The Role Of Zeus in Homer's Iliad

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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

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