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The Free Will In The Iliad

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The power of a man’s will The gods in The Iliad are superhuman beings or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes. Each of the gods has an unlimited power over an element of nature, one of the things we can’t control is nature and that is how the gods are seen. Other thing we can’t control is our own fate as seen in poem everyone even the gods have their own fate but they are designed differently. The fate of the gods is decided by their own fears. However the fate of mankind is controlled by the gods but it can be outdone by the free will of extraordinary men. The gods are so powerful that they are able to control their own fate. The problem is they are not so much godlike as you can say. As every other human their …show more content…

Achilles and Hector, both of them heroes like any other, extraordinary like the gods “'Brave you may be, godlike Achilles” Homer, book 1 but mortal men like the humans “"Andromache, dear one, why so desperate? Why so much grief for me? No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate.” Homer, Book 6. The two of them are foils to each other. Hector is a man of peace, he is the holder of Troy, the perfect husband, son, father. In the other hand Achilles was rageful and self absorbed even so that his decisions end up hurting people, sometimes even to death. Both of them being the greatest warriors and heroes of the two parties make them foils of each other. Even so their personality is not the most important difference between them. Hector is a good man and has always praised the gods and its respected by them. Achilles in the other hand is the exact opposite to the gods but he is praised because they are afraid of his anger. Is not weird that anybody will fear his anger at the end of the book even he Achilles himself fears it. The gods fear and praise his anger and even balance it sometimes like in the first book when Hera stopped Achilles from killing Agamemnon“It was to check this killing rage I came from heaven, if you will listen. Hera sent me, being fond of both of you, concerned for both. Enough: break off this combat” …show more content…

And if every man can find what makes them extraordinary in their own way and explore it everyone has free will because everyone is extraordinary in their own way. Our real fate is the one we decided by ourselves, let yourself become so powerful that the gods will fear you and with your head on your feet choose your

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