As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent most of my holiday weekend reading–and listening to–The Iliad. Now that I am two-thirds of the way through (16 out of 24 chapters), I want to pause to pose some select questions about this great epic:

1. Homer’s paradox. First off is the age-old question: Why did Homer compose The Iliad? To celebrate the heroes of the Trojan War or to condemn their mortal combat? To quote the legendary North American general, William Sherman: War is Hell. But had the Trojans and the Achaeans never fought on the plains and shores of Ilion, the names of Achilles, Hector, Paris, and Odysseus, just to name a few, would have been lost to us forever. We remember their names and still read The Iliad today, however, precisely because of their extraordinary feats of courage in wartime!
2. Fate versus free will. There are many instances in The Iliad in which the men on both sides of the war feel duty-bound to continue fighting even when the tide of battle is turning against them, but if the outcome of the Trojan War has already been decided by the immortal gods, why do the men on the losing side bother fighting at all?
3. Partisan gods. Lastly, for now: Why do the gods take sides in the Trojan War? On this note, one episode in particular caught my attention (specifically, pp. 314-315 of the Caroline Alexander translation), where Zeus sends a messenger (Iris) to Poseidon imploring–nay, ordering–the sea god “to desist from war and battle” (Book 15, line 160). Poseidon, however, rejects his brother’s command outright (Book 15, lines 181-190). Are the immortal gods also “duty-bound” to fight?