Zeus Involvement In War

The Gods have been interfering with mortal conflicts since the beginning of the book from beginning to end. They interfered with relationships, aided people in battle and have been killing mortals since the beginning of the book. Without their involvement in the book the story would’ve been very different if they hadn’t interfered with mortal conflicts. The War was bloody and raged on for nine years, and although the Greeks destroyed the surrounding Trojan territory, they could do little damage to the city. Many of the Greek gods were involved in the war. Athena, Hera and Poseidon frequently helped the Greeks, while Aphrodite and Ares defended the city of Troy. One moment where there was heavy involvement was the very beginning of the book

Even when his own son, Sarpedon, was about to die, Zeus chose to let the outcome go unaltered. However when Zeus would turn his back Poseidon tried to help the Greeks in the fight. Zeus acted as a balance of sorts throughout the Iliad. He had to keep the gods in order and make sure that what fate decreed would happen. 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's 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 Hektor was going to be killed by Achilles, and, feeling sorry for Hektor Zeus attempted to allow Hektor to die an honorable death. For instance, when Hektor stripped Achilles armor off Patroklos, Zeus helped Hektor fill out the armor so he would not seem like less of a man then Achilles. Zeus also gave his word to Thetis that Achilles would gain much glory showing his involvement on a personal level. However one thing that Zeus had done was when Achilles decides to sit out the war and whine, and so he asks his mother, Thetis, to punish his fellow Achaeans. Thetis complains about mortality, then goes and grabs Zeus' knee, and Zeus agrees to make the Achaeans suck in battle for a while so they will have to kiss up to Achilles to get him to rejoin the