The Odyssey and the Iliad

The Odyssey and the Iliad

In our day and age, people strive for independence and a sense of authority. However, at many times this is more easily said than done. Whether it be God, or in the eyes of the Achaeans and Trojans, the immortals, lives and actions are commonly defined by a higher being. Which leads to Homer’s epic poems the Odyssey and the Iliad which deal with constant conflict in a world where the mortals are not even masters of their own destiny. The main character Odysseus, and the two armies, the Achaeans and the Trojans have little control over their own fate. Their destinies are defined by the gods. The gods demonstrate their control through prophecy, omens, and the intervention amongst the humans below them. Because of the control exercised by the gods, the characters are forced to become dependent on them, and fear their all mighty hand.

The story of The Iliad, deals with two armies, the Achaeans and the Trojans. In the war, the Achaians are trying to sack the city of Troy. The Trojans, the defenders of the city, are led by the powerful warriors Hector and Paris, while the Achaeans are led by Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus and several other powerful men. The story concludes with the Achaeans on the verge of sacking Troy because their greatest warrior, Hector, died by the hand of Achilles.

The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus’s homeward journey after the Trojan War. Odysseus was afflicted with suffering on his homeward voyage, because he blinded the Cyclops, Poseidon’s son. When he finally reached his home of Ithaca, he found several men trying to steal his wealth and woo his wife, Penelope. This story ends with Odysseus saving his land Ithaca from the suitors.

In both stories, the characters respect the god’s prophecy, and assume it to be true. Odysseus, who devised the plan of the Wooden Horse knew, “it was their fate to perish when the city should admit the great Wooden Horse'; , and realized it was the only way to succeed in sacking the city of Troy. Similarly, never did Achilles question Zeus’s prophecy that “Hector was to have a short life and already the day of his death was being driven upon him by Pallas Athene through the strength of Achilles...

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...ing Sarpedon. In anger for him brilliant Achilles shall kill Hector.

Achilles did not encourage his friend Patroklos’ death, however, he knew that if Zeus had pronounced it, it was inevitable. Achilles had no way of avoiding his friends destiny.

Poseidon despised Odysseus, because he blinded his Cyclops son Polyphemos.

Odysseus found himself in a paradox; it was his fate to blind Polyphemos, and yet he made Poseidon angry for fulfilling his prophecy (O,p.110). In the situation there was nothing Odysseus could have done to prevent Poseidon’s wrath.

The control that the gods have over the mortals is remarkable. Zeus and the other immortals, seldom allow the mortals any freewill. The characters are forced to live their lives knowing that nothing they do, will reflect the outcome of their fate. Therefore, resisting would be a worthless gesture. Although they are known for their strength and perseverance, they are rarely considered as being pawns controlled by the all mighty gods.

Bibliography

Lattimore, Richard The Iliad of Homer, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963.

Rouse, W.H.D. Homer The Odyssey, New York: The New American Library, Inc., 1937.