One is a maternal instinct. This is displayed in the literal mother-son relationships of Aphrodite and Aeneas, Thetis and Achilles, and the protective instinct that Athene displays in Book 3 of the Iliad when Pandarus arrow shot an arrow at Menelaus and she "took her stand in front and warded off the piercing dart, turning it just a little from the flesh, like a mother driving a fly away from her gently sleeping child" [p80]. Another motive of the goddesses is revenge. Athene and Hera are determined to destroy Troy to repay Paris for his Judgement when he "fell into the fatal error of humiliating the two goddesses... by his preference for [Aphrodite], who offered him the pleasures and penalties of love" [p438]. In the Odyssey, Athene's major motive for helping Odysseus often seems to simply be pity - such as in the speech she gives to Zeus at the beginning of book 5, p88.

Some goddesses only help heroes because they have been ordered to do so by more powerful gods. Calypso agrees to let Odysseus go only when she is asked to by Hermes on behalf of Zeus.

Goddesses might also help humans out of love, or sexual desire for them, as

The Gods played a major role in the long and gruesome Trojan war. They all had favorites and would help out in a time of need. For example, Aphrodite shows loyalty to Paris throughout the Iliad. "Paris,/like Achilles,/was sulking. He had been worsted in a duel with Menelaus,/ but the goddess Aprodite/saved him from the consequences of his defeat/and brought him to his house in Troy""(VI. 125)."" Hamilton also recognizes Aphrodite's loyalty to Paris in his mythology as well. Even after his death, she returns Helen to Menalaus to insure her safety. She saves him from battle, "Aphrodite snatched Paris away, easy work for a God, wrapped him in swirls of mist and set him down in his bedroom filled with scents" (Hamilton 141). We can see throughout the Iliad that she has interfered whenever it was beneficial to Paris. After she has rescued him, she then tries to get Helen to run away with him on yet a second occasion. Her dedication to Paris leads me to ponder the possibility that Aphrodite helps Paris only to further her own purpose. After all, she is the Goddess of love and not war, so what better way to strengthen her own cause, which is to see love conquer the war, than to Miller 2

If the goddesses wish to decide the course of action, they must influence Zeus or a suitably powerful male god to make a favourable decision. Thetis does this by supplication. In Book 1 [p36] she touches Zeus' chin and appeals to the favours she has done him previously. In doing so, she influences Zeus to support the Trojans until Achilles returns to battle. Thetis employs the same technique when begging Hephaestus to make new armour for Achilles.

Furthermore, instead of assuming full responsibility for his situation, Achilleus places part of the load on his mother Thetis, as well as Zeus. In drawing gods into the conflict, Achilleus further complicates the matter. Without the intervention of immortals, the victor of any contest is simply the stronger, more skilled, or perhaps luckier opponent. Once the gods are brought into the field of play, anything can be expected since they are even capable of changing the destinies of men.

The goddesses in the Iliad are overwhelmingly defined in terms of their relationships with men.

Whether it be humans seeking the assistance of the gods, or the immortals cajoling one another for favors, there is a complex network of interdependence involving the figures of the Iliad.

Hera and Athena's selfish motives also interfere on several occasions during the Trojan war. Their interference was not necessarily to protect the Greeks. It was to see the Trojans destroyed in battle. We can see this in two incidents, the battle between Paris and Menalaus and the final battle between Achilles and Hector. After Aphrodite whisked Paris away in the cloud, both sides agreed that the Greeks would then take Helen in order to see and end to war. This decision was not pleasing to Hera so she prompted Athena to persuade Pandarus to break the truce and shoot an arrow at Menalaus. He did this obediently, and the war continued. It was a gruesome scene, "Terror and Destruction and Strife, whose fury never slackens, all the friends for the murderous War God, were there to urge men to slaughter each other. Then the voice of groaning was and the voice of triumph from slayer and slain and the earth streamed with blood (Hamilton 184)." This scene is the essence of what I meant when I said the "Gods protected their favorites for their own pleasures of war". We can see that neither Hera or Athena really cared who died on either side; they just enjoyed the bloodshed. On another occasion, Athena pretends to be Hector's brother during his battle with Achilles in order to bring him to his demise. We can see that Athena really wants to see Troy destroyed. Of all the Gods, Hera's and Athena's interference in the war leads to the death of many warriors in the Iliad. I believe the these Gods get personal enjoyment fro

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)