The World of the Greek Gods - Assignment Example

Patriarchy represents different configurations of male interaction, within a society that is male-centered and based on power relationships. It may relate to father-son but it may also be an ‘older-younger man’ connection. Homer sees the rule of the father as a desirable situation, but this dominance is not always benign, as evidenced even among the Gods in the relationship between Zeus and Hephaestus (I. 571 pp). Within the Iliad, all men are subject to the laws of patriarchy, with the kings enjoying father-son relationships with Gods. Thus ‘Zeus is hard: who before this time promised me and consented…’ that Agamemnon might sack Ilion. Now he is punished ‘in dishonor having lost so many people’ (IX. 19pp). Like a father, Zeus offers or withholds approval. Here we have the example of the stern, exacting father but when Priam morns Hector, whose body is dragged around the grave of Patroklos every day by Achilles, Zeus mediates between Hera and Apollo to bring help to Priam (XXIV, 64pp). So, kings may be sons of the Gods but there are also times when they may need to bow to humans in supplication, as Priam does when he clutches the knees of Achilles in great distress, like a son, might do (XXIV, 476 pp). And this is not the only time when Achilles acts like a father. His relationship with Patroklos has paternal overtones, in their interaction with each other (XIII, 7-11) as well as after the death of Patroklos, whom Achilles mourns like a father (XVIII, 80pp). On another level again, the concept of patriarchy serves to underscore the duality of human nature in that all men are both supplicant and lawgiver - son and father.

      The world of the Greek Gods reflects some extent the same chaos that exists in the human world. Zeus rules as the (usually) benign patriarch, with very human characteristics. Thus, he is portrayed as an alpha male in active pursuit of the various female objects of his desire, not adverse to trickery and deception to achieve his ends. His sphere of operation is within and without Olympus, and like many of the other Gods he has mortal children. The Gods serve, therefore, as a mirror image of humans; however, this is not their only function. They also provide explanations for the failure or success of a particularly human endeavor, which is particularly evident in the Iliad, where Gods take sides and aid or deter actions on and off the battlefield - all that is except Zeus, whose role it is to ensure that human destiny is fulfilled. The most important element though is perhaps that the Gods were also overseers of rules that spilled over into the human world. Thus Zeus oversaw (among others) the guest-host relationship, which Paris had violated when he abducted Helen, making it clear literally from the beginning, that Paris, through Troy, has to pay for this violation. Despite this, the Trojan War is not a punitive expedition, which may be due to the fact that Zeus, in another capacity, is also the overseer of fate, mainly the fate of the heroes. So ‘his deadly fate held Hector shackled…’ (XXII, 5), This seems to imply that Zeus does not punish Hector (Troy and Paris) for the violation of the guest-host relationship – he merely oversees that they fulfill their destiny. Here also, is engaged in ensuring that guest-host violations do not go unpunished and that fate is fulfilled. When the Argives attempt to flee, she persuades Athene to stop Odysseus (II, 155pp). Notwithstanding the foregoing, most of the Gods were willing to champion their favorite human and employ every possible trickery to give him an advantage, provided that there had been a befitting sacrifice made. This concept of sacrificing to the Gods constituted a medium of communication between humans and the Gods and a measurement of worthiness. This becomes clear when Apollo speaks in the assembly of the immortals and says: “You are hard, you gods, and destructive. Now, did not Hector burn thigh pieces of oxen and unblemished goats in our honor?”. Hector may deserve his fate but he has sacrificed well and now he deserves the pity of the Gods.