9/03 Illiad #1B

Greek Gods
A major theme in the Illiad are the gods. Throughout the scenes, their actions and thoughts are often shown and are as important as the actions of Achilles and the Trojans. The gods are either aid the human characters or can choose to end them. At times during the Illiad, the gods seemed very interested in the goings-on of the characters, and at other times, mostly unconcerned. For example, Apollo (who was worshipped by Hector) was aiding Hector in running from Achilles around the city. Zeus liked Hector and did not want to see him killed, however, because Athena and Hera did not like the prince (instead the favored), Zeus condemned Hector. Athena then went down to Hector and ultimately tricked him and led him to his demise. While the gods liked Hector for the most part, they were more concerned with the approval of the others than they were of a human life.
The gods were powerful beings, able to go underwater and instantaneously transport themselves from Olympus to Troy and other placed, change their voice and appearance, and decide to give either blessings or death to a character. The human characters are different in the first two areas, but humans can also choose to bless a person or kill them. Achilles, for example, when Priam visited him, could have killed Priam on the spot (even though he would be disobeying Zeus), but instead he chose to protect him while near the Greek ships and let him take his son. The human characters, such as Priam, were often described as being godlike or having godlike qualities. Also, both the gods and humans clearly favored some while not favoring others. Athena clearly favored Achilles over Hector and Priam clearly favored Hector over his sons, whom he rebukes after Hector's death.

Achilles
Achilles comes off from the start as a very strong, determined warrior. He is not afraid of the gods wrath when he feels the need for revenge. He also was looking for glory, as seen when he was chasing Hector around the city walls and would not let the other Greek soldiers shoot him with their arrows. This also shows how controlling Achilles was. He took things into his own hands and did not let other question him after he had made up his mind. While Achilles was headstrong, he was also a very deeply man. His rage at Hector for killing Patroclus was unyielding and his grief at the loss of a friend was unabated for several days, long after revenge was received. He was also able to sympathize with Priam, his enemy, by thinking about his father. Achilles was a great symbol of a strong, god-minded, Greek leader.