Interpreting the Actions of th
Interpreting the Actions of thInterpreting the Actions of the Gods
The role of the gods in the Trojan War proved to be a major importance in the
final outcome and the psychological wellbeing of the mortals who fought for
both the Trojan side and the Achaians side. The Greek Gods high, on Olympus
watched the bloody battlefield below with a sense of satisfaction that they
controlled the fate of the battlefield. The Trojan War some could say was
actually a war among the gods as much as it was a war between the Trojans and
the Achaians. The Iliad hardly represents the world as Homer's audience knew
it. Gods are frequently coming down to the battlefield to aid in the fighting
and thus the heroes perform deeds no normal man could ever accomplish. When
reading Homer's Iliad you have to realize that the gods never were really
there but are merely used for an easy explanation to the strange happenings of
war. We can't believe that something in fact happened just because it is noted
in a mythology handbook. The Greek people needed the gods to explain
mysterious occurrences that occurred within their everyday lives so that these
strange happenings made sense to them. The role of the gods needs to be
interpreted as well as the various myths that surround the great Greek epic
poem The Iliad by Homer.
One instance when the gods were used to explain a strange and unusual thing
was towards the beginning of the book. When King Agamemnon didn't give up his
wife, a priestess of Apollo, the god became angry and did this to the Achaian
people "First he attacked the mules and dogs, then he shot his keen arrows at
the men and hit each mark. Pyres of the dead began to burn up everywhere and
never ceased" (p12) This to me sounds like a disease that suddenly infected
the Achaian army. Diseases usually start with animals, as that disease
evolves, it is able to attack and infect humans. This is what commonly happens
in Asia with people sharing living space with their animals both for heat and
there simply isn't enough space for them to be anywhere else. This could have
been how the Achaian war camp was set up, with animals living in close
quarters with their masters and a poor sewage system to go along with it. Now
all of this would have been quite surprising with men and animals suddenly
dying along the beach with out any warning. The Achaian people also arrived in
a new region and they, much like our Native Americans, couldn't have coped
with the diseases. Another possibility that could have occurred is that a
swarm of meteor showers struck the camp. Those meteors would have appeared as
if they were shot down from the heavens by some angry god. If all of this
didn't happen,...
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