The Weak Gods of The Iliad, Odyssey and Gilgamesh
The Oxford English Dictionary defines god as Ò1. A being conceived as the
perfect, omnipotent, omniscient ruler and originator of the universe, the
principal object of faith and worship in monotheist religions. 2. A being of
supernatural powers, believed in and worshipped by a people.Ó The first
definition reflects Modern AmericaÕs connotation of the word god. The latter
recalls the Ancient Greco-Sumerian ideal of a being greater than man. While
both definitions are equally valid in literature, many perceive the word only in
the first view. However, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic of Gilgamesh
portray gods with limits and weaknesses. The contemporary Christian god is
able to demand things of his followers, readily expecting wholehearted and
unquestioning obedience. This was not the case with his ancient counterparts.
Rather than exacting demands upon their followers, occasionally the ancient
gods were limited to requests. Often they were refused. In the Odyssey, the
goddesses Circe and Calypso both expected lifelong commitments from the
mighty Odysseus. Both promised great things to the hero, including godhood.
Odysseus was able to refuse both goddesses. Human obstinacy beat out the
whims of goddesses. If the Protestant god were to make sexual demands upon
his followers, more than likely, he would not be refused. One could argue,
though, that Odysseus did give in to the goddesses by bedding them. Always
though, his focus eventually shifted to returning home and reuniting with his
mortal wife. Homer portrayed a man who refused immortal beauty for true love:
ÒShe is mortal after all, and you are immortal and ageless. But even so, what I
want and all my days I pine for is to go back to my house and see my day of
homecoming. And if some god batters me far out on the wide blue water, I will
endure it, keeping a stubborn spirit within me, for I have already suffered
much (93-94).Ó Thus, the mortal Odysseus was able to deny the temptations
of the goddesses multiple times. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, another goddessÕ
whims are put down. Ishtar, goddess of war and love becomes attracted to the
mighty but mortal Gilgamesh. But rather than jumping right into the sack with
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
In Greek mythology, there are many, many gods and goddesses that the people prayed to on a regular basis for everyday things we take for granted. There was usually a different deity for anything a person wanted to pray for: love, money, children, success or almost anything else one could think of or want. People today are amazed at the number of gods there were and how people could remember which god did what. We study these today but still get easily confused, which is understandable. Athena was a very prominent goddess, especially in Athens and she is also featured throughout Homer’s Odyssey. Many confuse her with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Actually, Athena is known as the goddess of war, practical reason, wisdom, and handicraft. She was also known as the protector of the city of Athens.
Based on Three Reasons College Still Matters, there are three main reasons why a college education is so important. From an economical standpoint, an education is most of the time needed to earn enough money to live comfortably. Attending and completing college provides a possibility for future economic stability. Within a highly competitive workforce a college degree can put a foot in the door to a job of a person’s choice. Statistics show that people who obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher get paid more than those who do not obtain one. Many question the worth of a college degree because of how expensive it is, though some say that the money spent is an investment on a person’s future. One can say that the worth of a college education is within the eye of the beholder. Many q...
"Did you know that 125 million women have experienced female genital mutilation worldwide, and 3 million girls estimate at risk of the procedure each year"? (Facts to End FGM). Female genital mutilation is a procedure for females that implicates partial or total removal of the female genital organs. This procedure intentionally alters or causes injury to the female that can have short and long-term health risks with no benefits. In recent years, the practice of female genital mutilation has been increasingly in the news, generating a complex debate about cultural norms and the worth of sexual functioning (Nussbaum 13). Female genital mutilation is known in terms such as female circumcision and female genital cutting. Female circumcision is the action or traditional practices of cutting off the clitoris and sometimes the labia of girls or young women. FGM contemplates as a dull violation of human rights for women and girls. There are four types of FGM operations. The first type is excision or removal of the clitoral hood, that is either with or without removal of parts or all of the clitoris. The second type is the removal of the clitoris together with parts or all the labia minora. The third type is the removal of or all the external genitalia. The fourth type is a variety of procedures that includes, scraping or cutting of the vagina and surrounding tissues. "The World Health Organization estimates that overall, in today's world between 85 and 115 million women have had such operations" (Nussbaum 13).
Yirga, Kassa, Gebremichael (2012). Female Genital Mutilation: Prevalence, perceptions and effect on women’s health. International Journal of Women’s Health, 4, 45-54.
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, gods are presented as remarkably human in almost every way. While it is assumed that gods are divine entities incapable of human transgression, they are portrayed with all the flaws of mortals in The Iliad. The gods are a manifestation of human emotions consequently helping to explain the behavior of the humans in The Iliad. The actions of the heroes are what determine their fate, not divine intervention. Ultimately, the humans in The Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of
“Nine days the arrows of god swept through the army.” (Homer, The Iliad, 1.61) The Iliad written by Homer portrayed the war between the Achaeans and the Trojans. In addition to the mortals fighting each other gods also intervened in the war between the two sides, the gods in The Iliad played very significant roles in the battles; they brought divine powers on to the mortal sides of the war, Greek gods embody many human characteristics, there are many themes in The Iliad that construct the interventions of the gods, lust, jealousy, revenge, anger, pride, and favoritism are some of the reasons why the gods of Olympus got involved in the Trojan War. The gods of Olympus used humans as their puppets while the gods engaged themselves in conflict against each other.
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.
In The Odyssey, the hierarchical relationship between both gods and humans is a key aspect in the overarching unity that is the epic. These can both be in contrast with each other and it can been seen that there are similarities between the types of people we meet in The Odyssey as well as the gods we meet also. Homer uses this theme and system of hierarchy to effectively display aspects of his worlds though The Odyssey. The main features that help prove this point are: that society within The Odyssey is hierarchical, the upper class and the servants (with equivalent gods) are focussed on, (Hierarchy of Greek Gods, 2015) and finally, the gods parallel their respective opposites on earth. These features help to show Homers world of The Odyssey.
Book Four of The Iliad demonstrates the importance of the gods in the events of the Trojan War, during the quarrel between Hera and Zeus and the aftermath of this argument. The importance of this scene, approximately lines 60 through 90 of Book Four, is that it clearly establishes the fact that the gods influence and meddle with the events and the course of the war. This particular passage illustrates the consequences which the plotting of the gods causes both the Greeks and the Trojans, as Hera’s plotting and hatred of the Trojans results in the violation of an oath, in order to ensure the destruction of the Trojans.
Religion was deeply intertwined the culture of the ancient Greeks. In their stories, they prayed to the gods to satisfy their needs and offer assistance in their endeavors, and the gods would occasionally appear to select Greeks to give counsel, gifts, or other forms of aid. Alternatively, if the desires or endeavors of a mortal or mortals displeased one or more of the gods, they would also interfere with the fulfillment of their goals. In Homer’s Odyssey, the gods appear to or interfere with both Telemachus and Odysseus, either to help or hinder them in their journeys. Although the gods are responsible the difficulty Odysseus faces returning from Troy, they are equally responsible for motivating and assisting Odysseus and Telemachus in their respective travels. If not for divine interference, neither Odysseus nor Telemachus would have journeys to make.
When people think about ancient Greece most minds think of the Olympics and Greek mythology. Some may think of the temple architecture and others may think of art. But there is a lot more to ancient Greece than this. Yes these things are very major but there are a lot of things people don’t know about ancient Greece. Have you ever wondered where the original idea for country clubs comes from? It comes from ancient Greece’s gymnasium. Did you ever think about how women were treated or what women did in ancient Greece times? Did you know that women had their own Olympics called the games of Hera? Did you know that at a cretin point in time the Olympics were banned? Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a kid, a slave or a ruler in ancient Greece times? These questions just prove that there is so much more to ancient Greece than the Olympics and mythology.
treachery among the Gods that is so prevalent in the Iliad, is nowhere to be
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Homer in his time painted a picture of male kings, soldiers, and heroes objectifying and owning women as their due spoils of leadership and/or conquests in games or war. In the Iliad the glory of the men in battle and games and individual fame were the main topics. There was an idea that a code of men existed which must be followed and if it were, that even immortality itself might be won. Contrastingly, in the Odyssey, women remained lovely and feminine yet were cast in to powerful roles both as goddesses and mortals. These goddesses held the life of Odysseus in their hands and his mortal wife Penelope held his future in her hands as she protected their home (Ahrensdorf 589). Penelope is cast in a “to the manner born” depiction in that Homer tells us she is the wife of a king, mother of a prince, and daughter of a king (Fagles 256/ book XIX). The king that was Penelope’s father was King of Sparta, Icarius the fastest runner of his time and only let Odysseus marry her because of losing a footrace to him.