Divine participationThe notion that war is a godless affair is modern. Ancient peoples assumed
that their gods and their enemies’ gods took an active interest in their armed
struggles: what were gods for, if not to determine the outcome in situations
of crisis and uncertainty? And as we noted in connection with hymns
(Chapter 8), a god’s help is generally conceived to require his coming to the
scene. In the context of war, gods are sometimes represented as leading
armies, sometimes as appearing in the midst of the fray, or as fighting
disguised as mortals. The Hittite kings regularly claimed that the gods
accompanied them to the field. Mursili II records in his annals that when he
went to war ‘my lady the Sun-goddess of Arinna and my lord Nergal and
Mezzulla and all the gods ran before me’.^102 In the Iliad Ares and Enyo lead
the Trojan battle-lines, or in another passage Apollo, while Poseidon leads
the Achaeans (5. 592, 15. 307; 14. 384). The two armies depicted on Achilles’
shield are led by Ares and Athena (18. 516).
The Indo-European divine Twins, the youthful sons of *Dyeus, were
especially noted for appearing in battle on their white horses and bringing
assistance or deliverance. I have cited the relevant Indic, Graeco-Roman, and
Germanic material in the section about them in Chapter 4. It may be added
that in a poem in the Book of Taliesin, celebrating the wars and cattle-raiding
of Owein of Rheged, the young god Mabon is represented as appearing in
battle on a white steed and killing all of the enemy within reach.^103
In those traditions that tell of chariot fighting we here and there encounter
the motif that a deity serves as the hero’s charioteer.^104 Athena pushes
Sthenelos out of Diomedes’ chariot and takes up the reins and goad herself
for the attack on Ares; the vehicle’s wooden axle creaks under her weight
(Il. 5. 835–40). The brigand Kyknos rides with his father Ares as driver ([Hes.]
Scut. 59–61; cf. 441 βρισα ́ ρματο ... nΑρη). In the Maha ̄bha ̄rata Krishna
serves as charioteer to Arjuna. In the great battle of Bråvalla or Bråvik
between Harald Wartooth and his nephew Ring, Harald’s charioteer Bruno
turns out to be Odin in disguise. (The real Bruno has drowned elsewhere.)
However, this cruel and cunning god is in fact supporting Ring, and no
sooner has Harald realized who it is beside him than Odin dashes him out of
the chariot and kills him (Saxo 8. 4. 8–9 pp. 219 f.).
Divine intervention is sometimes allowed to provide the ancient heroes
with resources of kinds that real-life warriors must often have wished for:
(^102) For Assyrian and Hebrew parallels see West (1997), 209 f.
(^103) Koch–Carey (2000), 356–8.
(^104) H. H. Schaeder, Die Weltliteratur 18 (1943), 83 = Schmitt (1968), 76 f.
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