Greek Gods Help Out Men

“Father Zeus, doesn’t it infuriate you to see this violence? We gods get the worst of it from each other whenever we try to help out men. Why did you have to give birth to that madwoman, your marauding daughter who is always breaking the rules? All the rest of us gods, everyone on Olympus, listens to you. But she can say or do whatever she wants.” (Iliad 5. 930-938). This was spoken by the god of war himself, Ares, right after he was wounded by Diomedes during the war between the Greeks and Trojans. By simply reading the quote, it is gleaned that Ares is complaining to Zeus about how the gods, in return for helping mortals, gets hurt by them. In this instance, Ares argues that he simply wants to “help out men;” to simply show them kindness.

Because they favor and choose sides, the gods are intensifying the entire war altogether, influencing characters to act a certain way in hopes of tipping the scales. However, this divine intervention causes conflict amongst the gods themselves as well. As said before, the gods are seen to be picking sides: Athena and Hera with the Greeks; Apollo and Ares with the Trojans. With each god siding with different men, there emerges a war between the gods themselves, reflecting that in the mortal world. The gods are aware about this rift and tension amongst each other as well. “We gods get the worst of it from each other…” Ares says this in his lament with Zeus, expressing his anger of how the gods conflicting wills are causing them to oppose each other and go to drastic measures just to see the other lose. This is shown when he follows by insulting and complaining about Athena as if it was her who had wounded him and not Diomedes. “Why did you have to give birth to that madwoman, your marauding daughter who is always breaking the rules?” This stresses that Ares’ anger is directed towards Athena, thus showing the strained relationship the gods are experiencing as a result of the