Download Kevin Hu 11/17/16 Greek Essay The Trojan War, fought between

Kevin Hu
11/17/16
Greek Essay
The Trojan War, fought between Troy and the Achaean city-states, is one of the most
well-known conflicts of the ancient world. This conflict is described through historical
perspectives in the sixth book of the ​Iliad​, by Homer, and in ​The Women of Troy​, by Euripides.
These two works of literature, however, differ in their times of writing. Whereas
​
the ​Iliad​ was
composed in 762 BC, ​The Women of Troy​ would not be written until over three centuries later.
In the course of these three centuries, Greece underwent a revolution in philosophical thought
characterized by a dramatic shift from religious to rational explanations of reality. This
revolution was in part instigated by two wars, the Persian and Peloponnesian, which devastated
the city-state of Athens, causing the Athenians to question the effectiveness of their prayers. As a
result, the portrayal of the gods in later Athenian literature carried a more disloyal tone towards
the divine. The characteristics of this shift are evident when comparing these two narratives:
although both allude to the imperfection of the gods and the totality of fate, the frustrated and
rejecting tone of the prayers and curses of the human characters in ​The Women of Troy​ reflects a
societal change in Greek religiosity.
Whereas popular religions of modernity assert that their respective god(s) are paragons of
justice, these two works instead suggest that the gods of Ancient Greece were capricious and
petty beings who were easily offended and motivated by human affairs. This triviality is rooted
in the plots themselves: the Trojan War is said to have been provoked by a minor dispute
between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, who were obsessed with their beauty. After
Paris judged Aphrodite to be the most beautiful in exchange for Helen, wife of Greek king
Menelaus, the Greeks waged a decade-long war on Troy that the gods not only regarded with
interest, but chose sides in. In ​The Women of Troy​, Poseidon, god of the seas, and Athena,
goddess of wisdom, are shown following the war bewailing the destruction of his city and the
desecration of her temple. The reader is left to imagine how beings of such immense power
could possibly be influenced by the actions of mere mortals. When Athena vows in fury to “send
rain in floods with incessant hail” and “black tornados” with “lightning-fire” on the Achaeans for
having dishonored her temple, despite having supported them mere days ago, she gives the
impression of a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. This pettiness enforces the notion that the gods
in Greek society were not moral guides but instead omnipotent beings meant to rule through fear
and majesty. This notion is evident in multiple places in the ​Iliad​ such as when Hektor “lifted his
voice in prayer to Zeus and the other immortals” and proclaims that “[that] is no means for a man
to pray to the dark-misted son of Kronos, with blood and muck.” Through both privately
supporting the gods and insisting that one present themselves to them in a respectful manner,
Hektor demonstrates the degree to which the Greeks once respected the gods. Although many
Greeks held their gods in high regard, they did so knowing that they were often more volatile and
frivolous than humans themselves.
In addition to sharing a childish portrayal of the gods, the two stories both support the
concept of predeterminism, which was closely linked with religion. Whereas the characters of
the ​Iliad​ lament the fact that their futures are confined by the events of fate, those of ​The Women
of Troy​ instead choose to reflect on how fate has brought them to the dire circumstances at hand.
For instance, in the ​Iliad​, Hektor boasts that “no man is going to hurl me to Hades” but concedes
that “as for fate, I think no man yet has escaped it.” Previously, Helen had blamed the gods for
“these vile things [that] must be” and Zeus for her “vile destiny.” Although Helen’s arguments
may be interpreted as a manifestation of her manipulativeness, they nonetheless reflect the sense
of finality that the audience of the ​Iliad​ believed fate held and its close relationship with the
gods. Similarly, ​The Women of Troy​ explores the role of fate but instead focuses predominantly
on how it has affected the present. For instance, Hecuba bemoans the fact that she and the
women are “those whom Fate has cursed.” Instead of deductively considering how the Trojans
may have lost the war, she instead chooses to simply attribute this defeat to fate. When
considering that fate itself was literally controlled by mysterious and immortal beings called “the
fates,” it becomes clear that Greek civilization held the gods to be the masters of destiny.
Moreover, the shared prominence of fate indicates that although the philosophical movement
may have diminished the influence of the gods, the Greeks continued to hold fate as a decisive
force.
In addition to incorporating differing levels of divine influence, the two stories also differ
in the respective tones with which the mortal characters regard the gods. The lack of belief in the
gods evident in ​The Women of Troy​ relative to the ​Iliad​ reflects the sentiments of postwar
Athenian society, which could not reconcile such a dramatic downfall with the notion that they
had supposedly been blessed by the gods. In the ​Iliad​, Hecuba and the Trojan women sacrifice
“elaborately wrought robes” and offer “twelve heifers, yearlings, never broken” to Athena
despite knowing that their sacrifice is likely to be in vain; Athena has already pledged herself to
support the Achaeans. Hecuba’s faith in the gods surpasses even her love of her own son: when
Hektor returns home, she brings him “honey-sweet wine” not for him to drink, but to “pour out a
libation to father Zeus and the other immortals first.” Contrarily, in ​The Women of Troy​, Hecuba
has begun to openly question the powers and sanity of the gods in frustration as she lies among
the ruins of her city. At one point, Hecuba ironically asks in disbelief, “What reason could the
goddess Hera have for being so anxious about her beauty?” and sarcastically accuses Athena of
“husband-hunting among the gods” when this is indeed the true reason for the war. By having a
character ironically believe the gods to be beings of perfection, Euripides is able to
simultaneously undermine the authority of the gods while appearing to appeal to the more
religiously conservative authorities of his time. This irony is further illuminated when towards
the end of the tragedy, the Chorus, the function of which was to provide insight to the audience,
laments that “Zeus, our God, you have forsaken us” and renounces the gods by stating, “Zeus,
God, farewell!” In general, ​The Women of Troy​ reflects the dramatic reduction in religious faith
following military defeat through its portrayal of a historically comparable event.
The brutal outcomes the Peloponnesian and Persian wars inflicted on the Athenian people
induced philosophical extrospection through logical means in favor of religious explanations.
The role of mythology, though reduced in later centuries, remained an influence in Greek
society, and the gods play important roles in both the ​Iliad​ and ​The Women of Troy​. However, in
order for the development of proper logic and reasoning, the equivocal answers presented by
religion must be abandoned in the search of truth itself. This desertion may be stimulated by a
common agnosticism that compels a society to reconsider the foundations of reality.
Unfortunately for Athens, this enlightenment came too late after repeated losses in wars in spite
of numerous prayers and sacrifices.