Deus ex Machina and Fate vs. Dutyin Homer's The Iliad and Virgil's The Aeneid
The actions taken by the gods in the works of Homer's The Iliad and Virgil's The Aeneid are numerous and important. Both works gain their momentum from the activities of the gods, and without these heavenly actors the two stories would quickly become stagnant and fizzle out into inaction. The central divine driving force in both of the works is the wrath of two female gods: Juno(Hera:Greek) and Minerva(Athena:Greek). These two are responsible for much of the driving force in the two stories as they settle their vendetta with the Paris and the Trojans. As a result, and for purposes of scope, this essay will examine specifically the effects of the godly intervention on the Trojans and Troy.
In The Iliad the actions of the gods culminate into the beginning of the end for Troy. Hector is slain with the help of Minerva. Achilles is properly prodded into fighting through the death of Patroclus, who for all intents and purposes is handed over if not slain at the hand of Apollo himself. Any god with anything to say to the contrary has their hands tied by fate. With Troy's hero Hector fallen the city is all but lost.
In the beginning of The Aeneid the Trojans still can't escape their tormentors even after the fall of Troy. Sure enough, "Hell hath no fury...", and at Juno's request Aeolus unleashes a great storm upon the Trojans, and they are forced to land near Carthage. The landed party is led by Aeneus, son of Venus(Aphrodite:Greek). Venus, concerned for her son, appeals to Jupiter(Zeus:Greek) for help. Jupiter reassures her that Aeneus and the Trojans will have a bright future. Venus with Cupid and Jupiter with Mercury(Hermes:Greek) ease Aeneus into the good graces of Dido. In comparison to Homer's work the divine intervention in Virgil's seems to be that of slightly more mature gods. In The Iliad the gods are just as, if not more, emotional than some of the mortal characters. "This provoked and angry response from Hera: [...] But Hector is mortal and suckled at a woman's breast, while Achilles is born of a goddess whom I nourished and reared myself" (XXIV:60) The more mature gods in Virgil's work convey a much more responsible feeling which provides better "sure footing" for the story.
Book two of Virgil's work describes the fall of Troy.
Similarly, like Dido, the goddess Juno is portrayed by Virgil as emotional and enraged. He carefully paints the picture that; not only the women are on earth are swayed by their emotion, but also the female goddesses is subject to emotions. In the opening of Book I create a picture that not only is women emotionally, but they are petty; and the smallest amount of insult or threat generates an emotional response. And Virgil justifies this reason when he states the reason for Juno’s anger towards the Trojans, especially Aeneas. And it is because the Trojan goddess voted against in the beauty contest and also because she knows that the Trojans will one day destroy her beloved city of Carthage. Even though these things are things of the distant past for Juno, it shows that
Homer’s Iliad has been a European myth for many millennia , the long poetic narrative written in the 8th century B.C. recounts a fearsome war fought over a beautiful woman. The reliability of Homers Iliad as a true historical document has been challenged for hundreds of years and only through archaeological studies can the truth be deciphered. The Iliad was written five centuries after the war, where the stories had been passed down through the oral tradition, therefore the type of society reflected within the poems resemble much more the time of Homer . The fact and fiction of the Iliad has been uncovered through archaeology. Archaeologist found a site in which they thought to have been ‘Troy’ destroyed by the powerful country of Mycenae in the late Bronze Age. They found large amount of material culture from where they could reconstruct the society, this included pottery, engravings, murals and clay tablets. A reason for the Trojan War has always inspired great controversy. The Trojan War according to Homer was fought over the abduction of a beautiful women but this theory appears improbable. Other causes which could have sparked a war is Troy’s geographical positioning. This made it extremely opulent, where other countries of the Aegean would trade there goods and use its harbour. The Mycenaean’s being an extremely imperial, violent and militaristic country would have seen Troy as a great opportunity to gain territory and wealth, on this motive the war took place.
Throughout the entire Aeneid, the Trojans are basically puppets in the hands of the gods. The gods are so involved in the daily happenings of the Trojans that the entire plotline evolves around their actions. Foremost, we see Juno's intervention in the lives of the mortals and the actions of the other gods to counteract hers. Juno is so deeply affected by the Judgement of Paris, that she seeks revenge on the Trojans throughout the entire epic. She intervenes in the safe trip of the Trojans to Italy by summoning up fierce winds that destroy one ship and strand the others separated in Africa.
Aeneas is the son of Venus. This fact alone brings about much of the hero in him. Venus, a concerned mother, always looks out for her son. She does everything she thinks will help to ensure his safety and success. At the beginning of his journey from Troy, she prevents his death at sea. Juno has persuaded King Aeolus to cause vicious storms, rocking Aeneas' fleet and nearly killing all of them. Venus then goes to Jupiter and begs him to help Aeneas: Venus appealed to him, all pale and wan, With tears in her shining eyes:
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
The interaction between gods and mortals, is shown from the first paragraph. Virgil lets us know that Aeneas is not even at fault but Juno despises him.
In both The Iliad and The Aeneid, the main hero has a comrade to fight by their side who is subsequently killed by an enemy leader, whom the hero then kills in revenge. In book 12 of Virgil's Aeneid, the two main warriors, Aeneas and Turnus, are driven by hatred, contention for the love of a woman, and the desire for revenge. Each slaughters his adversaries without mercy. Neither of these characters appears attractive, but as for Aeneas, he comes off as an unsympathetic character, both cold and inhibited. Compared with Achilles, Aeneas is merely a shadow of a man. Aeneas is a reflection of the ideal Roman, in whom reverence for the gods and courage are combined. Throughout The Aeneid, Aeneas is so controlled by fate, visions, and divine intervention
The gods in power, like Zeus, exhibit bias, dishonor, betrayal, deception, and many other humanly characteristics. One memorable scene is when Zeus and Poseidon are in conflict with each other over the Achaens versus the Trojans. Zeus controls the battle by “lifting the famous runner Achilles’ glory higher,” (Homer 13: 404). Zeus plays both sides in this scene, acting like a double agent which is dishonorable. Zeus’s bias is prevalent throughout the poem; specifically, he is “bent on wiping out the Argives, down to the last man,” (Homer 12: 81-82). Just like mortals such as Agamemnon and Achilles view each other with suspicion and intolerance, the gods experience identical emotions of wariness, anger, and irritation. This human-like behavior is not restricted to Zeus. Later in the text, Hera lies to Aphrodite to use her powers to manipulate her own husband Zeus. If one looks at Hera as a heavenly entity, her reaction may not make sense, but when it is viewed as a manifestation of human emotion, it become almost reasonable. Her scheming response to Zeus’s meddling with the war is spurred by her support for the Trojans. Hera’s manipulation and Aphrodite’s ego don’t stand alone as examples of this divine humanity. These instances suggest that the deities are being presented in this unique way to help explain behavior of the humans in The
...tling over Helen, Zeus sending the dream to Agamemnon, and Thetis convincing Zeus in the aid of the Trojans. We can see how the Gods affected the plot of the Iliad. If we were to eliminate them, the movie Troy makes more sense. In the movie, since Zeus did not send a dream to Agamemnon he had no real reason to attack Troy. But because Aphrodite was not there to save Paris from his death in the duel with Menelaus, Hector had to save him and death of Menelaus was the perfect motive for Agamemnon to take Troy. The addition of these changes was beneficial to the movie, if one is looking at it from the standpoint of a businessman. These changes allowed the audience to feel more emotion towards the characters, thus allowing them to “bond” with them. In the end of the Iliad, most of the characters die, and as we all know, that is the worst way to end a Blockbuster movie.
Book Six of The Iliad depicts one of the most interesting conflicts depicted by Homer in this poem, one that occurs between both Hector and Paris in a passage approximately between 380 through 410. Through the context and language Homer uses to illustrate this conflict also explores certain characteristics of these two Trojans. This characterization of Hector and Paris is important as it scrutinizes the brotherly relationship that exists between these characters, offering insight into their personalities and characteristics. The language that Homer uses to describe the conflict in this particular passage establishes the relationship and characteristics of Hector and Paris through the conflict, highlighting the fundamental aspects and values
The Iliad is a classic epic poem written by Homer about the Trojan War and the rage of an Achaean warrior, Achilles. The book introduces the reader to the war and the personal battle between Achilles and King Agamemnon; because of this argument between these two major characters, Homer introduces the role of the gods when Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to go to Zeus and beg for his interference on Achilles’ behalf. The major role the gods play in the Iliad is their interference in the Trojan War as immortal versus immortal and mortal versus immortal.
One of the most compelling topics The Iliad raises is that of the intricate affiliations between fate, man and the gods. Many events related by Homer in his epic poem exhibit how these three connections interweave and eventually determine the very lives of the men and women involved in the war. Homer leaves these complex relationships slightly unclear throughout the epic, never spelling out the exact bonds connecting men's fate to the gods and what can be considered the power of fate. The motivation for the ambiguousness present in The Iliad is not easily understood, but it is a question that enriches and helps weave an even greater significance of the results into Homer's masterpiece. I feel that the interaction between man, god, and fate can be shown to be one great fluidity that ultimately leaves life mysterious, giving much more depth and complexity to the bonds between the three.
The Iliad is not a story about the Trojan War at all, the war is just to set the stage for Homer to bring together the swift footed Achilles and Hector, the Prince of Troy, so they can be compared. The Iliad starts with how Achilles is dishonored by Agamemnon and withdraws from the war and ends with his return to the fight and eventually falling at the end. Hector is brought into the story and displays through his character what a real hero should be like.
Homer’s The Iliad: Book XX features a battle between the Trojans and Achaians, shortly after Patroklus’ death (Lattimore Book XVI), where the gods must intervene in order to restrain Achilleus’ destructive nature that becomes amplified due to the grief and wrath as a result of the loss of his cousin/lover. The divine foresaw an early fall of Troy caused by the intensified destructive nature of Achilleus, therefore they interfered in the battle to protect a bigger ideal of fate, a fate of a nation, by manipulating smaller ideals of fate, the fates of people’s lives(Lattimore 405). At the beginning of the battle, after the gods descended from Olympus, they decide to sit and just watch how their mortal teams will fend for themselves until Apollo takes form as Lykoan and coerce Aeneias to challenge Achilleus, thus establishing the first act of divine intervention (Lattimore 406-407). When Achilleus is inches away from killing Aeneias, Poseidon takes sympathy upon him and whisks him off to safety (Lattimore 407-411). The last interference occurs during the confrontation between Hektor and Achilleus, where Achilleus is about to murder him and Apollo saves Hektor (Lattimore 416). Hektor’s rescue in this battle is an important event in the Iliad because Achilleus’ and Hektor’s fates are interrelated, further meaning that if Hektor die...
Greek mythology has systematically included the intervention of gods and goddesses in matters of the mortal world, and Homer’s The Iliad is no different. The story is littered with divine intervention, with both positive and negative outcomes for the humans involved.