The Iliad Book 1; Divine and Human Relations
Athena and Achilles
Motivated by free will, friendship, and desire for power and recognition, the gods, as per the Iliad’s oracle, foster direct divine, and human relations. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, for instance, has an immediate friendship and relationship with Achilles. It is however, unclear whether the relations are deception in disguise or the gods assisting in the fulfillment of fate. Athena acts as a calming force for the rage of Achilles and helps him fight the Trojans while avenging his war comrade, Patroclus. Athena’s intervention on behalf of Achilles and the despise she has for the Trojans demonstrates the relationship between mortals and immortals as a result of either free will or fate. Although she helps Achilles, it is still his fate that he would die gloriously in battle, such that out of the free will, she aids fate.
The gods are motivated by the desire for power and recognition to foster relations with humans. The Trojan War is as a result of conflict amongst goddesses on who is the fairest amongst them. Each of them is motivated to prove their own worth by supporting either the Achaeans or Trojans. Athena provides strength and inspiration to Achilles, who is her chosen champion, a clear depiction of manipulative power. Although Athena seems very interested in the final fate of the war, she has little concern for the mortals who die in the process, and thus her aid in Achilles killing Hector, who had killed Patroclus while he was wearing Achilles’s battle armor. She hence changes her purpose to fill specific roles in the Iliad through relations with the mortals.
Apollo and Chryses
Apollo and Chryses also appear to have a direct relationship during the Trojan War. The daughter of Chryses, who is a priest of Apollo, is taken as a spoil of war and given to an Achaean chief, Agamemnon. Chryses tries to ransom her back, but the chief adamantly refuses and ignores all the advice given by the Achaeans. Chryses hence prays bitterly to Apollo to rain down a plague on the Achaeans, and hearing his prayer, Apollo, sends down disease upon the Achaeans. Achilles tries to convince the Achaeans to appease Apollo by threatening to abandon the war. He protects the seer Calchas, who, in return, explains Apollo’s wrath. He instructs of the daughter of Chryses return, and Apollo appeased through sacrifice, but Agamemnon is reluctant. Eventually, he gives her back but takes Achilles girl, who is then outraged and abandons the Achaeans in the war.
Apollo has a direct relationship and friendship with Chryses, who is his priest. Chryses feels dishonored when his daughter is taken and tries to ransom her back. Apollo, feeling his priest’s pain, sends down wrath upon the Achaeans through a plague. He is motivated by his love and friendship with Chryses to help him in the war. His motivation might also be as a result of free will as the gods appear to have. The mortals appear to be pieces in a game being played by the gods, and they move them as they please. The gods hence will the mortals’ actions as they aid fate. However, most mortals also die in the process of the gods assisting fate. The proof of power and recognition also motivate the gods to help the humans.
Achilles and Thetis
Achilles and Thetis, his mother, and a sea goddess also have a direct relationship. Following Achilles’s advice to return Chryses’ daughter and appease Apollo, the Achaean chief, Agamemnon, takes Achilles’ spoil girl, Briseis, whom Achilles has deep regard. Filled with rage, he kill the chief but Athena calms him and promises him a reward if he holds back his anger. Achilles heeds her advice and seeks the assistance of Thetis, his mother, for his vengeance. Recognizing that his life would be short, he desires to have his honor, at least. Sensing her son’s grief, Thetis appears at his side and agrees to plead with Zeus, who owes her a favor, to help in Achilles’s vengeance. Her son’s fate saddens Thetis since as it is doomed with short life heartbreak. She instructs him to depart from the war as she intercedes on his behalf to Zeus, who agrees to help.
Thetis is motivated by her love for her son to help him get his vengeance and honor against Agamemnon. The relationship is straightforward as the typical case between a mother and her son. In the Iliad, Thetis senses her son’s grief and filled with a sense of sadness, appears at her side, and agrees to grant him honor in his short life. The short life that her son is fated to live deeply saddens Thetis. Her agreement to talk to Zeus is also likely to have been motivated by proof of influence and recognition. She once helped Zeus win a revolt by other gods, and as such, owes her a favor in return, which holds over his head.
Works Cited.
Homer. et al. Iliad. Parmenides Audio, 2006.
Champagne, Roland A. “The Force Of Achilles In The Iliad.” Orbis Litterarum, vol. 58, no. 1, 2003, pp. 65-78.