Ziu, Jeju
The Iliad presents deities who liked to intercept and interfere in political matters of
the mortal world. A few gods decided to rely on fate, whilst some others chose to try and
change fate and turn the tables to whichever side they supported.
Zeus – the king of the gods. Zeus’ power in mythology greatly exceeds his fellow
immortals. In the poem, he plays the role of moderator and guardian for both mortals and
immortals alike, therefore following fate even though the outcome is not favourable for
himself. Zeus, even though not much involved in the war itself, illustrates the common theme
of politics. In Book 1, he makes an arrangement with the sea nymph Thetis to turn the tide of
war in favour of the Trojans, not for his personal gain but out of affection for Thetis and her
son, Achilles. He controls all political matters, not only on Mount Olympus but in the mortal
world as well. Since he is the god who has a substantial amount of power, he tends to
overestimate his own abilities.
At the end of Book 7, Homer describes Zeus as “Master Strategist” who perpetually
plots “fresh disaster[s] for both opposing armies”, which also links to the fact that he sent out lightning storms during the battle. Though one peculiar fact about Zeus is that he has flaws that resemble common human characteristics given that he is an immortal. Zeus, in many pieces of literature, is portrayed as a womaniser and this has also been highlighted in the Iliad. Zeus tells Hera: “Never has such a lust for goddess or mortal woman / flooded my
pounding heart and overwhelmed me so” and names about eight women who failed to bring him satisfaction. This reflects on the actions that actually sparked the Iliad in the mortal war of Agamemnon’s sexual desire for Briseis.
Hera – Zeus’ wife and queen of the gods. After Paris does not select her as being the
most beautiful goddess, Hera has a passionate hatred of Troy, which leads her to support the
opposite side, the Acheans. Hera should be respected for herself but in the poem, all the
characters decide to mention her as the wife of Zeus, thus forcing her to submit to his will.
Hera and Zeus often portray the gender inequality between masculine and feminine deities as well.
Apollo – the golden archer, god of prophecy and music - the son of Zeus and Leto.
Apollo passionately supports the Trojans in the war, and often gives assistance and
encouragement on the battlefield. When the Iliad begins, he sends a deadly plague upon the Achaeans because Agamemnon has dishonoured his priest, Chryses. He also helps Hektor in the killing of Patroklos. In the final book, his complaint about the treatment of Hektor's corpse leads the gods to arrange the ransom of the body by Priam, which greatly affected the politics at that point in time.
Hephaestus – the god of fire and forges, and the son of Zeus and Hera. Prior to when
the story, i.e. the war, starts, he has a severely injured leg. Because of this disability, the other
immortals mocked him limping every time they saw him. In this war, he stood on the side of
the Acheans even though the Trojans still admired and worshipped him, because of his power to craft incredible things out of any material.
Thetis – Achilles’ mother, a sea-nymph. Legend has it that when Achilles was an
infant, Thetis dipped in him the river Styx to make him immortal, making him invulnerable
except for his heel, the place where Thetis held him. That is where the English idiom “That’s
his/her Achilles’ heel” comes from. First of all, she foretold her son’s fate, and intervened
with Zeus on Achilles’ behalf in book 1. She then mourned the death of Patroklos later in
book 18. In the same book, she brought her son divine armour made by the god, Hephaestus.
Athena – the goddess of wisdom. Athena is a strong supporter of the Achaeans,
having also been rejected by Paris along with Hera. She frequently lends courage and support to Achaean heroes such as Achilles, Diomedes, and Odysseus.
Poseidon – Zeus’ younger brother, the god of the sea and of earthquakes. Poseidon
supports the Achaean forces, and secretly lends his strength during Zeus’ ban on divine
intervention.
Aphrodite – the goddess of love. Aphrodite was chosen over Hera and Athena by
Paris with her promise to give Paris the most ‘beautiful’ mortal on Earth, and because of this
she supports the Trojans wholeheartedly. She protected Helen from the evils of the war and
later rescued Paris from Menelaus.
The deities mentioned above espoused one single side and supported that side without making the fact clear therefore making the war biased. They supported each side either more politically or physically - the war was not just the physical fight between the mortals but was the fight between gods as well, using the common emotion of jealousy and rivalry. Homer’s Iliad is an epic poem showing off its great literal complexity that contains various insights and a wide-ranging account of the life conditions during warfare. Homer mainly focuses on the crude interactions between the condition of being mortal and immortal – the soldiers who are battling and the deities interfering and how they try in vain to enforce the crucial separation between the two forces. Homer’s Iliad is not just about politics, but is about justice, friendship and love, promise and limits of human virtue, fate and freewill, and how different hierarchies define a person in different political aspects.
“War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of
political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means.” stated Carl von Clausewitz,
general of the Prussian army. By fighting in this Trojan war, not only did the mortals get
actively involved in a constant political cycle but so did the immortal gods. The quote above
really made me consider politics as something beyond war or law – but an instrument that is
used to create meaning and provide reasons for these wars or laws. I felt like this concept of
how politics is closely linked to war is shown well in the following quotes from the poem.
“Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country's cause.”
and “Soon as the warrior Menelaus marked him, Paris parading there with his big loping
strides, flaunting before the troops, Atrides thrilled like a lion lighting on some handsome
carcass, lucky to find an antlered stag or wild goat just as hunger strikes – he rips it, bolts it
down, even with running dogs and lusty hunters rushing him. So Menelaus thrilled at heart –
princely Paris there, right before his eyes.” One shows that even though the duels or the
whole war indeed is for the greater good for both society and themselves as individuals, at the end of the day all the effort is directly aimed towards the country. The second one shows
rivalry, therefore leading to two forces fighting against each other, greatly affecting the
political status the two regions have in the book.
The Iliad also emphasises the importance of the balance between war and peace, as
sometimes the gods stepped in to stop the war or the mortals bargained with one to one
battles to pause the raging fights. Even though Homer evaluates personal glory and honour,
he doesn’t shy away from explaining the flaws in human kind and immortals as well. With
this epic poem that narrates the brutal tale of the political and social conflict between these
two sides, I was able to further understand the culture of Ancient Greece and how they
treated deities as well as how they dealt with duels. For example, after some hero won, not
only did they gain honour and fame from their armies — but gained a war prize. The war
prize could be anything; but in this case when they have been rewarded with a woman, this
led to further conflict.
Therefore, in the Iliad itself it often portrays aspects of both politics and human
relationships in a way that makes every single theme of the epic poem stand out. Politics is
defined in the dictionary to be the activities associated with the governance of a country or
other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to
achieve power. But after reading the whole series of the Iliad, analysing it as well, I’ve begun
to think differently about the true meaning of ‘politics’. I would now define it as the act of
resolving conflicts between certain interactions whilst gaining power over a certain topic or
region. Homer’s Iliad portrays the cultural aspect as well as the political aspect of ancient
society.
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