Homers Depiction of the Significance of Gods to Mans Fate in the Epic Poem Iliad - Book Report/Review Example

Analyzing Homer’s depiction of the significance of gods to man’s fate in the epic poem Iliad would delve on the age old theme of divine intervention in man’s life. Tracing the theme’s origins from the first accounts of divine governance evident in the Bible, this subject matter is one of the preferred central themes of literary works that in some points the distinction between the truth and fiction is lost in history as people created and fabricated beliefs that are far from reality as belief in many gods and goddesses or polytheism emerged. Since this topic is mostly inspired by what literary authors see in real life, it is necessary to have a look at the faith of people during Homer’s time as well as the beliefs of people at present. In examining the Iliad, it is best to look initially into the culture and beliefs of people during Homer’s time. Investigating Homer’s life may be difficult as accounts of his personal life are elusive though archaeological evidences provide a picture of the era in which Homer was believed to have existed. Historians estimated that Homer existed between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age based on the description of the battle gear used by the characters such as the helmet mentioned in the lines that say “his gleaming helmet, made with four layers of metal, nodding fiercely forward.” (Homer Book 22) Moreover, the temples dedicated to the gods mentioned in Iliad are existent although the location describe by Homer is different from the sites of temple ruins that archaeologists had unearthed. (Powell 36) One particular temple is that of the goddess Minerva or Athena mentioned in the lines “Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully enriched with embroidery, as an offering to Minerva...With this she went on her way and many matrons with her…The women lifted up their hands to the goddess with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe to lay it upon the knees of Minerva, praying the while to the daughter of great Jove…”Holy Minerva,” she cried, “protectress of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomed and lay him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans.,” (Homer Book 6) One of these temples were discovered by archaeologists and is presently known as the Parthenon though there are no evidences that the Parthenon was the temple described by Homer in his Iliad. This line from the Iliad also manifests one of the instances that exhibit the importance of gods and goddesses to people particularly for the Greeks in changing the course of their fate. In this lines wherein the Trojan queen Hecuba took the finest robe for the goddess Minerva “as an offering to Minerva: it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With this she went on her way and many matrons with her,” (Homer 6) praying and addressing the goddess as “protectress of our city, mighty goddess, break the spear of Diomed and lay him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity upon the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans.” (Homer Book 6) The verses accounts on the sacrifices the queen was to offer and these were twelve calves aside from the exquisite robe for Minerva to save Troy from the impending dangers. Offering of robes was an important part of the Panathenaic Festival in ancient Greece specifically in Athens with the procession of maidens along with the sacrifices to be offered and the new robe for the temple goddess. (Powell 38) Similar to the robe offering of the Trojans for Minerva, Hector promised to offer Apollo the armor of his opponent if the god guarantees that he wins the fight as evident in the lines, “if Apollo vouchsafe me glory and I slay your champion, I will strip him of his armour and take it to the city of Ilius, where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo.” (Homer Book 7) This occurrence further proves that throughout the Iliad the human characters depended on the gods and goddesses to redirect the track of their destiny. This vow reflects the beliefs of ancient Greece before going to war that votive offering not only include armors but spoils of the war as well. Burnt offerings of animals are also common in ancient Greece. Homer mentioned the offering of animals such as bulls, goats and ram which can be read in the lines, “Then they offered hecatombs of bulls and goats without blemish on the sea-shore, and the smoke with the savour of their sacrifice rose curling up towards heaven.” (Homer Book 1) Another line also speaks of these animal offerings stating: “Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes and elders of his host.” (Homer Book 2) As well as the verses saying, “Erechtheus, who was born of the soil itself, but Joves daughter, Minerva, fostered him, and established him at Athens in her own rich sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him with sacrifices of bulls and rams.” (Homer Book 2) These lines from the Iliad illustrate how human characters rely a great deal on the sympathy of their gods and goddesses by presenting sacrifices to appease or to supplicate for their wishes. Ancient Greece in history were mostly known for their reliance on their gods and deities and their beliefs were mainly ruled by rituals and myths (Harrison 7) since they have a conviction that their gods and goddesses controls their destiny or all the occurrences in life from birth to death until the afterlife. The ancient Greek’s belief in the divine control of their fate is also manifested in the Homeric poem Iiad. In the epic poem, the gods and goddesses can directly influence the fate of the human characters. The gods and goddesses serve as protectors of human characters which can immediately be seen in the verses that narrate how Apollo’s priest Chryses prayed to Apollo in such manner—“If I have ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thigh-bones in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows avenge these my tears upon the Danaans.” (Homer Book 1) In response, the god Apollo killed the Achaeans with his bow and arrow. (Homer Book 1) Upon seeing this mishap, the goddess Hera or Juno, in turn, took pity on the Achaeans. (Homer Book 1) In Book I of the Iliad, the portrayal of gods as defenders of humans all throughout the epic poem is clearly stated as every move and happening in the lives of the human characters involved the decisions and the feelings of the gods and goddesses. Furthermore, the gods and goddesses themselves were described with human-like emotions and attitudes on which determining the fate of the human characters, to some extent, were based on the changes of these emotions and on the characteristic of the gods and goddesses. Homer further developed the significant roles of the gods and goddesses in Iliad when Zeus or Jove ordered the gods and goddesses to stop from meddling with the human affairs since their fate was already decided and human fate was determined by no less than Jove himself. (Homer Book 8) Here, Jove’s supremacy over other gods and goddesses is emphasized since he later on breaks his ruling about not interfering with the war between the humans and helps the Trojans. (Homer Book 8) Until the concluding part of the Iliad, the gods and goddesses had their hand on the struggle between the Trojans and the Achaeans manipulating the occurrences during the war. The last part of the epic poem proved that the god Jove still decided the fate of humans and in favor of Juno’s wish by letting the Achaeans win (Homer Book 8) with the funeral of Hector, the Trojans’ champion as indicated in the line: “Thus, then, did they celebrate the funeral of Hector tamer of horses.” (Homer Book 24) The intertwined role of gods in the fate of humans in Iliad is evident in the instances in the epic poem previously mentioned coinciding with the real-life faith of men on a Supreme Being; though in most cases, this religious inclination of man is taken advantage of and exploited by people who intend to influence people and extort undue reverence as well as monetary contributions from unaware people. At present, the age-old belief in a Divine Being manifests in the emergence of various religious groups some even influenced by the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and other old civilizations. Specific practices similar to the gods and goddesses of the Iliad in terms of polytheism include the veneration of the Roman Catholic Church to their patron saints. Some of these saints that the Catholics believe in to help them with their everyday lives are Anthony of Padua to help them find lost articles (O’Boyle 12), Benedict to help in curing poison (17) and Anne as patroness of plague victims, grandparents, expecting mothers as well as women who cannot bear children. (11) Polytheism theme in Iliad is also mentioned in the Bible as Israelites began to deviate from the faith of their parents and resort to serving other gods by building them temples and graven images. On the other hand, the role of a Supreme Being in the Bible is apparently where literary writers such as Homer obtained the idea of writing about celestial forces. The only difference is, the accounts written in the Bible are firmly backed up by archaeological proofs while that of Homer’s accounts of the activities of the gods and goddesses remain unproven until this day. WORKS CITED Harrison, Jane E. The Religion of Ancient Greece. London: Kessinger Publishing, 2004. Print. Homer. Iliad. Trans. Samuel Butler. June, 2000 Etext #2199. Project Gutenberg. Accessed 26 May 2010. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/iliad10.txt OBoyle, Donna-Marie C. Catholic Saints Prayer Book: Moments of Inspiration from Your Favorite Saints. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2008. Print. Powell, Barry B. Homer. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004. Print. Read More