Ontological Interpretation Of Mortals And Gods In Iliad

Cheolmin Im

GSI: David Wheeler

Classics 10A

Ontological Interpretation of Mortals and Gods in Iliad

In this paper, I will ontologically examine the remarkable encounter between Helen and Aphrodite in Bk 3 of Homer’s Iliad, and investigate the interpretation’s ramifications of roles of gods in Homeric societies. I will argue that Aphrodite is synonymous to a particular “mood” that Helen must achieve “attunement” within the specific encounter, and expand the argument to suggest all gods being equivalent to moods that demand mortals’ attunement. I will support my argument through careful explication of the encounter, and interactions between other gods and heroes in Iliad. I will examine and refute counterarguments directed towards the conflict

In Iliad, mortals cannot invoke the gods and their synonymous moods at their will, and as a result, they are constantly at their mercy. Moods also share this characteristic, as the mortals’ actions are most often dictated by the mood they are in. Helen tries to reject Aphrodite, the erotic and sensuous mood, initially, as she condemns Aphrodite for being “still so stubborn to beguile me.” In fact, she tries to invoke shame and sorrow in order to replace the erotic and sensuous mood that Aphrodite is synonymous to, which would be problematic to my claim if she successfully does so. Indeed, Aphrodite emphasizes her overwhelming authority over Helen’s particular situation, prevents Helen from invoking shame and sorrow, and even threatens to turn the erotic and sensuous mood into “hard hate” to make her life miserable. Helen again tries to reject Aphrodite when she is in Alexandros’s chamber, as she wishes he had died at Menelaos’s spear and derisively advises him to not fight in single combat. Alexandros, already perfectly attuned to Aphrodite, brushes aside her comments and asks them to make love, as they had already done before when he whisked her away the first time. Again, there is no other option or mood that Helen can attune to other than that of Aphrodite, so Helen has to yield and attune to Aphrodite, and make love with

Aphrodite is said to have likened herself to “an aged woman, a wool-dresser” in her encounter with Helen in Bk 3. To maintain the consistency in my argument, this scene can be interpreted as the aged woman, having been attuned to Aphrodite, is relaying, and enacting Aphrodite’s will upon Helen. This interpretation supports the characterization of gods as moods, while also allowing for intimate relations that are necessary for projection of moods onto the mortals. We see this type of interaction in other points in the plot, most notably when Athene is described having fooled Hektor into his death by likening herself to Deiphobos, his brother. Ontologically, it is reasonable to suggest that Deiphobos has been forcibly attuned to Athene’s mood beforehand. This leads him to charge Achilleus blindly with his brother, and conceivably run away as Athene pulls out of the scene as her will to lead Hektor to his death has been achieved through his