God of War

We’ve talked a lot about how the disputes between the gods and goddesses in the Iliad are much like a war within a war. But, I notice a significant appearance of Ares in which he is physically fighting in the Trojan War. “The bronze sky paled. Ares, who was everywhere / At once now, covered the battle with night[.]” (p. 99) Normally, we attribute the gods and goddesses as divine inspiration for the acts of the Greeks and Trojans. This means that it is not the gods and goddesses ‘wielding the sword,’ or ‘firing an arrow;’ rather, it is the human who is inspired by the gods and goddesses to perform the action. However, the god of war, Ares, makes an appearance on page 99 where he is actually fighting in the war against the Greeks. I feel this is an interesting significance because it is a symbolic representation of the fact that the Greeks are fighting against the will of the god(s). By fighting the god of war himself, the Greeks are battling against a divine being. This is why I think Ares’ appearance is used as a metaphor to describe how the Greeks are fighting against fate itself. Observing the internal struggles within Achilles can draw this conclusion. He is fighting against his own fate—his mortality. Upon reading about Ares’ appearance in the battle scene, I conclude that it is symbolic of Achilles’ fate. Achilles is fighting his destiny by avenging Patroclus, just as the Greek warriors are fighting against the divine force of Ares.