Thus far the Odyssey is a much more pleasurable read then the Iliad. The similes are not as extravagant but they pack just as much force. They seem to get to the point a lot quicker. In a certain sense they are much more realistic.
There are two interesting points I would like to bring up. The first regards the temptations that Odysseus decides to resist. The temptation to live with Kalypso, a beautiful goddess, who promises immortality and the temptation to marry Nausikaa and live with the Phaiakians, who seem to be God like, seems a harder battle to fight then the ones involving monsters and Gods. Perhaps this is just another way of highlighting the honorable characteristics of Odysseus as a hero who understands familial obligations. Perhaps the "composer" of the Odyssey was trying to stress a different kind of value system; one rooted in living with the the choices and obligations of being a husband, wife, son, king, etc. Perhaps the "author" is trying to encourage the pursuit of a more realistic and worldly kind of kleos. After all it is man who carries on kleos from generation to generation and not the Gods.
Secondly it is interesting to see Athene deliberately manipulating the situation among the Phaiakians so that Odysseus will be forced to showoff his prowess even though it is doubtful whether Odysseus really cares to do so. I think that the Gods in a certain sense are "living through" the mortals. Perhaps they envy mortal life in a certain sense. This might explain why the Gods show up as mortals when due to their divinity they could easily manipulate situations without taking on a human persona. Or perhaps we wouldn't have much of a story otherwise. Perhaps both my points are attempts by the "author" to show that immortality in a godly sense is an illusion.

The poem of force article

From what I gathered about the article is that Weil is concerned with how certain seemingly normal men become changed during war. I believe the evolution of Achilles is a great example of this change. The readers already know that Achilles is the greatest Greek warrior but he is not shown fighting for the majority of the poem. And when we do finally see Achilles in action, he is enraged and brutal. I myself was not expecting Achilles to be so brutal and feral. But as I read Weil's article I began to understand how war, especially the ten year ordeal at Troy, can change men.

Check out the link to an excerpt of Sebastian Junger's War on Thetis Speaks.  It may give you some ideas for Writing Assignment 2.

2/11/12

In my class on the American Civil War, we discussed the attack on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner by South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks. After delivering a speech insulting the South, Charles Sumner was beat to near death by Brooks. In his defense when tried, Brooks stated that he was protecting the honor of  not only his state but of his family. I find this event is similar to situation in Book 1 of the Iliad when Achilles' honor is threatened by Agamemnon; although Preston Brooks didn't have Athena come down and stop him. It is interesting to see in later periods how people still hold self-honor to be one of the most important things in their lives.

The Gods-- you are taking on one of the most profound issues in the Iliad!   But don't be shy-- the poem forces it on you from the outset, when Apollo starts the plot/conflict by sending the plague and Athena prevents its resolution by stopping Achilles from killing Agamemnon.  Apollo is awesome, or, in the old sense of the word, awful:

                          Phoibos Apollo heard him,
and strode down along the pinnacles of Olympos, angered
in his heart, carrying across his shoulders the  bow and the hooded
quiver, and the shafts clashed on the shoulders of the god walking
angrily.  He came as night comes down and knelt then
apart and opposite the ships and let go an arrow.
Terrible was the clash that rose from the bow of silver.

So, the gods have tremendous power.  No human could withstand them.  Helen, who is the daughter of Zeus and thus, like Achilles, at least half divine, tries to refuse Aphrodite in Iliad 3, but despite the fact that Helen seems to be trying to do what she perceives as right, she is overpowered by Aphrodite, who does not appeal to any moral argument, but simply informs her of who is boss:


Then in anger Aphrodite the shining spoke to her:
"Wretched girl, do not tease me, lest in anger I forsake you
and grow to hate you as much as now I terribly love you,
lest I encompass you in hard hate, caught between both sides,
Danaans and Trojans alike, and you terribly perish."

Reading the Iliad requires a great leap of imagination-- imagine if you lived in a world where there were supernatural powers everywhere, whom you could sometimes experience directly (as Achilles when he talks to Athena  and Thetis) but more often only indirectly (Agamemnon in the film, who is told by the priest what he has to do).  And imagine that you were in a desperate situation and perceived that the gods that you had worshiped your whole life had turned against you-- this is Hektor's situation, and his confusion as he realizes this is horrifying.

There seems to be a general assumption in the Homeric poems that if you treat the gods properly (worship, sacrifice, proper behavior), then they will treat you properly (help you in times of trouble), as Apollo helps Chryses in Book 1, and Zeus appears to agree to help Achilles--but then things get much more complicated, and the humans find themselves in hopeless situations.

Some questions as you read the end of the Iliad:

Do you think Homer wants us to think of the gods as upholding morality and justice?
Do you think he wants us to think his human characters are ethical, moral actors? 

What evidence is there in the Iliad that the gods are just?
What evidence is there that they are bound by fate? (specific passages?)
Are the humans or the gods are more moral or ethical? 
Does Zeus prevail?  Should he?

I agree with mark about what he said about the gods not being truly godlike. They are often shown doing things that go against peoples moral codes. I feel like this was put in as a way for homer to keep some balance in the plays not only to keep them interesting but also as a way to show that even though they are gods with immortality, they still have faults and are not about the day to day temptation that mortals go through as well.

I don't think the Gods are meant to represent moral exemplars. Nor can they even really be said to be Gods. What they represent are the embodiment of the primordial desires, urges,and emotions such as lust, anger, power, fear, etc. This also seems evident from the fact that even the Gods are under the sway of fate and can do very little to alter it.