Role of Apollo in the Iliad - Essay Example

Role of Apollo in the Iliad While the Iliad is essentially a story of the human characters and the conflict between them, the Greek gods plays an important role in shaping the plot of the story, as well as directly influencing the actions of the mortal characters. While the Greek Pantheon are not depicted to be very virtuous elsewhere, the Iliad portrayed them to be especially vengeful, fickle minded, biased and petty, unlike the mortals who were shown to abide to the ancient Grecian code of honor, at least for most of the time.

While their behavior has been allegorically interpreted as to represent the uncertainty of life, the Greek gods’ comparatively trivial squabbles also act as a comic relief against the much serious setting of the epic poem. The role of gods also can be construed as trying to set fate back on the right course. One of the major deities to play an active role in the Iliad, and the Trojan War in general, is Apollo. Apollo, god of the arts and archery, supports the Trojans consistently throughout the Iliad and often intervenes on their behalf.

He is also the first make an appearance in the poem in book 1, when he sends a plague on to the Achaeans at the request of a priest of Apollo. The priest’s daughter Chryseis is captured and gifted to the Achaean leader Agamemnon, who refuses to ransom her, leaving her father to beg for divine help. It is only after the Achaeans return Chryseis to her father and perform many sacrifices in his honor, that Apollo withdrew the plague. In this book, Homer shows that Apollo is capable of being compassionate and merciful towards his priest by honoring the priest’s request.

But at the same time, he is also portrayed to be selfish, greedy for sacrifices from the Achaeans. This shows his dual nature, he is helpful to those who are loyal to him, yet he is willing to offer concessions for the enemies by accepting the sacrifices. In book 22, Apollo is partially responsible for Hector’s death, but in process he saves the city of Troy from being destroyed prematurely. Apollo takes the disguise of Agenor, a Trojan soldier, who was fighting Achilles, and leads Achilles away from Troy, where most of the Trojan soldiers have retreated in the intervening time.

After Apollo reveals his true form to Achilles, Achilles runs towards the walls of Troy, outside of which only Hector is present. After a fierce battle, Achilles, with the help of Athena, kills Hector. This book serves as an example of helplessness of the Greek gods against fate as Apollo, along with other Gods, is shown to obey the dictates of fate. Hector, in his dying words, predicts that Apollo will cause Achilles’ death, an event that is fulfilled after the events of Iliad. A much nobler Apollo is described to us in book 24 where Apollo entreats the gods to convince Achilles, who has taken the body of Hector with him, to ransom the body to Hector’s father Priam.

He does so by reminding the gods the many sacrifices Hector made them. In short, Apollo, like the other gods, was portrayed as having more of human qualities than divine. He is shown as being capable of human folly, in fact more than the other mortals in the poem. Homer used the gods and their actions to establish twists on the plot of the war. It would not have been possible for him to write the story without the divine interventions of the gods. However for the immortal Gods, the Trojan War and its related events are nothing but a brief journey in the endless expanse of time.