already has wounded Aphrodite. When Zeus encouraged them to join in the fighting, as Achilles comes out to battle the Trojan army, the Gods fight against each other: Athena against Ares and Aphrodite, Hephaestus against the river-god Xanthus, and Hera against Artemis. The wounds the Gods received healed quickly, and even if they didn’t, the Gods were exempt from the true consequence of war: they couldn’t lose their lives unlike men. The immunity of the Gods, who fought their mock battles while the men stood and died, expresses the tragic situation of men who risk and suffer not only pain and dismemberment but the possibility, if the war goes on for a long time, of death. One view of the Gods’ constant intervention in the war was that they were setting fate back on the right track. For example, when Patroclos was killed outside Troy, Apollo felt no guilt for what he did. It was already decided that Patroclos would not take Troy; he should have never disobeyed Achilles in the first place. As a God he was setting fate on a straight and narrow line. Achilles placed blame on Hector and the Trojans. He never even considered blaming Apollo, although he was responsible for the kill. Apollo’s part in the matter was merely accepted as a natural disaster or illness would be today. This acceptance of a God’s will is a recurring trend throughout the poem. An example of this recurrence is when Achilles, angry over the death of Patroclus brutally disgraced Hector’s body. Achilles dragged him around Patroclus’ tomb every day for twelve days. This barbaric treatment was uncalled for and mad the Gods very upset. Achilles’ mother, Thetis, was sent by Zeus to tell him to ransom the body back to the Trojans. One may think Achilles would be possessive of the body and attempt to put up a fuss as he did before with Agamemmnon in Book 1. But, Achilles showed humility and respect for the Gods and immediately agreed to ransom the body to the Trojans, showing that all mortals, even god-like Achilles, were answerable to the Gods. This ideology seems to give the Gods a sort of unlimited freedom on earth, although, the Gods could not always do as they pleased and eventually had to answer to Zeus. Zeus acted as a balance throughout the Iliad. He had to keep the Gods in order and make sure what fate decreed happened. For example, after Achilles re-enters the battle Zeus declared that if Achilles was allowed to go on slaughtering the Trojans with nothing to slow him down, he would take Troy before fate said it would happen. Therefore, to counter Achilles massive retaliation against the Trojans, Zeus allowed the Gods to go back to the battle field. In Zeus’ own interests, he preferred to deal with issues more personal to the individual heroes of the Iliad. This can be seen throughout the book as Zeus attempted to increase the honor of certain individuals. Zeus knew that Hector was going to be killed by Achilles, and, feeling sorry for Hector Zeus attempted to allow Hector to die an honorable death. For instance, when Hector took Achilles armor off Patroclus, Zeus helped Hector “fill out” the armor so he would not seem less of a man than Achilles. Zeus also gave his word to Thetis that Achilles would gain much glory showing his involvement on a personal level. The Gods picked who they would favor for different reasons. Except Zeus: the symbol of supreme authority and justice, he makes judgment calls as to the other Gods’ involvement in the war, remains impartial, and doesn’t seem to get caught up in picking favorites. Even when his own son, Sarpedon, was about to die, Zeus chose to let the outcome go unaltered. On the other hand, Zeus’ wife, Hera, displayed the more typical actions of a God. After Paris, a Trojan, judged Aphrodite the fairest over Hera, and after her daughter Hebe was replaced as cupbearer to the Gods by a young Trojan boy, was quite resentful towards Troy and its people. Obviously she sided with the Greeks and would stop at no lengthto express her will. Scheming and manipulating she even dared to trick her husband, King of the Gods. Hera, along with Athena, who was also passed over by Paris, is seen as the chief divine aid to the Greeks. Being the God of the sea, Poseidon was another strong supporter of the ocean fearing Greeks. Whenever Zeus turned his back Poseidon tried to help the Greeks in the fight. Poseidon felt that he was somewhat Zeus’ equal as his brother, but recognizing Zeus’ authority and experience; he looked to Ze...