The Illiad Essay Research Paper The American — страница 2

  • Просмотров 292
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 16
    Кб

gods were constantly on watch to make sure the mortals never gained too much power, almost as if the were terribly insecure about the power they possessed compared to the power of the mortals that they thought they controlled. The very premise of the Epic of Gilgamesh involved a hero who almost equaled the gods. In the beginning of the epic, the gods sought to control and destroy Gilgamesh by creating an antihero to defeat him. Later, the equals join, building the insecurities of the gods. Eventually, the gods afflict Enkidu, ally of Gilgamesh with a fatal disease, by that stopping the power of the dynamic duo. Perhaps this fear of the mortal’s strength was a legible concern of the gods. The Iliad depicts a Diomed?s who rallied against many Trojans. When Aphrodite stepped in

his way, he stabbed the goddess, and she fled to Olympus to cry on her mother’s lap: “Oh my wound! Diomedes hit me! that bully! because I was trying to save my own son Aineias, my darling favorite! This war of the Trojans has become a war of Achaians against gods (64)!” In response, her mother, Dione speaks of past things humans have done to the Olympians: Make the best of it my love. Be patient even if it hurts. Many of us Olympians have had to make the best of what men do, and we have brought much trouble upon one another. Ares made the best of it, when Otos and Ephialtes made him their prisoner ? they shut him up in a brazen jar for thirteen months. Indeed that would have been the end of the greedy fighter, ……. Hermes stole him away, when he was already in great

distress from his cruel prison (65). The gods were challenged by the power of the mightiest humans and went to great lengths to stop these people. Eventually, Zeus, the strongest god, tries to encourage the gods to involve themselves in the war. Consequently, the war continued to drag on without the intervention of the gods for quite a while. Achilles fighting by the river with Aeneas brought the god Scamander in the fighting; Scamander’s involvement brings in Hephaestus and then all the other gods begin fighting in the Trojan war. Zeus’ sublime request for the gods to take on their part in the war resulted in little response, but a mortal’s fighting led to an uproar action of the gods in the war (Duzer 57-66). When multiple gods coexist, disagreement will occur. The gods

always held different opinions regarding the treatment of humans, and there was always someone to help the humans escape from the gods’ wrath. Homer’s Odyssey depicted a god attempting to destroy a specific human. Poseidon continually attempted to destroy Odysseus. But on numerous occasions, other gods were present to help the hero survive. When Poseidon sent Odysseus’ ship in the wrong direction, Aeoleus gave the hero a bag which encaptured every counterproductive wind. When Odysseus fell into the sea after departing from Calypso’s island, Ino, a sea nymph, gave him an enchanted scarf to aid his directional sense. Athena also made constant provision, saving Odysseus from destruction and hopelessness many times. A major weakness of the pantheist structure was the discord

among the gods. The pantheon limited the power of the members within it (Duzer 57-66). The gods are also guilty of hubris in these works. It is almost as though they are so arrogant that they find humor in watching the humans struggle. In The Illiad, Zeus decides to watch the humans fight instead of helping them. “These mortals do concern me, dying as they are. Still, here I stay on Olympus throned aloft, here in my steep mountain cleft, to feast my eyes and delight my heart.” ( Homer Book 20, 26-29). Melchert describes this scene like the way we watch soap operas on television today, with no real purpose to help, just out of entertainment or comical purposes (8-9). In opposition to the fact that the gods are limiting and faulty, Jin Chung states the “although the God’s

are associated with human and ?anthropomorphic’ qualities, there is a distinct division between God and man.” He points out that throughout works such as Gilgamesh, The Illiad and The Odyssey, the strongest of mortals would have no strength if it were not for the god’s that govern and lead them. He continues to take the side of the immortal by claiming that this type literature conveys the view of the immortal gods as “omniscent and powerful beings” (5-10). Another view is to keep the mortal thoughts for the mortals and let the gods be divine. The humans should not think that they can find immortality like Gilgamesh set out to do. They should accept their fate and live life to the best as the gods told Gilgamesh. This concept is conveyed in the work composed by a