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The Eruption Of The Iliad

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Fay Blakley
English 2030 – W4
Prof. Dr. Atkinson
24 September 2015
Humanization of The Iliad The eruption of the Trojan War might stand as one of the most relevant events in Greek mythology. A raging war between kings and gods alike shed blood bath, eventually bringing Troy to a crumble. Was the war intended to be a battle between the mortals? Throughout the epic of Homer’s The Iliad, the gods take on human characteristics, allowing their feelings guide them, intervening, through the war. Before the war began, there was a wedding feast to honor Thetis and Peleus, Achilles’ parents. The goddess Eris was not invited to the wedding. Eris was angry and threw a golden apple inscribed for the fairest and threw it into the banquet hall. All the goddesses claimed the apple, but Zeus delegates the decision to Paris, a prince in Troy. The goddesses all tried to bribe Paris. Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta as his wife. The problem was Helen was already married to Menelaus. Paris went to Sparta and met Helen and fell in love with her, taking her back with him. Menelaus demanded her back, but Paris would not oblige. As a result, Menelaus persuaded his brother Agamemnon, a general for the Greeks, to form a coalition against the Trojans (Norton, 123). The gods and their relationships with the men play a significant role in the story of The Iliad.
The intervention of the gods started the war between the Trojanas and Achaeans, and

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