In the realms of Greek myth, a sudden change of heart or mind was explained that the Gods are responsible. This is not unlike someone today saying ?the devil made me do it!?. This is used to explain some unexplained action, or an act out of character for a hero. The gods prove not only to be outside forces, but humanities inner drives. Lust for battle from Areas, lust for love from Aphrodite, spontaneous wisdom from Athena. These are all things that happen to people, times when the rational mind does not seem to have any control over ones actions. The Gods provide an explanation for them, as well as an excuse.
A second type of psychological interaction is when the Gods offer some sort of counseling to a hero or other mortal. Athena does this quite often, as the Goddess of wisdom. The Gods do not always help the heroes in this type of interactions though. The best example of this is when Zeus sends a false dream to Agamemnon, in which he tells the leader it is time for the Acheans to try and take Troy. This proves to be a disaster, and the Greeks truly regret it. The reason Zeus does this is because he wants to keep his promise to Thetis, mother of Achilles, to make sure the Greeks regret not having Achilles fight with them . The Gods provide a way for a hero to think that his wishes are going to be fulfilled. Unfortunately, this turns out not to be true.
The second good example is when Pandarus shoots an arrow during a momentary truce. The Goddess Athena tell him to do this, in order to prevent peace. Athena tells him that if he kills Menelaus during the truce, the Trojans would honor and respect them. Later he claims that he would not have done if the Gods had not told him too. This shows that the gods are used to explain an action when the mortal wanted to avoid the blame for the action.
What do all of these interactions tell us about the Gods and mortals? Quite a bit, the nature of the interactions tell us much about both of them. In most of the interactions, the Gods treat the mortals like children at best, and like a slave or plaything at worst. The Gods use the human to fulfill their own ends and needs. The humans can do very little to stop this and are at the mercy of the Gods. In Greek myth the Gods are not very different than the mortals that they preside over. The only true difference is power, and the gods have it.
The Gods are nothing more than the ruling class, and the mortals are their servants and subjects. Those mortals with divine parentage are lucky, they are between the men and Gods of their world. Heroes and Kings are this middle class, respected by the Gods, but still not their equals. The gods prove this time and time and again, and with these interactions, they make the heroes what they are. Heroes are nothing more than men who strive to be as great as the gods. Sometimes they fail, but they are remembered for daring to dream of greatness.
Ian Ross
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