Group B Blog Post: The Iliad

After reading the Iliad, especially Books 1-2 and 22-24, I have noticed that the Gods play a huge role in the relationship between the main characters, war, and athletics. From the war, I have noticed that the Gods often take sides on the war and can help or hurt certain people in the situations that they are faced with. For example, in Book one when Chryses's daughter was taken by Agamemnon, Apollo helps Chryses out by putting a plague on the Achaeans to hurt their forces in the war. The seer Kalchas says, "Therefore the archer sent griefs against us and will send them still, nor sooner thrust back the shameful plague from the Danaans until we give the glancing-eyed girl back to her father..." (Book 1, lines 96-98). As you can see, Apollo wants to help out the Trojans by hurting the Achaeans with a plague so that Chryses can get his daughter back. To stop this plague, Chryses's daughter must be returned and as a result, Agamemnon doesn't want to go empty handed and demands Achille's girl Briseis. This results in fighting between them and Agamemnon taking Briseis. Achilles is very angered and wants to get revenge on Agamemnon by using his mother Thetis's connection to Zeus. This results in even more conflict because while Zeus has supported the Trojans in the war, his wife Hera supports the Achaeans. When Zeus responds to Thetis, he says, "This is a disastrous matter when you set me in conflict with Hera, and she troubles me with recriminations. Since even as things are, forever among the immortals she is at me and speaks of how I help the Trojans in battle" (Book 1, lines 518-521). Because the Gods have so much power and often take sides in the war, this creates a lot of conflicts in their relationships between the mortals.

Another example of the Gods playing a role in the war is when Zeus takes Achilles's word of harming Agamemnon by sending a dangerous dream to Agamemnon to attack the Trojans immediately the next morning. When Zeus is addressing the dream to Agamemnon, he says, "Go forth, evil Dream, beside the swift ships of the Achaians. Bid him arm the flowing-haired Achaeans for battle in all haste; since now he might take the wide-wayed city of the Trojans" (Book 2, lines 8, 11-13). Zeus wants Agamemnon's forces to attack Troy because he knows that they will have a hard chance at winning and he knows that Agamemnon will definitely listen to a dream sent by the greatest God Zeus.

Finally, not only do the Gods interfere with the war, but they can also help the athletes in competition. In Book 23, Achilles hosts the funeral games to honor the life of his best friend in combat, Patroclus. The first event is the chariot race, however, Apollo is still angry at one of the competitors Diomedes who is an Achaean. To hurt him in the race, Apollo knocks the whip out of his hand, but Athena sees the foul play and stops it immediately. In this passage, Homer says, "...Apollo been angry with Diomedes and dashed the shining whip from his hands... Yet Athene did not fail to see the foul play of Apollo on Tydeus' son" (Book 23, lines 383-384, 387-389). Another example is when Odysseus and Aias are neck and neck in the footrace and Odysseus makes a prayer to Athena to give him an advantage. He says, "Hear me goddess; be kind; and come with strength for my footsteps" (Book 23, line 770). As a result, Athena was able to make Odysseus stronger along with forcing Aias to fall. As you can see from the funeral games, the Gods play a huge roll in helping certain athletes win and this also shows what kind of relationships the main characters have with the Gods.