Peace or War in Homer Essay

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Is it a sign of inconsistency in Athena that at the end of the Odyssey she echoes the sentiment of Zeus and sues for peace whereas in Book 4 of the Iliad she is all too eager to ignore the sentiment of her father and manipulate the warriors into shedding more blood? Again -- not necessarily. While, were it up to Zeus he would gladly see men work out their problems in a peaceful way, and, if he can help it, only sends strife and war when men need to be punished. The relationship between war and peace is complicated by the fact that he is not the only god (even if he is king of the gods). The gods seem to have just as many quarrels and disagreements among themselves as men do on Earth -- a point Zeus knows quite well. That is the reason he presides over the council of Olympians at the beginning of Book 4: he wants to see if there is someway they can put aside their differences and stop provoking the two sides (Trojans and Greeks) to do battle against one another. On the side of the Greeks, for example, are Hera, Athena Poseidon, Thetis and others. On the side of the Trojans are Aprhodite, Ares, Apollo, Artemis and more. As long as they are involved, peace is not likely to come. This is why Zeus forbids the gods and goddesses to have anymore part in the war: he wants the men to work it out and is tired of seeing the Olympians fighting and disobeying him.

But, just as Zeus says to Athena at the end of the Odyssey, "Conclude it as you will," (24.531), so too does he say to his wife Hera in Book 4 of the Iliad, "Do as you please" (4.37).

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He does not understand her bloodlust or her insatiable appetite for seeing Troy obliterated. He tells her without exaggeration, "If you could walk through the gates and through the towering ramparts and eat Priam and the children of Priam raw, and the other Trojans, then, then only might you glut at last your anger" (4.34-6). But he would rather see her do this than see themselves fight. As much as he dislikes discord among men, he dislikes it even more between himself and his wife. Therefore, in order to appease her, he allows Hera to assert her will (which is to see the Greeks make war on Troy and destroy it), for Troy's destruction is preferable to bitterness between Zeus and Hera, as he himself states: "Never let this quarrel hereafter be between you and me a bitterness for both of us" (4.37-8). All the same, he reminds his wife that she better not say a word the next time one of her favored cities does something to provoke his wrath.

In conclusion, one might suggest that goddesses have a great deal to do with the war in the Iliad and the conflict in the Odyssey. It is evident that Hera and Athena are intent on exacting their revenge on Priam's son Paris, and that Aphrodite is intent on saving Paris. It is also evident that Athena is intent on helping Odysseus and see the usurpers of his home destroyed. but, above their wills is the will of Zeus, who must not only contend with the will of man but also with the wills of the Olympians, who fight with one another just as much as men on Earth. If there is no peace in Olympus, surely there is no peace on Earth.

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