Euripides’ Bacchaein which he comes from the east as a mysterious stranger to
Thebes. But his name is known to the Linear B tablets, and he is well established in
Hesiod’s Theogony,which dates from the eighth century. Zeus’s brother Hades does
not dwell on Olympus but is king of the Underworld to which he gives his name.
Zeus is a third-generation god, having replaced his father Cronos who had
overthrown his father Ouranos (Heaven who was married to Gaia, Earth), so that,
unlike the God of the old Testament, he does not exist before the creation of the world
but grows up with creation. Nor is he omnipotent, for he cannot alter fate. In the Iliad,
he contemplates saving his son Sarpedon from the fate that awaits him at the hands
of Patroclus, but is restrained from doing so by the warning of Hera (Iliad 12). Troy
does not fall because of the will of Zeus; in fact, Zeus is well disposed to the Trojans,
particularly to Hector, who has always honoured him with sacrifice. The major Trojan
offence is against Poseidon who had helped build their walls and then been cheated
of his payment. Neither is the will of Zeus absolute, for he shares power with the other
gods. In response to the plea of Thetis that he should help the cause of her son
Achilles by allowing the other Greeks to feel the loss of him now that he has
withdrawn for the battle after his quarrel with Agamemnon, he sternly forbids the
other gods from intervening, but Hera with the help of Aphrodite’s girdle seduces him
so that he takes his eye off the battle with the result that Poseidon is able to rally the
Greeks (Iliad 14).
Each deity has his or her own predominant power: though Aphrodite is feeble
on the battlefield (Iliad 5), in her own sphere she is a most potent force, indirectly
controlling Zeus and bullying Helen to sleep with Paris (Iliad 3). In the Odyssey, she
makes love to Ares, the god of war, though she is married to Hephaestus, who throws
a net over the pair when he finds them out (Iliad 8). All the rest of the gods laugh, and
this is indeed the stuff of comedy, in which there is a relaxed view of morality and a
delight in fallibility and weakness. The Homeric gods generally exhibit strong
individual wills with little sense of justice or compassion and a fine sense of their own
importance and what is due to them. Nevertheless, they are powers to be reckoned
with and powers that need to be propitiated with sacrifices and prayers, as
demonstrated in the opening book of the Iliad when it becomes apparent that
Agamemnon has offended Apollo by dishonouring his priest Chryses in taking his
daughter Chryseis captive as a spoil of war. When the Greeks finally agree to restore
Chryseis, Chryses prays to Apollo to stop the plague which the god has sent as a
punishment.
God of the silver bow, thy ear incline...
Once more attend! Avert the wasteful woe,
And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow.
So Chryses prayed; Apollo heard his prayer:RELIGION AND SOCIAL LIFE 95