The Involvement of the Gods in Literature - Essay Example

Juno has sent me, who cares for both of you alike. Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw your sword…” (Iliad, Book 1). This same interaction with humans could be observed throughout the Odyssey as well. In book 1, we see Minerva disguising herself as Anchialus to give counsel to Ulysses’ son, Telemachus. She did so to give him the courage to wait for his father since his father is still alive. The gods are directly involved with humans, not only to aid them or answer their prayers, or protect them, but even to take advantage of them, or to be their parents. Achilles has a nymph for a mother, present in The Iliad. The relation of the gods to the humans simulates almost the social interaction that humans have with each other, except that, because of the gods’ supernatural capacities, this interaction with the gods becomes richer (in a sense, becomes more “supernatural”). The interaction is richer in the sense that the interaction produces results that may not necessarily happen when humans merely interact with each other. Probably, no human interaction could ever produce an Achilles for example. Poseidon’s hatred of Odysseus brought him everywhere leading to an adventure that no mere mortal of lesser status than Ulysses could ever have or handle.

In Dr. Faustus, we have a much weaker protagonist—Faustus certainly does not command the respect of Achilles or Odysseus, but he is still god-like.  Granted, all characters have their tragic flaws, but Faustus is difficult to like, and this factor makes it easier for the audience to watch him sell his soul to the devil. To reach his goal Faustus, ‘swollen with the cunning of a self-conceit’ does not hesitate to sell his soul to Mephistopheles for twenty-four years of supernatural powers. After rejecting all subjects as unworthy of achieving immortal fame, he becomes romantically obsessed with the ‘metaphysics of the magicians’ and hastily concludes: ‘A sound magician is a demi-god.’ (I.1.63). The futility of his misdirected ambition is described in the Prologue: ‘His waxen wings did mount above his reach, / And melting, heavens conspired his overthrow;’ (Pro.20-21) Faustus thus wants to be god-like, much like Achilles and the typical Greek hero (and he even requests access to Helen of Troy).  The symbolism in much of the play harkens back to Green and Roman religion, but Faustus, unlike Achilles and Odysseus, is much more difficult to accept as a hero because of his pettiness and the fact he was not born with his talents; rather, he exchanged for them.

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, we are presented with a similar dark character—Cesare Borgia, whose genius and ruthlessness have made him remembered for generations.  Borgia is like Faustus, Achilles, and Odysseus in his drive and ambition, and also presented to us as a dark character like Faustus.  While Borgia is not, in fact, as god-like as the other characters, because it is obvious that he was historically a mortal, he was the Pope’s son, and he also was such a strong, forceful, and intelligent character that he appeared god-like.  His reference to Julius Cesar perhaps only further links him to this god-like status.

Therefore, the protagonists present in all of these works appear to be god-like, although they were all, in fact, considered to be mortals (with the exception, perhaps of the half-god Achilles, who was still mortal in the end).  By presenting these powerful men with god-like qualities, the writers are able to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of these characters.