The Role Of Zeus in Homer's Iliad
In the era of Homer, divine intervention was thought to be typical, and one of his
foremost works, The Iliad, reflects this. Nearly all of the Greek gods are
involved in the outcome of the Trojan War, which happens to be the
background story of this epic poem. The gods are used by Homer to add
twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. I shall concentrate on Zeus,
however, and reflect on his actions and their outcomes on the Trojan War,
and more importantly, the story of The Iliad. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek
god in his lack of involvem7ent in the Trojan War for selfish reasons, was
portrayed as the father figure, being impartial and fair to both sides of the war.
He remains this way to serve as a check for each god's involvement in the
war. Without his presence at the head of the inner circle of Olympus, it is likely
that the activity of the Trojan War would become chaotic, possibly even
becoming a playground of war for the gods. With Zeus's majestic power,
above all of the other gods combined, along with his experience, he is quite
befitting to his role in the storyline of The Iliad. The Iliad was thought to be
written by a Greek minstrel named Homer. The Iliad was the first of the major
epics credited to him, the second being The Odyssey. Discussion about
Homer among scholars inevitably leads to controversy on nearly every
conceivable issue, ranging from his birthplace to his actual composition of
either of these epics. Because of our lack of reliable information, we have but
a small fragment of knowledge agreed on by scholars about the writer of the
first great piece of literature of Western civilization. Homer in ancient Greece
was conceived as a "blind, old man, singing or reciting his own compositions"
(History of Horticulture), and at least seven ancient Greek cities claimed to be
his birthplace. His work has been questioned as to two separate ways: if one
minstrel, possibly named Homer, composed these works alone, and if so, if
this minstrel wrote both of these epics. It has been argued that Homer is, in
fact, the collective progression of minstrels that have passed this
ever-evolving tale down until it was inscribed into the epic that we have today.
The opposite has been argued also, however. Concerning the second
question, that of if Homer wrote both The Iliad and The Odyssey, several
points have been brought up. One point brought up is the fact that they have
been thought to be written over a generation apart, which, if true, makes it
very unlikely for one man to have composed both of these classic epics. The
other point brought up is the amount of variances in the writing of these epics,
especially in writing style and word choice and phrasing. It has been proposed
by several scholars that the authors of The Iliad and The Odyssey be named
Homer I and Homer II, respectively. However the origin of these epics, they are
classics and served as cornerstones for the early Western literature, and
possibly even modern as well. The Iliad has been ascribed to Homer in
approximately 750 BC. This would put his writing several centuries after the
completion of the Trojan War, currently thought to have occurred in 1185 BC.
Homer is writing in what historians call the Dark Ages of Greek history, in
which the Greek population saw a virtual elimination of literacy. By the time his
epics were composed, literacy had begun to return, which is one of the
reasons his works became so popular. Homer reflects on a different time,
almost a half millenium earlier, reflecting on an era known as the Heroic Age.
This contrasts directly with the contemporary society of Homer, in which the
quality of life dropped tremendously. The Iliad, in essence, recounts the story
of part of the tenth year of the Trojan War. It recounts of the anger of Achilles,
the greatest warrior present at Troy, and of the background battle that is
ensuing. The background story of the Trojan War is assumed to be known by
the reader, and Homer focuses his energies on expanding the characters of
the epic, showing the reader that he is more a dramatist than a pure historian,
writing for pleasurable purposes rather than strictly educational purposes.
The main theme of The Iliad is the anger of Achilles, even starting in the first line of
the play. The wrath of Achilles is brought on by the irrational actions of the
leader of the Greek forces, Agamemnon. Achilles refuses to fight against the
Trojans, and the Greeks suffer accordingly without their top warrior. Two other
themes are intertwined around this main theme, one being the Trojan War,
and the final being the will of Zeus, my subject. These intertwining themes
meet in the end of the epic, when Achilles' wrath is curbed and he returns to
battle. The role of Zeus in Homer's Iliad is one of moderator and the overall
director of all that occurs in this story. His position was to ensure that whatever
fate decreed would happen. As I stated before, without his presence, the story
would likely become a war playground for the gods instead of the Greeks and
Trojans. Zeus stayed impartial throughout almost the entire epic in contrast to
the other gods, who would scheme and contrive plans for the sides that they
chose to ally with. For example, Hera, his wife, chose to display the more
typical actions of a Greek divinity. Paris, a Trojan prince, chose Aphrodite as
the fairest over Hera and Athena, and this infuriated her, and she went to no
end to try to help the Greek army defeat the Trojan side (Classics in
Translation, 14). However, Hera recognizes the superiority of Zeus over
herself as well as the rest of the Olympian gods. Hera is obviously the
subservient god, even becoming afraid and ceasing speaking when Zeus
orders her under the possible occurrence of him laying his "invincible" hands
on her (Iliad, Book I, 30). She does try to undermine his power by trickery,
slyly getting him to sleep while her and her brother, Poseidon, god of the
seas, influence the war in the favor of the Greeks (Iliad, Book XIV, 334).
However, when Zeus awakens, his reemergence into the picture effectively
eliminates the other gods from intervening in the war due to his sheer will and
backing power (Iliad, Book XV, 349). The opposing gods were mainly Apollo
and Artemis, twin brother and sister. They favored the Trojan side, and were
constantly turning the tide in favor of the Trojans. Apollo respected Zeus and
his enforcing of the laws of fate, however, and kept fate as it was deemed to
be. An example of this is when Achilles' servant, Patroclus, tries to take the
city of Troy. Before Patroclus was allowed to wear Achilles' armor into battle,
he promised only to drive the Trojans away from the ships and not to take an
offensive against the city of Troy. Only the reflection of Patroclus by Apollo's
shield three times prevents this. This lack of moderation shown by Patroclus,
as well as the deeming of death before the end of battle by fate, granted by
Zeus, leads to his death (Iliad, Book XVI, 398). Zeus serves as an enforcer of
fate in the epic, giving no ground to anyone, even his blood relatives. Zeus
also shows no mercy to mortals in The Iliad. His own son, Sarpedon, was
allowed to die at the hands of Patroclus while Zeus looked on, unwilling to
break fate and save even his own son. Zeus was debating whether or not to
take him from the battlefield, but Hera convinced him by expressing the
feelings other gods would have, namely anger. She told him that he would not
be praised and that other gods would possibly take their loved ones out of
battle as well (Iliad, Book XVI, 391). Zeus was confined to his own sorrow
because he was not willing to take his son out of the battle. Zeus was able,
however, to have Apollo take his body from the battlefield and take him back
to Lykia, where he could be buried as a hero (Iliad, Book XVI, 397). Patroclus,
another example somewhat discussed previously, was also fated to die when
he took an offensive against the Trojan city. It was fated for him to die in
battle, and it was Zeus "who then aroused the spirit in Patroclus' breast"
Classics In Translation, 37). This led him into his inescapable fate, to which
Zeus was unerring and emotionless. Zeus will only enter into the fray of the
Trojan War if fate is not being followed, and will only alter situations until fate
has been met. At the end of the epic, when Achilles is finally roused back into
battle, he turns the fate of the war so much to the Greek side that Zeus
temporarily allows the other gods back into the war to ensure the city of Troy
is only sacked when fate decrees, and not a second earlier. Zeus interferes in
the war in areas that fate has nothing to do with, such as glory and honor.
Zeus helps Hector, the main hero of the Trojan side, in his attainment of honor
when he takes the armor of Achilles off the body of Patroclus. Only Achilles
could fit into the incredible armor, but with Zeus' intervention, Hector was
enabled to fit into the armor as well, proving himself no less of a man than
Achilles (Iliad, Book XVII, 408). Zeus knew of the fate of death of Hector at the
hands of Achilles, and felt that the increase in honor of Hector was necessary.
Zeus also wanted a respectable and honorable death for Hector, the Trojan
hero, and was infuriated when Achilles decided to desecrate the body of
Hector. This epic ends when Hector's body is ransomed back to the Trojan
side to the pleasure of Zeus, in essence wrapping together the themes of the
wrath of Achilles and the presence of all-powerful Zeus. Zeus has an
overriding presence in The Iliad, sometimes not directly present, but always in
the mix. He is the only presence in the epic that stresses the Greek ideals of
moderation and fate. The Greeks believed in the ideal of moderation, and the
essence that moderation was the key to becoming a better person. Fate also
could not be avoided in the eyes of the Greeks, and when fate was trifled with,
bad things happened, as they did when fate was trifled with in The Iliad.
The presence of Zeus in the epic affected every action taken or avoided in some
shape, way, or form. His allowance of other gods intervening in the war at
times strengthens the idea that he is all-seeing, all-powerful, due to the fact
that the other gods' intervention inevitably led fate back onto its original
course. In the eyes of the Greeks, the Trojan War was a spectacular event to
the mortals, but to the gods, it was nothing more than a mere petty struggle.
However, the idea of fate must always be kept under all circumstances, and
Zeus was the overseeing power that ensured this in The Iliad.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MacKendrick, Paul. The Iliad. Classics In Translation. Vol. I. Pp. 11-48.
University of Wisconsin Press. 1980.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Fitzgerald, Robert. Dell Publishing. 1974.
Bloom, Harold. The Iliad - Modern Critical Interpretations. Chelsea House Publishing. 1987. History of Horticulture - Homer http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/hort/001.
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