Question 3: 

Why do you think Homer allows the gods to interfere so much with human warfare? At a certain point, how do humans start acting like gods and gods like humans? Is this confusion seriously unsettling or comic? Do you think we are meant to take the gods seriously here.

When I read the story, I can’t help but run across gods interfering. Without them, the Trojans and the Achaeans would have been drinking together on the beach for a few weeks instead of fighting this incredible battle. The battle was about the settled when Paris and Menelaus faced each other, while one’s fell indicated the end of the war. However, God did not allow the war to end and saved Paris. Athena persuaded Pandarus that if he shot Menelaus by an arrow, he would be praised as a hero. So he followed the instructions and broke the treaties of keeping the peace. The two sides came to fight again. Also, he shot Diomedes, who used to be bothered by which side he should choose. Diomedes got angry soon and participated in the war, which exacerbated the fighting.

After Diomedes got shot by an arrow, he was about to revenge, and Athena blessed him that he would fight over God. He thus wounded the goddess Aphrodite when she tried to rescue her son Aeneas, and the war god Ares, when he tried to rally the Trojan forces. Athena told him that he should “do not fight with any immortal who might come and challenge you, except Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus. If she comes, you may wound her with bronze.” This blessing made Diomedes a god-like mortal and Aphrodite a mortal-like God: “He pounced at her with his spears and, thrusting, nicked her on her delicate wrist, the blade piercing her skin……” In the same way, he even hurt Ares later in the Text.

This was not a confusion according to my understanding. Gods with human character became comprehensive when they chose their side. If the confusion was corresponding to the power, it was way more explainable. Because human’s power was in some way, determined and blessed by God. When they protected a hero, he would be saved from the danger and gained with supreme strength.

Thus, we must take God seriously here. Firstly, according to my first paragraph about the interference of God, their decisions and actions significantly influenced the procedure of the war. Secondly, there were also relations between God and humans. After the death of Patroclus, Achilles’ friend, Achilles would revenge for him. Shall we not take Achilles seriously? In the same way, Odysseus was a friend of Athena, and we should also take God seriously.