Based on Homer’s interpretation of how the gods and humans interact, it does not seem that humans really have free will. They are subject to the whims of the gods. When Chryses, a priest of Apollo, asked for his daughter Chryseis to be freed from Agamemnon, he “bore in his hand the scepter of Apollo,” (Homer, p. 1), in order to show his support from the god. Agamemnon refused, and so Chryses prayed to Apollo, and Apollo “came down furious from the summits of Olympus he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning,” (Homer, p. 1). Apollo actually came down to cast a plague upon the Greeks for nine days straight. All of those who suffered the plague were at his whim and rage despite that they had nothing to do with Agamemnon’s refusal.
Throughout the Iliad, the gods seem to be involved with all of the fighting between the Greeks and the Trojans. Achilles declared after the plague started that he will no longer fight for Agamemnon when he decided to take Briseis as a captive in Chryseis’ daughter’s place. Hera hates the Trojans, and would send Athena to tell Achilles to obey them and not go after Agamemnon in a rage. Achilles then answers “however angry a man may be, he must do as you two command him. This will be the best, for the gods ever hear the prayers of him who has obeyed them,” (Homer, p. 3). When Agamemnon finally agreed to the exchange Chryseis, his people “purified themselves and cast their filth into the sea,” (Homer, p. 5), and offered sacrificial goats and lambs to end Apollo’s plague. It is the action of the gods that have the most influence on the humans’ behavior, even though each human has his or her own emotional reaction to what is happening around him or her.
References
Homer. The Iliad. Word Document.
