Gods That Are Bound By Fate

            The Iliad preaches that the gods should be feared, honored, and worshiped above all else. The poem stresses this motif in its first few lines, “Apollo, Zeus’ son and Leto’s, offended by the warlord. Agamemnon had dishonored Chryses, Apollo’s priest, so the god struck the Greek camp with plague, and the soldiers were dying of it” (1.11-6). These lines make it clear that it is because Agamemnon refused to return Chryses’ daughter that Apollo felt disrespected and hence decided to send a plague upon the Greek army. It is not until Chryses daughter is returned to her that the plague is lifted (1.485). Thus, this opening episode stresses the need to respect the Gods.

Throughout the remainder of the poem, several libations and prayers are made by pious heroes. While, not all of the prayers are granted, it is clear that Homer affirms that these pious ones will be loved by the gods. This is most evident in the case of Hector. After Achilles has killed Hector and refuses to return Hector’s body, Apollo delivers a long speech to the gods speaking of Hector’s piety and respect which he had shown to all the gods. Apollo claims that due to his pity, Hector should receive a proper burial (24.37-59). Zeus concurs saying “Hector was dearest to the gods of all in Ilion…He never failed to offer a pleasing sacrifice. My alter never lacked libation or burnt savor, our worship due” (24.72-6). It is through these scenes, as well as many more, that Homer is clearly stressing the importance of properly worshiping and honoring the gods. However, what gravely perplexes me is, while Homer stresses the need to honor and worship the gods, he also reveals that they are not all powerful, indeed they, just like humans, must submit to fate.

Even Zeus cannot resist fate and save his beloved son Sarpedon from being killed by Patroclus (16.471-91). While some have argued that the moment in which Zeus contemplates saving Sarpedon shows that Zeus possesses power over fate, that fact that Zeus does not actually save Sarpedon shows that fate must be respected and cannot be violated. Even the outrageously powerful paterfamilias of the gods cannot resist fate. Later, in Book 20, fate again proves to be more powerful than Hera, Poseidon, and Athena combined. Although these gods can assure that Achilles will not be hurt for this one day in battle, Hera admits “later he must suffer whatever Fate has spun at his birth” (20.131-2). Hence, these two scenes in particular clearly express the fact that the gods cannot control fate, hence even they are not all powerful.

In my opinion it is unfathomable that Homer stresses that the gods should be faithfully worshiped, yet that they too are bound by fate and, thus, do not have limitless power. Moreover, the reference to Fate expresses that the gods are not responsible for everything as fate is also to blame or praise. The most dutiful Christians today, that I know, only worship God as much as they do because they absolutely believe that everything that happens is of his doing. Being from a Hispanic family, the majority of my family is Catholic, and every time we plan something, it could be anything from going to the movies to getting together for Thanksgiving, one of my family members has to say “si Dios quiere,” which translates to, “if God wishes it.” They wholeheartedly believe that god is responsible for everything. I cannot think of a single faithful Christian who would say that fate and God are two separate things. The Christian God is all powerful because he controls everything including fate. Hence, the fact that Homer emphasizes the need to faithfully worship the gods, while simultaneously expressing their lack of power over fate seems to be a grave paradox.