book 8 zeus
Zeus shows off his power and authority again in lines 1-27 of book 8. He tells the other gods to not assist the Trojans or the Danaans. If any went against his decree they would be punished by being sent to Tartaros, which was like a prison. Zeus reminds the other gods repeatedly that he is the strongest of them all and that they should all obey him. On lines 198-211, Hera has enough and calls out to Poseidon and asks him if he is just going to stand by while the Danaans, humans who have worshipped him and have given him plenty of offerings, died in battle. Poseidon responded " Hera, reckless of word, what sort of thing have you spoken? I would not be willing that all the rest of us fight with Zeus, the son of Kronos, since he is so much the greater." (line 210-211) He basically said that even if the gods that supported the Danaans were able to hold off Zeus for a while and help out the Trojans, they would incur the wrath of Zeus afterwards and no one was willing to do that. Zeus is really demonstrating his hold and power over the other gods in this book.
I'm amazed at just how much control Zeus has over everyone. It is to the point where even other gods like Poseidon, walk on eggshells as to not anger him. He uses fear as a weapon to keep everyone in check.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting how the balance of power seems to change without much in the way of warning, it's like they just sort of do things however they want at whatever time they want, with little in the way of a formal structure or set of laws....which is probably exactly the case.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting how much power Zeus have and how much of a say he has over everyone. I feel like because he has all this power and authority and knows he's the strongest of them all, he tends to use it against everyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Zeus has been depicted by Homer to be the strongest in Book 8. I find that Hera is always trying to make everyone fight. It might seem repetitive since this whole war started because of a women. I found that Zeus does have control over the other god but he must constantly show how much powerful he is compared to them. I feel as though Homer is depicting Zeus as being mocked of his powers and potential. If someone as powerful as Zeus has to constantly prove to the rest of the gods and people that he is then is he really powerful? Is it because everyone else just needs to be tested in order to truly see how powerful Zeus really is? I feel as though Zeus would really like not having to prove how important he is. I feel as though many of the warriors do not respect Zeus and therefore that is when something terrible happens.
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