Allan, William - Divine Justice and Cosmic Order in Early Greek Epic

Divine Justice and Cosmic Order in Early Greek Epic
Author(s): William Allan

Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 126 (2006), pp. 1-35
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
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Journal of Hellenic Studies 126 (2006) 1- 35
DIVINE JUSTICEAND COSMICORDER IN EARLYGREEKEPIC*
e oi g6iCHmap.s
"o0 Cv oxtct pya
&XXx OPdh.t1.3v,
6iicirjvtiouotai
wa xio~
Horn. Od.
m.py' 14.83-4
Od.vp14ov."
Abstract: This articleexamines the ethical and theologicaluniverse of the Homericepics, and shows thatthe patterns
of humanand divinejustice which they deploy are also to be found throughoutthe wider corpusof early Greekhexa-
meterpoetry. Althoughmost scholarscontinueto stress the differencesbetween the Iliad and Odysseywith regardto
divine justice, these come not (as is often alleged) from any change in the gods themselves but from the Odyssey's
peculiarnarrativestructure,with its focus on one hero and his main divine patronand foe. Indeed,the action of the
Iliad embodies a system of norms and punishmentsthat is no differentfrom that of the Odyssey. Values such as jus-
tice are shown to be socially constitutedin each epic on both the divine and humanplanes, and each level, it is argued,
displays not only a hierarchyof power (and the resultingtensions), but also a structureof authority. In addition,the
presentationof the gods in the wider hexametercorpusof Hesiod, the Epic Cycle andthe HomericHymns is analysed,
revealing a remarkablycoherenttraditionin which the possibility of divine conflict is combined with an underlying
cosmic order. Finally,considerationof Near Easternmyths relatingcosmic orderto justice bringsout the distinctive-
ness of the Greek system as a whole and, in particular,of the way it uses the divine society underZeus's authorityas
a comprehensiveexplanatorymodel of the world.
ITwas once popularto trace in early Greek thoughta fundamentalchange in beliefs about the
natureand values of the gods. The resultingculturalhistory detected a moral 'progress'in the
evolution of early Greek literatureitself, from the amoralpowers of the Iliad, throughthe gods
of the Odysseywith their concern for righteousconduct,to the moral certaintiesof the Hesiodic
Zeus. This model was exploded many years ago by Hugh Lloyd-Jonesin TheJustice ofZeus.1
Nevertheless, it remainsa commonplaceof Homeric scholarshipthat the Iliad and Odysseydif-
fer in their presentation of the gods, especially with regard to divine justice. Thus, in his
Introductionto the majormodemrn commentaryon the Odyssey,Alfred Heubeckarguesthat 'Zeus
himself has changedin the poet's vision. His actions are no longer directedby irrationalimpuls-
es and emotions, and he no longer has any need to boast of his superiorpower ... With per-
ceptiveness and wisdom Zeus now directs the fate of the world accordingto moral principles,
which alone create and preserve order. The father of the gods has only a little way to go to
become the just rulerof the world.'2 Indeed,Lloyd-Joneshimself, despite his demolitionof the
developmentalmodel of divine justice, accepts that the Odyssey's 'theology is in some impor-
tant ways differentfrom that of the Iliad', and he remarksupon the 'unquestionabledifference
between the moral climate of the two Homeric poems'.3 By contrast,this article will aim to
show that the two poems share the same moral and theological universe and, furthermore,that
the patternsof humanand divine justice which they deploy are also to be found throughoutthe
wider corpus of early Greekhexameterpoetry.4
PartI arguesthatdivinejustice is not absentfrom the Iliad. The still popularnotion of amoral
gods is shown to be flawed: the gods have human favouritesand are sensitive to their honour,
but that does not make them 'amoral'. Moralityis essentially a system of norms and protocols
governingrelationshipsbetween individuals,and a similarsystem is shown to apply on both the
* The Iliad and Odysseyare cited from the editions of

3 Lloyd-Jones(1983) 28, 30.
M.L. West,Homerus:Ilias (2 vols, Stuttgart,Leipzig and 4 Kullmann (1985) is perhaps the fullest exposition
Munich 1998-2000) and H. van Thiel, Homeri Odyssea thus far of the Iliad and Odyssey's alleged differences in
(Hildesheim 1991). I am indebted to Douglas Cairns, their depiction of the relationships between gods and
Andrew Ford, Adrian Kelly, Mary Lefkowitz, Hugh mortals. He seeks to establish 'the incompatibilityof the
Lloyd-Jones, Ruth Scodel and the journal's two anony- religious conceptionsof the two epics' (p. 14). The pres-
mous referees for much helpful discussion and advice. ent article,however, arguesnot only for their compatibil-
1 Lloyd-Jones(1983), first published in 1971. ity but also for their essential similarity.
2 Heubeck (1988) 23.

2 WILLIAM ALLAN
divine and human levels. The action of the Iliad in fact embodies a system of social norms and
punishments that is no different from that of the Odyssey. Part II accordingly turns to the
Odysseyand challenges the prevalentidea that it represents,to use Heubeck'sterms, an 'ethical
transformation of the gods'.5 Both poems are marked by divine interventions and favourites, so
that to see the Odyssey as dominated by morally unambiguous and distanced gods is mistaken:
the gods too are part of human suffering, as in the Iliad, and it is not merely humans who are to
blame. (As we shall see, Zeus's opening speech in the Odyssey is often misunderstoodin that
respect.) The similaritiesbetween the poems with regardto divinejustice will be detailed:each
explores the gods' self-interestand their clashing wills, and both do so within the overarching
system of Zeus's authority. But despite their similarities,it is also possible to show, by treating
the poems individually,how each epic is trying in its own way to deepen the audience's con-
ception of divine justice. For while each poem reflects what one might call the 'simple' view -
namely, that humanwrongs will be punishedmore or less immediatelyby the gods - they also
explore the complexities and problems inherentin such an account of divine justice. Part III
traces similarpatternsof divine and humaninteractionin the wider hexametercorpus of Hesiod,
the Epic Cycle and the Homeric Hymns, where (as in the Iliad and the Odyssey)the gods' self-
interestand clashing wills functionwithin the overarchingsystem of Zeus's authority.6
I
(a) Iliad versus Odyssey?
It remainsa standardview of the Homeric epics that the gods of the Iliad, in contrastto those of
the Odyssey, are little interestedin human morality. A recent treatmentof the Homeric gods
speaks of 'ethical considerations,which though not absent from the Iliad are not a major con-
cern of its Gods'.7 Another scholar claims that 'The reader who ... looks in the Iliad for theod-
icy will be disappointed. The gods are not just in any ordinarysense of the word.'s Yet, as we
shall see, close attentionto the text shows thatthe gods are intimatelyconcernedwith mattersof
right and wrong throughoutthe Iliad. E.R. Dodds famously found 'no indication in the narra-
tive of the Iliad that Zeus is concernedwith justice as such'.9 However, despite Lloyd-Jones's
compelling criticisms of this view,'0O the oppositionbetween divine frivolity (Iliad) and concern
for justice (Odyssey)persists. The centralaim of this paper is to suggest that such a dichotomy
is mistaken, since it neglects the ways in which the narrativeof the Iliad itself (and not merely
the pious appealsof its characters)displays a basic patternof justice (defined as a coherent sys-
tem of social norms and sanctions),and, conversely,exaggeratesthe extent to which the gods of
the Odyssey embody a more 'advanced'theodicy."
A closer analysis reveals a single and consistent form of divine justice sharedby both epics.
Yet far from endorsinga simple model of justice where the good are rewardedand the wicked
punished(a patternoften assigned to the Odyssey),each poem shows a more complex system of
norms and punishmentsin action and explores its disturbingimplicationsfor the human agents
involved. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey are, therefore,theologically challenging works since
each shows the simple model of divinejustice to be in variousways both problematicand naive.
5 Heubeck (1988) 23. 9 Dodds (1951) 32.

6 Rosen (1997) 484 rightly notes that the Worksand Lloyd-Jones(1983) 1-7.
o10
11 An alternativemodel is offered
Days is not unique in its concern with 'In the by Winterbottom
8i"r:
broadestsense, the Iliad and Odysseytell one grandstory (1989) esp. 33, 40, who challenges the gods' concern for
about how dike operatesthroughoutall stages of human justice in both epics, calling them 'amoral' in the Iliad
relations, from the interpersonalto the international.' and then seeking to extend this descriptionto the gods of
However,he does not show how this works in any detail the Odyssey. It will be arguedhere, by contrast,thatthere
in the texts. is a coherentsystem of divine (and human) 6irm in both
7 Kearns(2004) 67. epics and that it is no strongerin the Odyssey than in the
8 Mueller (1984) 146. Iliad.

DIVINE JUSTICEAND COSMICORDER IN EARLYGREEKEPIC 3
Moreover,the form of justice that is shown to regulatethe world of the poems is simultaneous-
ly cosmic and personal:cosmic in that it embracesdivine as well as humansociety and is con-
nected to the maintenanceof orderon both levels; personal (and thereforevolatile) in that it is
intended to control individual conduct and self-interest (whether of gods or humans) and
depends for its ultimatesanctionon the personalauthorityof Zeus himself.
(b) Trojanwrongs
Thoughthe Iliad poet is less proneto moraljudgementsthanthe narratorof the Odyssey,he nev-
ertheless shapes his narrativeso that a clear patternof norms and consequences emerges. He
deliberatelyincludes scenes which emphasizethe Trojans'r61ein startingandprolongingthe war
and their culpablemisjudgementsduringit. Yet unlike the Odyssey,where only one of the suit-
ors, Amphinomus, is presented in any detail as a sympathetic figure (see II(h) below), the
Trojanpeople are seen to suffer disproportionatelyfor the errorsof their leaders, making their
destruction,as an expression of divine justice, the more disturbing. The first of such scenes
comes just after the duel between Paris and Menelaus. As Helen and Paris go to bed with each
other,Parisrecalls their first sexual encounter:
ye 6i1(plX~trIl
6chh tp tpnEioJLev
E1
01),7dXp7cO)1CotEji (O& y' (0 pp~v(X dlPKc~lhZ lfEV,
oi~6'6-reoe: irp~yrov
AaKE~&xijiovo~5 i~px~tcvij
~virovtoir~~potr
~icXheovpir~i~cx;~a v~Eroov,
v1:joo6' i~vKpavxiji~giyv cp~XtiClt~KioA)Vt
ijrooViv ~pxgcdaici jir yhu~ictYirCLpo;
axiPEi"(Ii. 3.44 1-6)
'But come - let us take our pleasure in the bed of love. For never before has desire so enfolded my
mind, not even when I first snatchedyou away from lovely Lacedaemonand sailed off with you in my
seafaringships, and slept with you in the bed of love on the island of Cranae- thatwas nothingto how
I desire you now and sweet longing seizes me.'
The original offence, the abduction of Helen, is re-enacted within the narrative. Menelaus links
this crime to the eventual destruction of the Trojans:
"~iXhr1; JJAVXO)J3rl tE K(XLC'iXroS 013)K16ZE

iiv Ejie Xopriaixoee, KaXKW.KUVCS, oj~ 1&ti.L~j
Ziiv6; ~p4PIPPrZO Xritii~v ~6&~ioxtrj~IjVv
oYji~o Ko13PlGilV ~ihXoov KO(iK~il XtO 7t~oXX~
'There'sno lackof outrageandshameon yourpart- thatoutrageyou didme, you shamelessbitches,

withno fearin yourheartsfor the harshangerof loud-thundering Zeus,god of host andguest,who
will one daydestroyyourlofty city. Foryou madeoff with my weddedwife andmanypossessions
besides,forno reasonat all, sinceyou weregivena friendlywelcomeby her.'
Menelaus'speech has been describedas 'a pictureof men attributingto gods the enforcementof
laws of which those gods are shown to be quiteunaware'.12Yet the limitedperspectiveof human
characterssuch as Menelaus is confirmedby the wider narrativeof Troy's fall which is sanc-
tioned by Zeus himself (cf I(c)). Nor is it solely the Greekswho disapproveof Paris' actions:
Hector describes them as worthy of stoning (II. 3.56-7) and wishes he would die at once
(6.281-2), while the narratordescribes the ships that took Paris to Sparta as 'the source of
12Winterbottom
(1989)33.

4 WILLIAMALLAN
evils' (OpsnsKex6oug) for all the Trojansand for himself, 'since he knew nothing of the gods'
decrees' (&pXEKdXKog);,
OoPpaxtxta 5.63-4).13
The Iliad's patternof reciprocaljustice is seen most clearly in the poet's decision to include,
and to elaborateat great length, the account of the oath-breakingin Book 4 and Priam'sdisas-
trous reaction to it in Book 7. As the head of his community,Priam swears the oath on the
Trojans'behalf (3.105-10, 250-2). Following a solemn sacrifice both the Achaeans and the
Trojanscall upon Zeus to punishthe side thatbreaksthe oath (3.298-301).14Yet despite the truce
ratified by the oath, the TrojanPandarusattemptsto kill Menelaus, and his crime serves as a
recapitulationof Trojanguilt. Of course,Athena and Herahave promotedthis goal with Zeus's
consent (4.64-73), but the familiarepic principle of 'double motivation'means that Pandarus'
liability is not diminished:'he is tempted,not compelled to shoot his arrowat Menelaus;he is
"foolish"'(4.104).15 Nor does it efface the guilt of the Trojans,which is underlinedby the deci-
sion of Pandarus'comradesto hide him with their shields from the eyes of the Greeks as he pre-
pares to shoot (4.113-15). When Agamemnon says that Troy will pay for this treacheryand
invokes Zeus as the protectorof oaths (4.155-68; cf 4.235-6),16there is certainlyan ironic dis-
junction between his perspective(sharedby all the Achaeans,cf 4.268-71) and that of the audi-
ence, since they know that Zeus, far from enforcing the oath in this case, has consented to its
being broken. Scholarsfocus on this aspect repeatedly,17 and in doing so often overlook the fact
that Zeus sanctionsthe oath-breakingfor an ulteriorpurpose, and one less exclusively personal
than that of Hera and Athena, who are eager to avenge the Judgementof Paris (cf cI(f)). For
besides his personaldebt to Thetis and his promise to honourher son's wishes by favouringthe
Trojansin battle (1.394-412, 503-30), Zeus has a furtherreasonto encouragethe breakingof the
truce:the wider narrativeindicatesthat he approvesof Troy's fall, both because of the Trojans'
errorsand because it is part of a largercosmic order which is his to enforce.18Thus Hera and
Athena'spersonalhatredof Troyoperateswithin a largermoralframeworkthatextendsthrough-
out the narrativeand the universe it creates.19
The Trojans'responsibilityfor the brokentruceis compoundedby Priam'spersonalfailureto
returnHelen after the duel. The advice given by 'wise Antenor'not only constitutesan admis-
sion of Trojanguilt but also highlights Priam'simminentmisjudgement:20
13 Cf Kirk (1990) 61 ad loc. 'The scholia invoked for a world-orderthat is not merely a matterof his own
two differentpropheciesof doom (if Pariswent overseas, subjectivepreferences,as when, for example, he realizes
or if the Trojanspursuedseafaring)to give a special ref- that he must relinquish the idea of saving his son
erence to "he knew nothing of the divine decrees" - Sarpedon if that world-order is to remain intact (II.
which need mean no more than his ignoring the rules of 16.431-61).
hospitality.' Yet the narrator'sstress on the divine origins 19Pandarusthe truce-breakeris killed by Diomedes,
of these social norms is itself significant. the Iliad's exemplaryGreek warrior(for Diomedes' rOle
14It is also made clear that both Achaeans and rank- in his death, see Andersen (1978) 53-7), and Athena
and-file Trojans want Paris to lose the duel (3.320-3). guides his spear so that it cuts off Pandarus'tongue (II.
The Trojansall hated Paris 'like black death'(3.454). 5.290-6). The audience will naturally view Pandarus'
15Cairns(2001a) 16. death as punishment for his crime; the moral emerges
16 Oathsare centralinstrumentsof from the story and there is no need of a speech from
justice in Homeric
(and historical Greek) society, but this is obscured by either a hero or Zeus himself to point it out. Diomedes,
those who deny the importanceof justice in the Iliad, as however, does go on to interpretthe Trojans'refusal to
does Havelock (1978) 123-92, a strong supporterof the handover Helen, in defiance of theiroath:yvootbv8, Kc'
developmental model; cf esp. 'Between Greeks and S
Trojans,"justice"cannotexist, only the inactionof peace etiphut' ('It is obvious - even a very fool can see
or the activity of war' (p. 138). it - that now the coils of destructionhave been fastened
17 Cf, e.g., Zanker (1994) 7: 'But Agamemnon's onto the Trojans',7.401-2).
view of Zeus' justice is notoriouslyout of kilter with the 20 Antenor has alreadybeen characterizedas a good
god's real attitudeat this juncture, for he is ambivalent adviser in his accountof Odysseus and Menelaus' earlier
and aloof, at least as far as the oath is concerned.' embassy to Troy, when he gave the Greeks hospitality
18As we shall see (cf e1(c)), Zeus must take thought and formed a careful evaluationof their skills as orators

86Co0iev'ApEpi8ttov Yv. viv 8' 6pttai ncto

eao61,tvot paxrp6eo -r ot vi zt K~pitov ijitv
a" i~
hiogat KzaehcoOc~t, ''vxpih oiEv b&E." (II. 7.350-3)
'Comeon now,let us giveArgiveHelenandall herpossessionswithherto the sonsof Atreusto take
away. Now we arefightingaftercheatingoverourswornoaths;so I do notsee anygoodoutcomefor
us, unlesswe do as I say.'
When Paris declares himself willing to returnonly the goods taken from Sparta(yuvacKa
Litv
o0K duo1&bao , 7.363), Priam'scomplicity is culpable. The TrojanheraldIdaeus, chargedwith
relaying the response of the Trojan&yopil,which is no more than the gii)o;
'AX6v6vioto
(3.374, 388), underlinesthe king's egregious errorin denying his son's guilt:
"wrijtaxtpiv, 6o' 'AXigavipo;KoiXtj; AvivivoAv
Tpoirjv' - 6ogspiv 6SpXX'dxofoOoat -
irlyero
xt6vt' O,t 66jievat,Ka At' o1KOOCv xX' ktOrivat.
Ko)ptiyrlv6' MevrAoi CijLOtO
~
,Xoyov Klv
ot prlotvG6ostvy KIXovrat." (II. 7.389-93)
!~iv Tp(iSgy7
'ThepossessionsthatAlexanderbroughtin his hollowshipsto Troy- if onlyhe haddiedbeforethat!
- all thesehe is willingto give backandto addyet morefromhis ownstores. Buttheweddedwife of
gloriousMenelaushe sayshe willnotgiveback,thoughtheTrojansin facturgehimto dopreciselythat.'
It could not be clearerthat Priamhas made a disastrousmistake, allowing Paristo defy the oath
and doing so in the face of populardisapproval.21No less than Paris, Priamis responsible for
the destructionof Troy,his city. He acts wrongly, and he - and everyone else who depends on
him - must suffer the consequences.22
As the poem progresses there are several more indications of Trojan deceit. During
Agamemnon'smajoraristeia in Book 11 he comes upon two sons of Antimachus,
Xpubv dya& 6&ip,

66E8Eypvo;,
'AhE,vrpoto
'EXViv 86gievao(av8e&tMEvEX6W1..
oi)i E'iacTXa' (II. 11.123-5)
who in expectationof gold fromAlexander,splendidgifts,was mostopposedto givingHelenbackto

fair-haired
Menelaus.
Paris' briberyof his fellow Trojansbrings disgrace on his entire community,but Antimachus'
own conduct emerges as particularlyblameworthy,for as Agamemnonsays:
"cEi 6i1
rlv 'Avttglyoto &iiPpovog iAtE;g Otrov,
i;q ot' Avi Tpdxov &yopipt ivoiyev,
Mcv,aov
o tbvd6vzti~ot
yyesirlv '06uoi ,
,i06voa &NJ
'Axato~G,
aWOO
viv Ka'aK,'cEivat
6i1toi wtj6'ltEV
ti:v rtaxp6;&xEtra tEroiae
Xt3riv." (//. 11.138-42)
(3.203-24). The audience may also have known of the 21Priammay also be faultedfor not remainingon the
story (attested in Sophocles' Antenoridae, cf Strabo battlefield to deal himself with the outcome of the duel.
13.1.53; Soph. fr. 11 Radt) that Antenor's family was The narratordraws attentionto his absence (3.304-9).
spared at the fall of Troy (cf Pind. Pyth. 5.83-5). If so, 22 One recalls Hector'sprediction(6.448-9): (EoXtI
they may have construed it as Antenor's reward for his Zt'iv xvot'6Xd)it "IoItogpil I Ka IHpfaxog Kat
wise advice here in favour of the Greeks. i,ap ('The day will come when
sacred i3pjtLeChi
,abg Ilios Iptduoto
,o be
will destroyed,and Priam,and the people
of Priamof the fine ash spear').

6 WILLIAM ALLAN
'If you are indeed the sons of wise Antimachus,who once in the Trojanassembly,when Menelaushad
come on an embassywith godlike Odysseus, urgedthem to kill him on the spot and not let him go back
to the Achaeans, now you will pay for your father'sabominableoutrage.'
Antimachus' reception of the embassy contrasts strongly with that of Antenor (cf n.20), but the
pattern of Trojan crimes calling forth punishment is re-enforced. Agamemnon kills Antimachus'
sons, one of them in a peculiarly brutal manner:
'I8Iur6oXov6' iv 0c0Sv
&i6pooe . ocuxcaC (ptIEV,
o;Lpov6' ico AocEZ&E

icu&Voeaot 6t' bpiLo. (II. 11.145-7)
leaptdown,andhimhe killedon theground,slicingoff his armsandheadwithhis sword,

Hippolochus
andsenthimrollingthroughthe thronglike a log.23
The patternof Trojandeceit and punishmentis also shown to extend back beyond the current
generation. Poseidon, puzzled by Apollo's continuing supportfor the Trojans,reminds him of
how Laomedonhad cheatedthem both of properpaymentafterthey built a wall aroundTroy and
tendedthe king's cattle (21.441-57). ThoughPoseidon sent a sea-monsterto punish the Trojans,
Heracles destroyed it, yet he in turnwas defraudedof his rewardby Laomedon24and took his
revenge by sacking Troy (5.648-51, 20.144-8). Nevertheless, Poseidon's anger against Troy
remainsunappeased,so that 'here we have a case of divine anger extendingover more than one
generation'.25The descendantsof Laomedonpay for his crimes as well as their own, and the
narrativeshows that divine justice is not always instantaneous,an idea that is often treatedas if
it first surfacedin Hesiod and Solon (e.g. Hes. W&D282-4; Solonfr. 13.29-32 W).26
(c) Zeus and thefall of Troy

In tryingto determineZeus's own attitudeto Troy,scholarsare often misled by the fact thatZeus
nowhere expresses explicit anger at the city or happiness at its fall. Thus, with regard to
Agamemnon's prediction that Troy will be destroyed by Zeus in anger at the Trojans'deceit
(4.160-8), a recent discussion observes that 'we, unlike Agamemnon,can see Zeus's "real"atti-
tude. When this Zeus brings aboutthe fall of Troy it will be with sorrowand not with righteous
indignation.'27Yet such a formulationrisks confusing two very differentideas, for Zeus's pre-
sumed feelings of pity at the city's destructionand his conviction thatthe fall of Troy is right are
not mutually exclusive. Zeus speaks on one occasion as if he wants to save Troy, but his real
motive is evidently to annoy HeraandAthena and so facilitatethe breakingof the truce (4.5-19).
He also makes clear in the same context his strong affection for the Trojans,because they offer
him lavish sacrifices (4.44-9), but this does not change the fact that he approvesof Troy's fall.
23 There are nine fatal arm wounds in the Iliad (see reason to be furious with the Trojans;cf 13.185-209,
the tables in Saunders(2004) 14-15), but this is the only ending otpuvov AavaoiS, Tpd~eot &5KiGE'~EZXEv
time in the poem that a corpse is mutilatedby having its ('[Poseidon] urged on the Danaans, and was preparing
arms cut off. The act is in line with Agamemnon's disasterfor the Trojans').
extremely violent aristeia (cf Segal (1971) 10, 20), but 26 Kullmann(1985) 20 n.45, for example, remarks:
also serves to underlinehis fury at the treacheryof the 'It is interestingto see how the theodicdeconcept of the
Trojans. Odyssey is mitigatedin Hesiod and Solon. Both authors
24 Laomedonis said to have been deceived himself by allow that the justice of the gods is not always executed
Anchises, who secretly bred his mares with Laomedon's immediately.' Yet this is doubly misleading, since it
outstandinghorses (5.265-72). Diomedes capturestheir posits a false dichotomy between the Iliad and the
offspringwhen he defeatsAeneas (5.319-27). Odyssey, and overlooks the presence of delayed punish-
25 Lloyd-Jones (2002) 2. Hector's killing of his ment in the Iliad itself.
grandson Amphimachus gives Poseidon an additional 27 Kearns(2004) 69 n.14.

Thus one scholar seeks to connect the fact that '[Zeus] makes no attemptto conceal his love of
Troy'with the god's alleged 'ambivalence'aboutthe punishmentof the oath-breakers.28 Yet this
is to createa false opposition, since Zeus can love Troy and still think it rightthatthe Trojansbe
punished. It is thereforeirrelevantthatZeus does not express any happinessat Troy's fall, since
his approvalis not only implicit in the narrativeitself29 but also integral to the largercosmic
orderof which Zeus himself is the anthropomorphicmanifestationand ultimateenforcer.
This emergesmost clearly in Zeus's majorprophecyconcerningthe course of the war in Book
15. AddressingHera,he bids her tell Poseidon to stop aiding the Achaeans, then continues:
""EKtop 6' 6tpAvrlotvwiXrlv' oi43o;'AEr6Apov,

,
6' Lrpvorpotr XrXlt 6'
taiot ntvo;, o6vvowv
<p0s37ovEsq8' v vrluoi7cohuv.il'otnooaot
rovv a
nl-qei6Eo3 , jiou 6' 8'
6vibv vap, [vnby
dvoz-ilost 6xp
'AXiov
ta'tpov
'A~th~oS.
&ktoCt bv 687VE
H6~2po~ov" tEvs ypsi qx{St~o "Ewroo
'Ihiou n:ohEsig
xJPOxTldPOteE, 6kkavt'
diopkilotwv'Advair th Aoot{qo)q
." 15.59-71)
tobgt"Itov
CihhouS, CLEsth
8' Zvlbvk~LaV
CapTr16vo8ov"
(II,.
tog i yokeoxigpvo;
ro006k Xohxood~ClvoS tsvE "E:topa
KTEVeL 'i~oS
"EK-ropx6io; 'Azt,Eag.
'AxXrtie;.
to 8' iv tot irsetta7cai~o5v xnaphv7qjv
aiiVkyt 2;XOtCtt 6taC1t;pSpkEiS i :' 'A~atoi
"Ihtov otini, i[otsv 'A~qvoirlS 8th [5ouhdg." (//. 15.59-71)
'Andlet PhoebusApollospurHectorintobattle,andbreathestrengthintohim againandmakehim

forgetthepainsthatnowwearouthis heart.LethimdrivetheAchaeansbackagainwhenhe hasraised
in thema cowardlypanicso thattheyflee andfall amongthemany-benched shipsof Achilles,son of
Peleus. AndAchilleswill sendout his companion,Patroclus; butgloriousHectorwill kill himwith
his spearin frontof Ilios,once Patroclushas slaughtered
manyof the otheryoungfightingmen,and
amongthemmy own son,godlikeSarpedon.EnragedforPatroclus,godlikeAchilleswill kill Hector.
Andfromthattime on I shallbringabouta counter-attack fromthe ships,constantandcontinuous,
until the Achaeans take steep Ilios throughthe designs of Athena.'
Zeus impels Hector to his death, knowing that this means the fall of Troy. Thus to doubt that
Zeus approvesof Troy's destructionwould be to imply that he is not the most powerful god, a
point on which Zeus is especially sensitive (cf n.34), not least because cosmic ordercannot be
separatedfrom his power. Moreover,Zeus's desire that Troy should fall (15.69-71) is predicat-
ed upon his belief that it is right.
The importanceof cosmic orderis highlightedwhen one considersthe issue of fate, and par-
ticularlyits relationto the will of Zeus. In Book 8 Zeus prophesiesto Herathe deathof Patroclus
and Achilles' subsequentreturnto the fighting, iA; y&P0ocpacr6vtxot ('for so it is decreed',
8.470-7). The formulationis vague, and intentionallyso, since the narratorhere reflects and
deploys a standardGreek conceptionof Zeus's will and his superiorknowledge of futureevents
in which there is little differencebetween 'Zeus knows x' and 'x must be'. However,when Zeus
considers sparing Sarpedonand Hector, though each is ciAt e since
pptoipkvovi'orlt('long
doomed by fate', 16.441, 22.179), the narratorexploits the idea that there is a power beyond
28 Zanker(1994) 7; cf n.17 above. with a further omen that the Greek army will not be
29 Calchas had interpretedthe omen of the sparrows defeated (8.242-52). The narratormarks the limits of
and the petrified snake at Aulis as a sign from Zeus that Zeus's assistance to the Trojans:he will honour Thetis
Troy will fall in the tenth year of the war (2.323-32). and Achilles' request, but will not destroy the Achaean
Zeus responds to Agamemnon's prayer for help, in the armytotally (13.347-50) - his will is that Troy shall fall,
midst of unprecedentedTrojan success, by confirming but there is no need to spell it out.

8 WILLIAM ALLAN
Zeus's will, and does so in relation to cosmic order. For Zeus is warned (as he was when he con-
sidered sparing Troy itself) that such a decision will cause upheaval among the gods.30 While
not wishing to deny that Zeus's paternal love for Sarpedon and sympathy for Hector are impor-
tant features of his attitude to mortals,31 these scenes are no less striking for the way they raise
the possibility that Zeus could bring about a radically different outcome, yet chooses not to
because it would destroyan orderof which he not only approves,but of which he is both the ulti-
mate guarantor and main beneficiary. Thus besides deploying a powerful narrative trope - things
do not normally happen 'contrary to fate', so to raise the very possibility creates tension - these
scenes reveal the poem's central tenets of cosmic order and human limits.32
However, Zeus's decision to maintain cosmic order is not only presented as re-enforcing
humanmortality. For as well as defining a hierarchyof gods and mortals,33it also marksout the
structureof power among the gods themselves, since cosmic orderis closely connectedthrough-
out early Greek thoughtto the status and power of Zeus, which are in turn defined by his per-
sonal relationswith other gods. No less than Hesiod, the Homeric epics reflect the fact that the
evolution of the cosmos is a violent process,34and that its maintenancemay involve furthervio-
lence or at least the threatof it.35 The stability of the universe rests thereforeupon a balance of
power that is vulnerableto the turbulenceof competing divine wills. Yet the structuringof the
Olympiansas a divine family creates a hierarchyof power that goes some way to resolving the
rivalriesof the gods. Poseidon is portrayedin the Iliad as especially sensitive about his status:
as the younger brother,he is careful to support the Achaeans covertly, lest he offend Zeus
(13.354-60). He insists indignantlyon his equal statusas son of Kronosand Rhea, with an equal
domain as his portion, and it takes Iris' tactful warning against sparkingZeus's anger to make
him leave the battlefield; yet he does so with a threat that failure to destroy Troy will create
massive disorder among the gods (15.184-217).36
(d) Divine and human justice as social practices

There is a striking isomorphism not only between the divine and human societies themselves
but also between their methods of determining and practising justice. Zeus's authority may be
challenged by other gods if they disagree with his decisions; and similarly Agamemnon's
temporal power rests upon his success as a leader, in which capacity he is subject to public and
30 The same phrase is used in each case (twice by Iliad poet alludes to the myth that Zeus forced Thetis to
Hera, once by Athena): dip oit tot advre marryPeleus because of a prophecy that her son would
AnTXtvo~oIEV Oeooi
'iot ('Doi~p6i'.
it; but be surewe othergods be stronger than its father, this would be a peculiarly
will not all approve',4.29, 16.443, 22.181). striking example of Zeus's superior force directed
31 Cf Erbse (1986) 288: 'Die M6glichkeit, sich der towards the maintenance of his power (see, however,
goipa zu widersetzen, gesteht der Dichter seinem Zeus Edwards(1991) 196 on II. 18.429-35 and Cairns(2001a)
also nur scheinbar zu, lediglich um die Tiefe seines 46-7 for the alternativeexplanation of Thetis' enforced
Schmerzeszu beleuchten.' marriage as due to her rejection of Zeus's sexual
32 The most importanthuman limit being death, as advances out of respect for Hera). In any case, Zeus's
Heramakes explicit when she warnsof the consequences potentialoverthrowby such a son (first securely attested
of sparingSarpedon:the other gods would seek to spare in Pind.Isthm.8.26-48 and [Aesch.] PV764-8, 907-27) is
their own mortaloffspring(16.445-9); cf n.18. part of a wider patternof myths depicting Zeus's control
33 This aspect is well expressed by Graziosi and over female deities and their fertility; cf III(b), esp.
Haubold(2005) 91: 'harmonyamongthe gods ... can only n.134.
be ensuredif all mortalsare abandonedto theirown fate'. 35II. 8.7-27 (Zeus threatensto strikewith lightningor
34 Cf. II. 1.396-406 (Hera, Poseidon and Athena's throw into Tartarusany god who disobeys him; his
attemptto depose Zeus), 14.200-10 (Oceanusand Tethys, strengthis supreme),8.397-408 (Zeus will blast Heraand
the parentsof the gods, quarrel;Zeus imprisonsKronos Athenafromtheirchariotif they continuetheirjourney to
beneath the earth), 1.590-4, 14.256-62, 15.18-30 (Zeus, aid the Achaeans), 15.14-17 (Zeus threatensto whip Hera
angeredby the treatmentof his son Heracles,hurledgods if she continues to deceive him).
from heaven and hangs Hera in the sky with anvils 36 For the rble of divine rivalry and Zeus's authority
attached to her feet). If, as Slatkin (1991) argues, the in the Odyssey, see II(c) below.

communal appraisal.37Moreover,the stability and regulationof human society as a whole is

based on a system of norms which are thought to derive their authorityultimately from Zeus
himself. Achilles speaks of Achaeans 'who give judgements and preserve the ordinancesthat
come from Zeus' (&tKo76Xot, oY'zte6gitoc~a InpbgAtb; eipxzcat, II. 1.238-9), while Nestor
says to Agamemnon that 'Zeus has entrustedto you the sceptre and the ordinances,to make
judgements for your people' (Kai -cotZsb &yy,.tiXesvI a'i ap6v t' i18& tCitoag, v6 ocptot
]ovisktoa , 9.98-9). Thus Zeus is both source and patron of humanjustice, which is dis-
pensed both by kings and by the elders of the community(for the latter,cf 18.503-8 and I(e)
on 16.384-93).38 Most importantly,justice, like all forms of value, is socially constituted,both
among the gods and among mortals.39
This emerges most clearly in the poem's depiction of the crucial mistakes made by
Agamemnonand Achilles, whose decisions are measuredagainst the evaluativebeliefs of their
communityand foundto be unjustified.40Moreover,both men make a similarerror,pushingtheir
personalstatusand demandsforztj~ilto the detrimentof the common good:41Agamemnon'scon-
duct is repeatedlycriticized from a communalperspective(cf, e.g., 1.22-3, 161-2, 231, 275-84,
355-6, 9.109-11, 19.181-2), while Achilles' rejection of Agamemnon's offer of compensation,
describedby Nestor as one that 'could no longer be faulted' (86pa Ct v o1)Kt' 6vo-&r &t6oig
'AzXiliflivozt, 9.164), shows his obduracyto be both selfish and destructive,as Achilles effec-
tively subordinatesthe social process of reparationto his own will.42
(e) Judgementsand sanctions (humanand divine)

Thus, insofar as compensation,as an instrumentof justice, is defined by the evaluative beliefs
and practices of his society, Achilles' attitudetowards it reveals the limitationsand dangersof
his self-obsession. Yet the fact that norms of humanbehaviourare socially constituteddoes not
37Zeus's supremestrength(of which he threatening- well arguedby Morris (2001), even if he shares the ten-
ly boasts: 8.18-27) marks an important difference dency of some recent scholarship(e.g. Crielaard(2002)
between gods and humanswhich the poet has made a cat- 239: 'we could almost speakof a historicalHomericsoci-
alyst of his plot, since Agamemnon's authoritydoes not ety') to collapse the past and place more and more fea-
rest on his superiorstrengthor pre-eminenceas a fighter. tures in the eighth century. Given the lack of otherwrit-
Cf Nestor's words of restraint to Achilles: ei 8& cb ten evidence, the desire to use Homer as a historical
Kaptep6g ~ot, Oec 8&as yeivxzo jiiljrlp, I &X,' 688 source for the Archaic period is understandable,but
qp~pxp6; aatv, ici nhe6veootv d~voost ('But even if should be treatedsceptically, especially when it brushes
you are strong,and a goddess motherbore you, he is still over the many 'anachronisms'in the text (e.g. features
more powerful, since he rules over more', 1.280-1). that archaeologywould place in the late Bronze Age; for
38In rebukingthe rank-and-filesoldiers for theirrush a brief overview, cf Osborne(2004) 217-18).
to the ships, Odysseus foregroundsthe r61eof the leaders 41 The importanceof other-regardingbehaviourand
and commands:EiSg oipavog itzo, I ci; pacthkeg, cbt communalinterestsin the Homericeconomy of values is
&tiKEKp6vo. indrigd&yicuh ojinze oKlfxtp~v t' i1li stressed by Cairns (2001b), who shows that 'No sharp
O nlttco3ag r PvoiZEntotV ('Let there be one
v aPtat dichotomy exists between competitive and co-operative
leader, one king, to whom the son of crooked-minded values' (p. 216). Cairns'sincisive demolition of the (still
Kronos has given the sceptre and the ordinancesso that widely canvassed)view thathonouris a 'zero-sum'game
he may makejudgements for his people', 2.204-6). will, one hopes, put an end to the myth of exclusive
39 For the social creation of value in modem soci- Homeric individualism.
eties, cf Raz (1999) 202-17, esp. 203-7. 42 Similarly, when Achilles relishes the prospect of
40 From the perspectiveof Homeric ethics, it matters the Achaeans (including Agamemnon) 'standing about
little that Homeric society itself is a fiction. Fiction, that my knees in supplication' (viv o'(o sepi yo~vau' jth
is, not only in the obvious sense of 'existing within a oatioeotat 'Axatoig I Xt ot~ovoug Xpetb yxp iadve-
work of literature',but also in the strongersense that it tat o~KcZr'zvEKt6g, 11.609-10), the absurdity of his
does not track a particularhistorical society. Like the demands, from a collective viewpoint, is emphatically
epic Kunstsprache, Homeric society has developed to underlined,since for Agamemnonto act thus would be to
suit the purposes of generationsof bards. Nonetheless, place himself in Achilles' power, and recognize Achilles
the fundamentalpoint that the past is also constantly as his superior,in a way that would destroy the entire
remodelledin the light of contemporaryunderstandingis social structureof the Achaean army.

10 WILLIAMALLAN
mean they are of no interestto the gods or operatewithoutthem. This fundamentalidea is made
most explicit in the simile used to describe the rout of the Trojansas they flee from Patroclus'
onslaughtin Book 16:
6); 6' i~lbXaixiaw XCY(X KLX(alvfl Pk~3pteEXO(OV

iiwxtz'6itw~ptv6)t,6te Xhi4pp~txov x~c1 ij~&oP
Zcu;, otc. 6j ~Xv6pLactlKOt ~YojlevoS xXu~n'ilvrii,
6i PiTU~LiVOlYOP11taKOhlct; KPiVOK~cl
~Ltz S
~1K6e:AiicqV ~Xiroxn,Oc6)vOnttv00K~dx~yovtc;S,
t6)v & t ir(
7dVtE; gL~V ir)~~~x5ovtE;,
70a1icorn~~~)to
yo
7toXX&;6i: Kheltt; tC~'d~cziryoot xap66Gpcu,
i~;6' &Xhx
~nopqnpuprv at
Cie~y6Xx z~~oixtioiacxio
~tiV1)E~I6~ tCE~PY'&lVBP6)tV,
~5Op&DvA7LiKdxP,
L~
i'ir~toi Tpwuxi C~ey6XxcrtevcsXov~toOt~ouxtu.(Ii. 16.384-93)
As the whole darkearth is drenchedby a storm on an autumnday, when Zeus pours down the most
violentrain,in furiousangeratmenwho forcethroughcrookedjudgementsin theassemblyanddrive
outjustice,withno regardforthevengefulgazeof thegods;thenall theirriversflow in spate,andthe
torrentscut away many slopes as they rush with a mighty roarheadlong from the mountainsinto the
swelling sea, and the cultivatedfields of men are ruined- so mighty was the roarof the Trojanhorses
as theyhurtledon.
One scholar remarksthat the Zeus found here 'is hard to reconcile with the Zeus we know so
well from Homer's scenes on Olympus'.43Yet while it is true that explicit statementsof Zeus's
interestin justice are far less conspicuousin the Iliad than in the Odyssey,we should be wary of
taking too narrow a view of Zeus's concerns in the former,44since he is clearly concerned to
maintainorder at a cosmic level, while the audience's knowledge that Troy will fall gives the
Achaeans' appeals to a punishing Zeus considerableforce.45 Indeed, the mannerin which the
simile links justice (86icri)to Zeus and the other gods is entirely consistent with the rest of the
poem. Moreover,the simile's equationof justice with the makingof correctjudgementsor deci-
sions illustratesan importantpattern. For as Zeus's decisions determinejustice (or order)on a
cosmic level, so the decisions of humanjudges establish social norms.Thus 6icrI (qua 'justice')
is essentially the revelation of particulardecisions.46 In the human realm these are based on
social customs (acting as precedents);in the divine realm on the inscrutablewill of Zeus.
43 Redfield (1994) 76. main narrative'. Yet most similes, as here, are presented
44 As does Mueller (1984) 147, for example, who, from the narrator's(authoritative)viewpoint. They are
having noted the theme of 'social justice' in the Odyssey no less significant for not being partof the 'story'. And,
and Hesiod, claims that when the Iliadic Zeus 'punishes as always, the simile's context is crucialto its impact(cf
the wicked with a flood, not unlike the Old Testament Minchin (2001) 132-60): since the surroundingnarrative
god, the sentimentand language of the passage stick out describes the Trojans being driven back by a Greek
like a sore thumb'(16.384). assault which is supported by Zeus, the audience is
45 The accounts typically given of this simile are encouraged to relate the bad judgements punished by
revealing in their own way. Dodds (1951) 32 took it to Zeus to those of the Trojans themselves (cf Moulton
be 'a reflex of laterconditionswhich, by an inadvertence (1977) 37). The narratorsuggests divine punishmentof
common in Homer,has been allowed to slip into a simi- the Trojans even more explicitly in the simile used to
le'. But the notion that the similes represent a 'later' describe Achilles' onslaught at 21.522-5, where the suf-
stage, whether of thought or of language (as in, e.g., fering of the Trojansis comparedto that of a city set in
Shipp (1972)), is no longer convincing (even Janko flames because of the anger of the gods.
(1982) 192, who is generally sympathetic to Shipp's 46 Cf Benveniste (1973) 386, who defines 6iirj 'lit-
method, remarksthat 'we cannot expect a high degree of erally as "the fact of showing verbally and with authority
precision from a datingtechniqueof this nature). Kearns what must be", in other words it is the imperativepro-
(2004) 69 n.14, by contrast, notes Zeus's anger with nouncement of justice'. As Benveniste (1973) 379-80
injustice, then adds 'but this is a simile, not part of the notes, 6ilcrland 0jiLg (cf O0uttCu, II. 16.387) represent

The importanceof Zeus's judgements can be seen most clearly in Hera'sresponse in Book 8
after she andAthena have been warnedthatZeus will destroy their chariotwith a lightningbolt
if they do not stop helping the Achaeans:
71 gLv ap' ein0ua
o ';[t8(dlFTP'9 no,8(x; KFa'Ipt;"
altjcp 'AOlvairlv "Hprlitpb; P50ov etrtev
"J Rn7oto,aiYti6oto Atb; ;cKO;,OKET1 'yqo 0) yC
z~ji~hoSN
At % ; 9, wb 9 P por( 'v 'EV c7~0iFa kko;8Eh R'roXh'S g6' pt(O,ro, eF-tv
Crva
T)V OckXo;o . piv 6rpotp 'i01w 6Xpov 3I6v

0)tw,0
o6;KCtOl. KIvEovO; 8
Tp~oxii -rFKocl Axvaoitat86uaxCrw, 6); F'itwucKF;."(Ii. 8.425-31)
So speakingswift-footedIrisdeparted,andHeraaddressedAthena,'Ohnow,daughterof Zeuswho
holdsthe aegis,I canno longerallowus to fightagainstZeusformortals'sake. Let themdie or live
as theirluckwill haveit. Butas forZeus,let himhavehis own ideasandjudgebetweenTrojansand
Danaansas is fitting.'
Confrontedby Zeus's certainopposition, Hera concedes immediately. Her resigned I8tCaxto,

which might be translatedas 'let him pursuehis judgements' (8.431), underlinesthe formative
r61eof Zeus's will in the outcome of the war (cf tI(c) above). The human parallelsto divine
86crl as both 'decision' and 'justice/order'are well illustratedby the judgementscene in the city
at peace depicted on Achilles' new shield (18.497-508). When a dispute arises over the correct
restitutionfor a man's death, public opinion is divided and a solution is sought from the elders
of the city:
hxoi 6' &8 po-rpotiotyv

(t ov 6ciS; &poyoif
uin
KilPJKE8 6'ipa kabvEpITuov. oi 6EyEpovte;
CIri tO( 0i oi; W cpO
EUXTEn EvLKOK(Ot,
rcirpcpa 8& CV
IqCp)KC0V XpoaExOV 9e poqxoV0)Vy
6'T 7t' fivooov, got~p8 oi8'
oCtotv '86czov.
KEltIo 8' Cp' V gCloot(Yt 81)() Xp(Yoo"(o XdOaVaa,
ttSt86g0,v,80 0& to11oi
t iK8VoV-owctzt
Et'iot. (Il. 18.502-8)
Thepeoplewerecheeringon bothmen,showingsupportfor each,while the heraldstriedto restrain

them. Andthe elderssaton polishedstoneseatsin the sacredcircle,takingthe speaker'sstaffin their
handsfromtheloud-voicedheralds,withwhichtheythensprangup andgavetheirjudgement,eachin
turn.Andin themiddlelay twotalentsof gold,to be givento theonewhoamongtheeldersspokethe
straightest
judgement.
As in the simile of Book 16, justice is practised (or, in the former case, abused) eiv
&yopitr
(16.387, 18.497). Moreover,the elders' judgements are themselves subject to public approval
(which determineswho is to receive the prize), making their 86iiq a truly communaldecision.
Thus the 'straightestjudgement' (cf 18.508) is that which best expresses the sharedevaluative
beliefs of the people, yet the gods' interestin humanjustice is equally prominent,since the arbi-
trationtakes place 'in the sacredcircle' (18.504), and so underthe protectionof Zeus.47
differentaspectsof theconceptof order'whichgoverns In fact, 8(icrlis often best translatedas 'order' since this
alsotheorderliness of theuniverse,
themovementof the avoids the intellectual and ethical baggage of 'justice';
stars,theregularity
of theseasonsandtheyears;andfur- see fI(f).
ther the relations of gods and men, andfinally the rela- 47 As Janko (1992) 366 comments on 16.388 (6K
tions of men to one another' (emphasisadded). The idea &8Aiwlv Xxkoot, O v8ev iintv o'lc &uryovtzr): 'the
of order is also present in the root meaning of 8(6ic as formula "gaze of the gods", OE(ov6itg, alreadyconnotes
or 'point out a way' (cf Schmidt "punishment"'.Cf also Burkert(1981) 199.
'point to' (- 8eincv6upt)
(1991); Chantraine(1968) 284; Frisk(1954-73) 1.393-4).

12 WILLIAMALLAN
() Moral anthropomorphism,order and the will of Zeus

It has been arguedabove that the prevalentview of the Homeric gods, which treatsthe gods of
the Iliad (in contrastto those of the Odyssey)as immoralor amoral,is mistaken(cf esp. I(a)).
Nevertheless, insofar as the standardview implies that there is something different and more
overtly disturbingabout the Iliad's presentationof the gods, it does reflect a genuine featureof
the poem, namely the more strikingmoral anthropomorphism of its gods. It is misleading,how-
to
ever, interpret the Iliad's moral anthropomorphism(as many scholarsdo) as if it were incom-
patible with the gods also being (as the charactersthemselves view them) enforcers of justice.
This distortionoften stems from a false view of divinejustice itself, which assumes thatbecause
the gods are not perfectmoralexemplarsthey cannotthereforeenforce or care aboutbasic issues
of right and wrong. Yet the two notions are no more incompatiblethan the idea that a human
being should act with 6icr. And althoughthe idea that selfish and all-too-humangods are prob-
lematic (and perhapsnot worthy of veneration)may well have precededXenophanes, the gods
of early Greek epic still enforce a basic form of justice which is no more and no less than the
charactersthemselves demand.48There is thereforeno fundamentalcontradictionbetween the
gods' personalprojectsand the system of reciprocaljustice that they sanction. Thus, for exam-
ple, one scholarconsidersZeus's punishmentof Hera (II. 15.18-33; cf n.34) to be irreconcilable
with his patronageof justice, and remarks'Zeus often seems far more concernedwith his honor
than with the rights and wrongs of his relationswith gods and men.'49 Yet these two facets of
Zeus's r61e- his concernfor his own and his concern forjustice - are far from being irrec-
"ttgil
oncilable (and only become so if one operates with an inappropriateconception of justice).
Moreover,it is a basic featureof the moral universe of the poems thatjustice is closely tied to
sensitivity about one's own honouras well as respect for the honourof others.
Though the same patternof justice operatesin both Homeric epics, the Iliad poet makes his
narrativemore problematic,not only throughthe presence of sympatheticTrojancharacters,but
also by having a numberof gods fighting on their behalf. The suitors of the Odyssey, by con-
trast,though not all wicked (cf II(h)), are far less sympatheticand enjoy no divine support. It
is right that the Trojansshould be punished for their conduct, not least because a Trojanstarted
the war, but the narrativedraws attentionto the disproportionatesuffering involved, since the
foreshadowingof Troy'sdestructionmeans thatmany innocentTrojanswill pay for the mistakes
of Paris and Priam.50so Such harshand disproportionatepunishmentmay be a traditionalidea (cf
Hes. W&D240-7),51but is no less disturbingfor being so. The poet makes the imbalancepar-
ticularlyemphaticin his only explicit allusion to the Judgementof Paris:
~vO'~iXho~;pL~V ir&~lViiv&av~v,o~i~&~toO' "Hprlt

OU&~
oi6&Hooct6&~ow' yXUa)KO)7t6lIco~prlt,
dh' ixx'ov, oS acpiv inp~tjov&ccin~xOE~to
"IXtoS ip~j
Kai Hpiajio;KixiXab; 'AXe~S6v~pox Aiv~Kxtri;
aSVEiKECY(YC0Ed4, ijtEoi j~t~rc(cAZ~ov
Yicovto,
djlv6' iitv~', ijoi it6p~wlxXhon~vim &X~ytv~ijv.(II.24.25-30)
48 Even if the human characters'limited knowledge sequences of what the narratorcalls Paris' 'ruinousrandi-
means that they may doubt whether the justice they ask ness' (24.30), is consideredbelow. The narratorapplies
for will come about,as when Agamemnondoubts Zeus's a similarjudgement to a Greek error(Achilles' rejection
promise that he will sack Troy (II. 9.19-20). of the Embassy and the sufferings it brings upon the
49 Zanker(1994) 4. Achaeans) when Thetis' prayerto Zeus is condemnedas
50The patternof misdeed and (disproportionate)pun- gairnov ('disastrous', 15.598).
ishment is starkly underlined by the narrator when 51Hdt. 2.120.5 takes the deathof innocentTrojansto
Agamemnon's command that all the Trojans should be show that the gods mete out greatpunishmentsfor great
annihilated,even the children in the womb, is described crimes.
as o'ilga ('justified', 6.62). A furtherexample, the con-

DIVINE JUSTICE AND COSMIC ORDER IN EARLY GREEK EPIC 13
This [sc. to steal the body of Hector]was pleasing to all the othergods, but not to Hera or Poseidon or
the bright-eyedmaiden. They hung on to the hatredthey had from the first for sacred Ilios and Priam
and his people, because of the folly of Alexander,who had found fault with the goddesses when they
came to his farm's inner courtyard,and approvedof her who offered him ruinousrandiness.
As Macleod comments, 'There is a powerful antithesis between the accumulated "Ikto; ip I

cal Hpi-.to; xal xa6; and the single 'Ae The gods' anger with one citizen and his
vi6poo.
folly affects the whole city.'52 Macleod well compares II. 6.55-60, 'where Agamemnon's vin-
dictive words against Troy are said to be just (62), but are also felt to be terrible'. Yet although
the pattern of 6iKic that dominates the poem is in some measure ruthless, it is also impartial,
since it governs the Achaeans no differentlyfrom the Trojans.53Thus the entireAchaean army
must endure the plague that results from Agamemnon's mistake (1.43-52), while Achilles' rejec-
tion of the Embassy ensures the Trojans' further success, decimating the Achaean army and lead-
ing to Patroclus' death.54
As agents of such retribution, the Homeric gods can appear disturbingly cruel, but other
scenes reveal a basic concern for humanity. One of the strongest signs of this is the gods' ulti-
mate approval of Hector's burial. It is clear that in supporting Hector's claim Apollo is acting,
as he typically does, out of support for Troy and antipathy to the Achaeans, yet the specific
details of his argument reveal a further concern. For while Hera cares only which of the two
(Achilles or Hector) is more the philos of the gods (24.55-63), Apollo concentrates on Achilles'
lack of pity and human respect and on the futility and excessiveness of his conduct (24.33-54).55
Moreover, it is Apollo's rather than Hera's argument which finds wider support, as Zeus's
instructionsto Thetis make clear:
"xixa IlXlh k; Gtpertov kX0k Kcai1)~i yG1~tritEihov'

o6or~oai oi Ei7nEO~o)S,
l 6' ioxa 7ndlvx0v
&Ocavd~ixovKCXoXXocot, lrtcppeoi C/otvoCL/Vrltatv

"EKrop' iAAetnaph vrluol Kopoviotv oti O' x1vXOaev,
ai'Kiv io; At re &icnV.t &n6 0' "EKxopa oXiti." (II. 24.112-16)
'Go at once to the camp and give this message to your son: tell him that the gods are angrywith him,
and that I above all the immortalsam filled with wrath, because he in his madness is keeping Hector
by the beaked ships and has not given him back. Perhapshe will then in fear of me give Hectorback.'
52 Macleod (1982) 88 on 24.27-8. Indeed, the p ei

tciILWeXt f3porb; Avpi out, I q niep Overl6 '
emphasison Parishimself is even morepointed insofaras ko-d ii -Ib6oa Itl6ea olGEv(18.362-3).
oi
the position of 'Ahe,&vipoi Eve~' &trln;is otherwise 55Apollo's protest againstAchilles' maltreatmentof
taken up by k6iijieio Hpti6joto (cf 4.47, 165, 6.449). Hector's corpse is a striking instance of divine pity.
53 This is a fundamentalpoint, since impartialityis, Indeed,it is importantto stressthatApollo acts out of pity
as Elster (1999) 339 observes (cited by Cairns (2001b) ratherthan an impartialconcern for humanmorality,for
219 n.45), 'a necessary featureof any view that wants to such impartialconcern is not the domain of the Homeric
be taken seriously as a conception of justice'. gods. The scene is an excellent illustrationof how the
54 However, despite this impartiality,there is a fun- tensions inherent in the Homeric theodicy, driven by a
damentaldisparitybetween gods and mortals, since the range of individualdesires and relationships,producean
gods enjoy the privilege of being able to punish mortals appropriateresolution,just as the quarrellingamong the
in a way thatmortalscannot so easily do if wrongedby a gods eventually results in the destructionof Troy. It is a
god: as Achilles says to Apollo afterthe god has deceived messy system, but we should resist the temptation to
him and luredhim away from the Trojans:vyv 6' ~i Av impose moral certainty and neatness on it. For such
jihyaKlS0 dwpEiheo,rot; 6' iodoagox I t6io;, bexi oii messiness is not necessarily incompatiblewith what we
ti 'oiv y' i866etoaq6iriooo. I i1o' &v retornV, C' ot would term a 'moral' outcome. Indeed, if it were other-
ye (II. 22.18-20). Speaking to Zeus, wise, the Homericgods would have no normative(a bet-
w6cvaxlit irapeirl
Hera craftily exploits the superiorityof the gods in order ter term in this context than 'moral') force at all.
to justify her right to punish the Trojans:Kai tXiv6i5to6

14 WILLIAMALLAN
Like Apollo, Zeus expresses his indignationat non-burialin direct speech (this is not a case of
character-speechattributinghuman values to the gods), and he above all the gods is angry at
Achilles' excessive behaviour. Moreover,Zeus's solution to the dispute between the gods who
pity Hector and the stubbornhatersof Troy (Hera, Poseidon and Athena) expresses a desire to
uphold a basic humangood (respectfor the dead and theirrightto burial).56Zeus's proposalthus
takes account of the competing claims of the gods, yet ensures that orderis restored,mirroring
the start of the poem, where Zeus was able to incorporatehis obligation to Thetis within the
wider plan of Troy's fall.
It has been well observedof Apollo's condemnationof Achilles' conductthat 'this is the only
place in the Iliad where nemesis is used of the attitudeof the gods toward human beings who
have broken the moral code' (il y~xya0t n;ep6vzt vECtEoGrl0otavoi uiEg, 24.53); yet the
l
same scholar continues, 'But it is also true that this notion of god as the guarantorof norms is
introducedhere only to be rejected. Hera protests that Achilles is not human in the ordinary
sense; he is a memberof the divine community ... Zeus agrees with Hera ... Achilles must be
drawninto the divine community'(emphasis added).57However, this overlooks Zeus's promi-
nent r6le as the guarantorof a moral and social orderwhich is ensuredby the fulfilment of ritu-
al acts (in this case burial).58Nor is it clear thatAchilles is 'drawninto the divine community'
(this argumentis part of Hera's rhetoricalstrategy and a sign of her ulterior motives). It is
Achilles' choice whetherhe releases Hector's body or not, and he is influenced both by fear of
Zeus's angerandby a desire for the rich compensationofferedby Priamat the suggestion of Zeus
(cf 24.112-19, 592-5). Neither reason drawsAchilles closer to the gods (nor does his compas-
sion for Priam, whose plight reminds him of his own father: 24.486-512); on the contrary,
Achilles' decision is a thoroughlyhumanresponse, encouragedby Zeus, whose insistence upon
Hector's burialrecognizes (and restores)the values of social and ritualorder. Thus Zeus's deci-
sion at the end of the poem embodies the same principleof divine concern for humanorderthat
has operatedthroughout.59
As we have seen, what counts as 8iicrl('justice') among the humancharactersof the Iliad is
closely related to 8iicr or 'order' at a cosmic level, since the will of Zeus extends to both.
Moreover,Zeus's maintenanceof order is linked to his own power, as the several remindersof
his rise to supremacymake clear (n.34). Yet Zeus cannotignorethe competingplans of the other
gods, and this leads to a narrativepatternwhich we can trace throughoutearly Greekhexameter
poetry (cf esp. II(e) and III(b)), whereby Zeus's will is realized throughthe actions and reac-
tions of others, includingother gods. In short,the competingwills of the gods are seen to result
56 For burialas the ypaq Oav6vtwov, cf Hera'swords 15.372-6 makes the reciprocityclear; cf also 8.236-41),
to Zeus on the death of Sarpedon(16.456-7), which are and neitherwould be the most desirableoutcome for any
repeatedby Zeus in his instructionsto Apollo (16.674-5). god (or mortal).
Achilles speaks in the same termsof mourningPatroclus 57 Redfield (1994) 213.
(23.9). Yet although burial is a basic human good, it 58 As with their protection of strangersand suppli-
would not be trueto say that,because Hector is dead and ants, the gods' supposedcare for the dead may be viewed
can no longer sacrifice to them, the gods have nothing to as a projectionof humananxiety about the vulnerability
gain by it. For like the gods' interest in oaths, guest- of the defenceless in their communities, extending suc-
friendshipand supplication,all of which impinge on their cour to those individuals(e.g. outsiders,the helpless and
own tijtuL, divine anger at non-burial is directed to the dead) whose conditionweakens their ability to assert
upholding a principle wherein their own interests are at their customaryclaims to respect andjustice.
stake. All relationships are reciprocal, and the gods 59 The re-establishmentof order coincides with the
requirehonours,temples and sacrifices, since that is their resolutionofAchilles' wrathand its consequences, creat-
If the gods were simply to let terriblethings (such ing a strong and satisfying narrativeclosure, even if the
y~,ppa.
as non-burial)happencontinuouslyto those who honour audience remains aware that Achilles' anger could flare
them, those honourswould end or the communitywould up again.
cease to exist (Nestor's complaint to 'father Zeus' at II.

in a fixed orderwhich is identifiedwith the will ofZeus.60 Thus, as Achilles preparesto re-enter
battle, Zeus assembles the gods and encouragesthem to assist the side of their choice, so that
Achilles may not sack Troy 'beyond what is fated' (20.23-30); but it is clear thatApollo and the
otherpro-Trojangods will eventuallyhave to give way, since Troymust fall. The fall of Troy is
itself presented as part of an impartial system of divine justice in which both Trojans and
Achaeans face the consequences of their misdeeds. This patternis overlooked by those who
claim that a concern for justice is the preserveof the gods of the Odyssey,as if the fall of Troy
were not justified within the Iliad itself.61 Moreover,as we shall see, the patternof justice and
cosmic order embodied in the Iliad is also found throughoutearly Greek hexameter poetry.
Thus, to single out the Iliad as presentingmerely 'a theodicy of sorts'62obscures not only the
poem's comprehensiveand compelling depictionof what the gods standfor in relationto human-
ity, but also its essential continuityin this respectwith the wider traditionof early Greek epic.
II
(a) The Odyssey.:a new divine world?

It is still widely believed thatthe divine world of the Odysseyis substantiallydifferentfrom that
of the Iliad.63 Thus studies of the Odyssey aboundwith such claims as 'the natureof the gods
has changed',64 a transformation that is often said to result in 'a "purer" conception of god'.65
This theological difference is, in turn,frequentlypresentedas being most acute in the sphereof
divinejustice, since, it is alleged, the gods of the Odysseyare more moralisticin theirattitudeto
humanwickedness.66Even Lloyd-Jones,who otherwise stresses the continuityof religious and
moral ideas throughoutearly Greekliterature,endorsesthe standardview of the Odyssey,name-
ly, 'that its theology is in some importantways differentfrom that of the Iliad'.67 By contrast,
the foremost aim of this section is to challenge the orthodoxview: firstly, by showing that, for
all its characteristicthemes and ideas, the Odysseydoes not differ substantiallyfrom the Iliad in
its presentation of the gods or their interest in justice; and secondly, by complicating the
familiar picture of the Odyssey as a tale of clear-cutcrime and punishment. Througha close
analysis of Zeus's opening speech (the locus classicus for moralinterpretationsof the poem), and
by focusing on the r61eof divine rivalryand anger,reciprocaljustice and the will of Zeus, this
section aims to show the essential continuity of religious attitudes and social values in the
Homeric epics.68
60 Despite his privileged access to 'greatZeus's will' 62 So Mueller(1984) 147, exemplifyinga widespread
via Thetis (ii ot wnxayy~XXsaKe Atbo EeydXotoo v6rlLja, view of the Iliad vis-a-vis the Odyssey.
17.409), Achilles does not know that Patroclus will be 63 e.g., Kearns(2004) 67-9, entitled 'The gods in
killed (cf 18.9-11). Yet even the gods themselves cannot Cf., differencesbetween the epics'.
the Odyssey:
know all of Zeus's plans in advance. The narrator,by 64 Burkert (1997) 259; cf, e.g., Griffin (1980) 51:
contrast, can, and so connects Patroclus' death to the 'The gods who presideover this world have also changed
'mind of Zeus' (16.688-91). Similarly,charactersoften their nature.'
refer to 'the gods' in general, but the narratorcan name 65 Burkert(1997) 262.
the actual god responsible. 66 E.g. Mueller (1984) 147: 'These differences are
61 Cf, e.g., Kirk (1962) 291: 'The gods of the Iliad, most markedwhen it comes to justice. The Odyssey is a
indeed, are almost wholly indifferentto this concept [i.e. model tale of poetic justice.'
justice], and determineevents like the fate of Troy from 67 Lloyd-Jones(1983) 28.
motives of their convenience.' Yet this approachignores 68 Contrast, for example, Finley (1977) 140: 'The
the multiplecauses of the fall of Troywithin the Iliad (the Olympian religion could not stand still and yet survive.
Judgementof Paris, the rape of Helen, the brokentruce, The intellectualrevolutionreflected in the Iliad required
the will of Zeus), all of which have nothing to do with still anotherrevolution,a moral one, in which Zeus was
'convenience', but much to do with justice and cosmic transformedfrom the king of a heroic society to the prin-
order. ciple of cosmic justice.'

16 WILLIAM ALLAN
For just as scholars continue to underestimate the extent to which the Iliad depicts a pattern
of norms and punishments, so they still exaggerate the moral simplicity of the Odyssey, present-
ing it as an uncomplicatedtale of villains punished and the righteous rewarded. There is no
denying the more explicit ethical tone of the Odyssey, evident from the very first scene on
Olympus onwards, but this does not mean that the theology of the Odyssey is in any way differ-
ent from that which dominates the Iliad. Both poems explore the problems inherent in divine
justice, and while the Odyssey often foregrounds a straightforward vision of the gods' concern
for moral standards,69it also presents the reality of divine intervention in a manner no less dis-
turbing than the Iliad. The Homeric epics inhabit the same moral and theological world, and
both ask similar questions of the gods and the extent to which their actions are connected to
social norms of justice.
(b) The Odyssey: a new moral world?

Zeus's opening speech in Book 1 of the Odyssey is regularly interpreted as constituting 'a radi-
cal shift from the divine attitudes displayed in the Iliad'.70 This shift is, furthermore, said to be
an ethical one, as if Zeus's assertion that humans are responsible for their own sufferings repre-
sented a moral idea alien to the Iliad.71 Zeus's speech is certainly programmatic for what fol-
lows in the work; but that it represents an 'ethical transformation of the gods'72 iS demonstrably
false. Let us first consider Zeus's actual words. Recalling Aegisthus' death at the hands of
Orestes, Zeus addresses the other gods:
0)
.tO7,O, olov OTu
6i VEi.)~OhPPto\1 (5zO(0Vt(X
k~ fClJ~OVYeXP
qpaYi
Kd~K ~EVat'l 01 K~X
#ai toi
v bix~rp
ocpipotv&t 0ctahirjiso j1t~pov~iyr'~oov
Kalvi~vA'yuao;..." (Od. 1.32-5)
&;S
'Oh,howthesemortalsblamethegods! Theysaytheirtroublescomefromus, andyet theytoo them-

selves,throughtheirownrecklessacts,havesorrowsbeyondtheirdestinedshare,as doesAegisthus.'
Zeus criticizes mortalsfor failing to recognize that their suffering is compoundedby their own
outrageousbehaviour. This is certainlya strongcondemnationof humanfolly, but it should not
be taken to imply (as is often the case) that responsibilityfor humansuffering lies with human-
ity alone, or that the gods of the Odysseywill be more concernedwith properhumanbehaviour
per se than are the gods of the Iliad.
Scholars are certainly right to stress the importanceof Zeus's complaint (which in itself
makes for an arrestingopening), since reckless behaviourand its punishmentwill be centralto
the narrative,but no less significantfor the theology of the poem as a whole is Zeus's acknowl-
edgement that much of humanity'ssuffering is due to the gods.73 In other words, while Zeus
69 e.g., Eumaeuson the gods' attitudeto the suit- ity ... [The Odysseypoet] is presentingthe beginning of
Cf.,
ors (Od. 14.83-4; quotedabove as an epigraphto this art- the idea that men are responsible for their own misfor-
icle). However,thereis no mentionof divine punishment tunes' (emphasisadded).
for the Phoenician traders who conspired to abduct 72 See n.5.
Eumaeus as a child and then sold him into slavery 73 Scholars and translatorsoften fail to give the Ki
(15.403-84). of line 33 its full force, since it implies '[they suffer
70 Keams (2004) 69. because of their own wickedness] in addition to the trou-
71 Cf, e.g., Edwards (1987) 130: 'In the Odyssey, bles sent by us [i.e. the gods]'. As Tsagarakis(2000) 47
however, the gods are much more concernedwith moral- n. 163 notes, 'The Kai makes all the difference here.'

foregroundshumandisregardof divine warnings,74the subsequentnarrativealso makes clearthe

r6le of the gods as a sourceof humansuffering(cf esp. II(d) and (g) on Poseidon and Helios).75
And since these areboth centralaspects of the interactionof gods and mortalsin the Iliad as well,
it is misleading to speak of a 'radicalshift' in the theodicy of the Odyssey.
(c) Divine rivalry and anger

Those who detect a differenttheology at work in the Odysseyoften elide the rrle of divine rival-
ry and anger,both as a catalystof the poem's plot and as a centralelement of the gods' attitudes
to one anotherand to humanity.76Yet the focus in the second half of the poem on Odysseus'pun-
ishmentof the suitors,which is uncontestedat the divine level, does not annulthe clash of divine
wills thatdominatesthe first half. Athenatakes advantageof Poseidon's absencefrom the divine
assembly on Olympus in order to raise the issue of Odysseus' delayed return(Od. 1.22-7, 45-
62).77 When Poseidon realizes what has been done behind his back, he becomes 'even angrier'
(' 8' kXcy~oroIcrlp6O0t Xov, 5.284). ForAthena has in effect exploited his absence in order
to underminethe concomitantsof his superiorstatus. Thus she laterdefends her tardyassistance
by saying to Odysseus, 'But you see I was unwilling to fight Poseidon, my father's brother'
(6d16 tot oir MOloa looEtS66ovtgld~XeoOtItcapoatyvifllt, 13.341-2).78And it is only
aftersecuringZeus's approvalfor Odysseus'homecomingthatAthenaacts to bringit about.79In
short, as in the Iliad, Athena's plans must operatewithin a divine society whose rivalries and
hierarchiesproducenot only tensions but also a structureof authority.
It is often claimed that the gods of the Odysseyhave 'changed their nature'.o80Yet although
fewer gods are individualizedin the narrative(comparedto the Iliad), it is clear thatthey retain
their typical characteristics,of which the most prominentare their loyalties to humanfavourites
(Athena and Odysseus) or family (Poseidon and Polyphemus)and their ruthlesspunishmentof
those who anger or offend them (cf Poseidon's punishmentof the Phaeacians,Athena's killing
74 The gods' warning enhancesAegisthus' folly (and 77 Athena's ingenuity extends to helping Odysseus'
preparesfor that of Odysseus' companions and the suit- son as well. Disguised as Mentor,she prays to Poseidon
ors, who similarly ignore divine signs). Yet the fact that to grantTelemachusa safe homecomingfrom Pylos, thus
Hector, too, ignores omens sent by Zeus (1. 12.217-43, invoking the god even as she is working against him
13.821-32) remindsus that the Odyssey poet could have (3.55-61). The narratoradds pointedly, as if to explain
told Aegisthus' story in a less negative way, i.e. as a this unique combinationof invocationand deception, 'so
revenge narrative, taking into account what she prayed, and she herself was bringing it all to fulfil-
Agamemnon'sfatherhad done to Aegisthus' father. ment' (&; &p' nnret' ~lp&toKL' aOi 7andvtoaa,ltEhX
75 This tells against the tendency to treatthe gods of 3.62).
the Odyssey as more distanced from human affairs: e.g. 78In the Iliad Poseidon is particularlyinsistenton his
Lesky (2001) 190: 'Zeus emphatically dissociates him- rights within the divine family; cf. Il. 15.185-99.
self and the world of the gods from the activity of men.' 79Indeed,Athenais carefulnot to challengePoseidon
Cf Graziosi and Haubold (2005) 76: 'The overall thrust openly even after Zeus has given his approval:thus she
of the first Olympian scene in the Odyssey is an insis- grants Odysseus' prayerthat he be well received by the
tence on the separationbetween gods and mortals ... The Phaeacians,ac&ot 6' ot no pcq{ive~t' Avxvtiil a&i' ydp
gods, then, become dispensers of justice ... in order to a Irxporaoiyvryuov ('but she did not yet appearto him
enforce a distinction between the human and the divine face to face, since she respectedher father'sbrother',Od.
plane.' The impressionof distantgods is rathera product 6.329-30). One might comparePoseidon's own conduct
of the natureand scope of the story; see II(i). As with in the Iliad, where he recognizes Zeus's authority(since
KXi(1.33), btp in line 34 is important,since it he is 'mightier';cf 8.209-11) and thereforetakes care to
~t6pov
expresses the traditionalidea thatno humanlife is free of aid the Achaeans covertly (13.354-7); cf also Apollo's
suffering dispensed by the gods (cf. II. 24.527-33). So refusal to come to blows with his uncle Poseidon at II.
while it may be true that the Odyssey'stale of errorsand 21.461-9.
consequences is less complex and less tragic than the 80 See n.64; cf Chantraine(1954) 79: 'Dans l'lliade
Iliad's, there is no questionof the gods being disassociat- le divin ... reste, au mauvais sens du mot, profond~ment
ed from humanlife and suffering. humain, passionn6, trompeur et rancunier ... Dans
76 E.g. Griffin (1980) 54: 'we are generally given the l'Odyssde l'idre divine se relie &la morale.'
impressionof one undividedand righteousdivine will'.

18 WILLIAMALLAN
of Amphinomus:II(d) and (h)). Poseidon's persecutionof Odysseus is motivated by kinship

and personal vengeance, not by any abstract(or un-Iliadic) sense of morality. The narrator
underlinesfrom the startthe importanceof Poseidon's angerto his accountof Odysseus' return:
0eooi6' xLiatpov
ir~xavte
- 6'
v6mcpt
HooetS6ovog dorepy~;jtevxivev
&vtrt0ot 'O86it id~pogijv y^tav iKOut. (Od. 1.19-21)
All the gods pitied him except Poseidon;he ragedceaselesslyagainstgodlikeOdysseusuntil he

reachedhis own land.
Although Odysseus' actions have not offended the other gods, it would be a mistake to ignore
the wrathof Poseidon, or treatit as aberrant.81As Clay observes, 'Interpretationsthattry to force
the destructionof Odysseus' companionsand the sufferingsof Odysseus himself at the hands of
Poseidon into the moral patternof Aegisthus and the suitors must be recognized for what they
are:Procrusteanattemptsto regularizeand make uniformthe moralityof the Odyssey.'82NOless
misleading are those approacheswhich seek to treatinstancesof divine angeras relics of a more
'primitive' mentality or cosmos.83 Indeed, the story of Odysseus' returnis itself only one of
many Greek nostoi disruptedby divine anger, as the poet often remindsus (1.325-7, 3.130-66,
4.499-511, 5.108-11).84 Moreover,the poet sees no contradictionbetween Athena's destruction
of the returningGreeks for their failure to punish LocrianAjax's attemptedrape of Cassandra
and her desire to save Odysseus from Poseidon's anger (cf 1.325-7, 3.134-5, 4.502, 6.323-31).
Her positive and negative r6les spring from typical divine concerns, namely to punish sacrilege
(the attemptedrape took place in her temple at Troy) and to supporther humanprot6ge(cf esp.
13.291-310).
(d) Spheresofpower and punishment:Poseidon and the Phaeacians

The continuityof religious thought in the Homeric epics is well illustratedby Poseidon's pun-
ishment of the Phaeacians. Critics who presume a more 'moral' theodicy in the Odyssey
inevitably detect in this episode a range of (illusory) problems and tensions. Thus one scholar
argues that 'there is a deep-seateddisjuncture:one of the Odyssey'sbest known incidents does
not conform to its dominant ethical categories, as exemplified by the suitors' fate and the
paradeigmaof Aigisthus. This is surprisingat the least, and calls for an explanation. Why is
Poseidon's anger not brought into closer conformity with the prevailing religious and moral
81 Cf S. West (1988) 61: 'Though the wrath of 83 Cf, e.g., Segal (1992) for an attemptto bracketoff
Poseidon is repeatedlymentioned,it has little effect; the 'less moral, more "primitive"divine behavior in a well-
poet deliberately avoids conflict between Poseidon and demarcated section of the poem, the fabulous realm
Athena over Odysseus (cf. xiii 341ff.).' Yet while it is a between Troy and Ithaca in books 5-13' (p. 490).
typical theme of the Iliad that gods should avoid fighting Graziosiand Haubold(2005) 79 claim that 'Poseidon and
one another p3porfv (cf 1.573-5, 8.427-30, Polyphemus are exceptions which serve to highlight, by
EvEa
21.357-60, 462-7), it is not true of either poem (nor of contrast,the progressive thrustof the story.' They also
Poseidon in the Odyssey: cf II(d)) that the gods' per- describe Poseidon and Polyphemus as 'ratherprimitive
sonal alliances or anger have 'little effect'. A striking figures who harkback to modes of behaviourwhich pre-
exception is Od. 4.502, where it is said that LocrianAjax vailed in the earlier history of the cosmos' (p. 92). Yet
could still have survived,despite Athena'swrath(iaf vi Poseidon's wrath and revenge, far from being 'excep-
KEvi'zpxyE Icipa', cxi X~O6~ev6;iep' 'AOilvrjt),had he tions', are in fact typical features of the universal order
not offended the gods with his boasting (like his greater underZeus, and Zeus himself sanctions Poseidon's pun-
namesake:cf Soph. Aj. 764-77) and been destroyed by ishmentof the Phaeacians;see II(d).
Poseidon. 84 For the importance of (divine) anger to both
82 Clay (1983) 218. Homeric epics, see Woodhouse (1930) 29-40; H6lscher
(1988) 268-9.

ethos of the Odyssey, the one which is categorically enunciated at the beginning, and which
informsthe centralaction?'85The implicit assumptionsof this approachare clear:Zeus's proem
presents a radically different moral world, to which the rest of the Odyssey should conform;
where it does not conform, the theodicy of the poem is inconsistent.Yet, as we have seen, the
(still influential) idea that Poseidon's personal revenge and the supposedly more enlightened
viewpoint of Zeus representtwo conflicting patternsof justice is mistaken.86
The positions adoptedby Zeus and Poseidon are entirely consistent; they are also familiar
from the Iliad. Nevertheless, Poseidon's punishmentof the Phaeacians,with Zeus's approval,
remains- from a humanperspective- disturbing. For as Alcinous makes clear, the Phaeacians
offer to help Odysseus because of their concernfor strangersand suppliants(8.544-7); yet Zeus,
the patron of strangersand suppliants,allows them to be punished.87 Indeed, Zeus not only
approves of Poseidon's plan to smite the Phaeacians' ship as it returnsfrom Ithaca,88and to
envelop their city behind a mountain,89but also suggests turningthe ship to stone, making it a
permanentmemorialof the Phaeacians'punishment(13.154-8).90 By humanstandardsofjustice
Zeus's collaborationmay appearvindictive,9'but it embodies a basic featureof his maintenance
of divine order,since even Zeus cannot interfereconstantlyin other gods' spheresof influence;
thus a god's decision to exercise his authorityin his own spheremay take precedenceover Zeus's
generalprotectionof the helpless and vulnerable. It is made clear thatthe Phaeacians,who have
a privilegedrelationshipwith the gods (ot zt ~iei ocptotv says
KaotaKp1otv otv, 8yy0jev Eil4v,
Alcinous: 7.205), are particularlyclose to Poseidon: they are outstandingseafarersand their
devotion to sailing and the sea is underlinedby the 'speakingnames' of the youths who compete
in the games (Akroneos, Okyalos, Elatreus, Nauteus, Prymneus,Anchialos, etc.: 8.111-17).
Moreover,Alcinous and Arete are both descended from Poseidon (grandsonand great-grand-
daughterrespectively: 7.56-66).92But while Polyphemus,the son of Poseidon, exploits his kin-
ship to punishhis enemy,the Phaeacianssuffer fromtheirproximityto the god. Zeus recognizes
thatthe othergods have sphereswhere theirauthorityis paramount,so thathis r61eis to maintain
85 Fenik (1974) 211-12. Achaean wall (seen in the latterpassage explicitly from
86 As Reinhardt(1996) 84 notes, this supposed dis- the perspectiveof one looking back on the age of
lit0eot
tinction was once used by Analysts to justify the distinc- (12.23)). Depictions of the ilatewov yivo; &viplov as a
tion between two poets: 'an older one who would have separaterace in early Greek and Near Easternmyth are
written about the wrath of Poseidon and a more recent well discussed by Scodel (1982).
one who dealt with the interventionof Zeus'. 90 In the case of the Achaean wall, whose fame,
87 Hence Odysseus' suspicious curse of the Poseidon fears, will eclipse thatof the walls of Troybuilt
Phaeacians,spokenas he wakes on Ithaca,is doubly iron- by Apollo and himself, a potentialclash between the will
ic: ) inrot, oim &ipac 6vta vofjgovcq oi& iiiatot I of Zeus and the claims of Poseidon is similarly avoided
jcoav OQlil yiVilryitope 1i8i kovwe, Ioi' I' Ei; iXhrlv when Zeus urges Poseidon to obliteratethe wall afterthe
yaiav &iilyayov" iz1 ' iWpavwo I i5Etv ei; 'IOdTicv Achaeans have returnedhome (cf. II. 7.446-63).
EcuEicEov, oi6' tXcloaiv. I ZEi opCTEaq ztiooto 91 The gap between the Phaeacians'deeds and their
cKTGo;O,iq zt Iai Xlou; I &vOpdrnou; Apop&tiai fate is underlinedby the wording of Zeus's agreement:
(13.209-14).
ztivvrzat,iq ti &ldjpprltr dv6plov 8' ei' 7ip tig oc rintcu K)pci E'i'covI ot t
88 In ending the Phaeacians' ability unfailingly to dci, coi 8' tift ici kgoiiow tio; aici. I Eptov 61tn)
convey travellersby sea (cf 13.151-2, 180-3) Poseidon is et opikov iirtrho 0iloj.t(13.143-5). The
Icai{txot
not only defending his own prerogatives(for the sea as phraseP1iltKai dCpt~eE'i(wov is hardlyappropriateto the
his domain,cf esp. II. 15.185-93 on the division of ztixi placid Phaeacians (its only other occurrence comes in
between Zeus, Poseidon and Hades), but also reinforcing Odysseus' warning to the decent suitor Amphinomus,
the distinction between human and divine, since such where it is used to justify the beggar's god-sent misfor-
exceptional privileges as that enjoyed by the seafaring tune: 18.139).
Phaeacians are (from the audience's point of view) a 92 Acusilaus took the passages to imply that all the
thing of the past. Phaeacianswere descended from Poseidon:
"Otrlpo; 8i
89 For the negative aitiology here, explaining the (Od. 5.35, 7.56ff.) oiceiou; oi; OEoi;
absence of the Phaeacians from the world of the audi- r Hb "tot; 4Quiau
y7veotyv(fr. 4 Fowler =
prlot8th ilv d Toostaci vog
ence, cf. II. 7.459-63, 12.3-33 on the now vanished FGrHist 2 F 4).

20 WILLIAMALLAN
a balancebetween them. This principleof divine non-interference,combinedwith Zeus's r6le as

ultimateguarantorof order,is partof a theological patternthat runsthroughoutGreekepic.93
(e) Athena and the will of Zeus

The rl61eof Athenawell illustrateshow similarthe Homericepics are in the way they explore the
gods' self-interestand clashing wills within the over-archingsystem of Zeus's authority.As we
saw (II(c)), Athena is sensitive to the hierarchyof the divine family, and despite her readiness
to deceive Poseidon, she needs Zeus's agreementbefore she can set in motion the final stage of
Odysseus' return. As HermesremindsCalypso,
pi6V'oi5~tw;0 0
"doXX& Atb(v6ov 1.t .ai5t6oto
ott8 caxPESX0hiv &Xhov
Ocbv otO' (Od.5.103-4)
&Xti&oat."
'Butthereis no way for anyothergod to eludeor bringto nothingthe purposeof Zeuswhoholdsthe
aegis.'
Once Zeus has agreed to Athena's request to bring Odysseus home, which he does at the very
start of the narrative(1.64-79), the audience know that Poseidon's anger (however legitimate)
will not be allowed to frustratethe will of Zeus and the othergods. The narratortells us that 'all
the gods pitied him except Poseidon' (1.19-20),94yet it is appropriatethatAthena, Odysseus' tra-
ditional patron,should take the lead in securing his return.95Moreover,Athena's protectionof
Odysseus andTelemachusis paralleledby her supportfor anotherpairof fatherand son prot~g~s,
Tydeus and Diomedes (e.g. II. 4.387-90, 5.116-17, 5.800-13, 10.284-90; note especially 5.835-
59, where Athena acts as Diomedes' charioteerand enables him to wound Ares).
Most strikingly,both epics connect Athena at a numberof crucial moments with the will of
Zeus. In his majorprophecyof Hector's death and Troy's fall, Zeus predictsthat the Achaeans
will sack Troy 'AOvvaicdg Su' pov gA (II. 15.71). The narratorreinforces this idea as Hector
finally breaksthroughthe Achaean defences and reaches their ships:
actbg ydpoi &n'ai94po;tev Apvwop

Ze6g, s vty7ch6ve~ootjet' &vSp6otiobvov A6vta
tiL~ Kti K1)xlatvr" Ltvuv0(c3too cX-ev y9p
20 ii6 ydp oi Exapvie li6po~tov oap
qy0'"
In-i{ao Pirtpt. (I/. 15.610-14)
FahIht, 'A64vaion {ma
His defender from heaven was Zeus himself, who was giving honour and glory to him alone among
the many otherfighters,for his life was aboutto be cut short:even now PallasAthenawas hurryingon
the day of his fate at the hands of the mighty son of Peleus.
93 It also underlies the turbulent divine world of there divine unanimity, nor is partisan feeling absent.'
tragedy,as is best expressed by Artemis' comforting (or For Hector's burial as a symbol of divine concern for
so she hopes) words to Theseus: 6eoot 6' J6' het humanity,see I(f) above.
I o~5ei; &iav&v poOutiia I trit toi 95 Cf, e.g., II. 2.169-82 (Athena urges a despondent
v0toS"
0iXovro;, iXX' dWPwvrd6co9' po-,j'etat
dlEi. I hi1ei, odWP'iT1, Odysseus to restrainthe Achaeansfrom flight), II. 10.245
Zijva 1i p~ooSuojtivI o iv itot' (X6ov 2t68'' (Diomedes chooses Odysseus to accompany him to the
aCoX)vvrlg hy I oit' iv6pa ivrtov 9ipczacovppoztv Trojan camp because 'Pallas Athena loves him'), II.
Agol I0aveiv i&d t (Eur.Hipp. 1328-34). 11.437-8 (Athena saves Odysseus' life when he is
94 As with the returnof Hector to Troy (albeit as a wounded by Socus' spear),II. 23.770-83 (Athena makes
corpse), divine pity (II. 24.23) is coupled with a recogni- Ajax trip so that Odysseus can win the foot race; Ajax
tion of humanpiety (the question 'How could I forgethis complains that she 'always standsby Odysseus' side like
sacrifices to the gods?' underpinsZeus's decision in both a mother and helps him'). At Od. 11.548 Odysseus
cases: II. 24.66-70, Od. 1.65-7). As Rutherford(2001) regretshis victory over Ajax to win the arms of Achilles,
131 observes, 'Both actions demonstratethe belated but 'and the judges were the sons of the Trojansand Pallas
real generosity andjustice of the gods: in neithercase is Athena' (11.547).

Thus althoughAthena has her own reasons to hate Troy (II. 24.25-30), her actions are also pre-
sented as partof Zeus's largerplan for the city's fall. Her closeness to Zeus is evidentwhen she
restrainsAres from seeking vengeance for his dead son Ascalaphus;like her fatherelsewhere,
she acts here to preserveorderon Olympus(II. 15.121-41). Athena alone is called 63pt41ondtpr
('the mighty-fatheredgoddess'), and always in contexts where the will of Zeus is foregrounded,
whetherin the destructionof Troy or the nostoi of the Achaeans.96Athenathus works again and
again as an extension of the will of Zeus,97 and her crucial r61ein the preservationof cosmic
order is best illustratedby Hesiod's account of her birth,where Zeus swallows Metis, Athena's
mother, and so ends the generationalconflicts of the gods in his favour (Hes. Theog. 886-900;
cf III(a)). Zeus has his most importantchildren(Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Hermes,Athena)
by other, less powerful, goddesses in order to prevent Hera posing too great a threat to his
supremacy.98Moreover,Athena'sbirthfrom the head of Zeus symbolizes their peculiarlyclose
relationship,which is embodiedin her interventionsin supportof Zeus's will and cosmic order.99
(f)Odysseanseriousness versus divinefrivolity?

Returningto the Odysseyand its alleged theological differencesfrom the Iliad, we are now in a
betterposition to considerthe episode thatis frequentlysaid to highlight(by contrast)the poem's
ethically more serious divine world: Demodocus' song of Ares' and Aphrodite'sadultery(Od.
8.266-366). According to Burkert,'Demodocus' song makes an unbridgeablecontrastwith the
conception of the gods in Odyssey Book 1 as well as with the sublimity of the gods of the
Yet such an analysis of the scene is misleading, since it assumes too rigid a model of
Iliad.'100oo
divinity in the Odyssey and implies that Zeus's opening speech denies the gods their traditional
moral anthropomorphism(see, however, II(b) above). On Burkert'sinfluential reading, the
Odysseypoet composed his work in the light of the Iliad, 'but with a new ethico-religiousatti-
tude, [and] saw that in his model there remaineda vacuum in his own far-too-seriousimage of
the world and its gods'.o101There is, however, no such vacuum, nor is the Odysseypoet's pres-
entationof the gods excessively serious: for, as in the Iliad, the gods are seen to be deeply con-
cerned with proper human behaviour (so that Zeus's programmaticspeech is not aberrantly
solemn), while at the same time ready to assert their interestsand desires at the expense of oth-
ers (so that there is no lack of anthropomorphism).
Scholarsoften describethe gods' display of moral anthropomorphism in Demodocus' song as
an instanceof divine 'frivolity', which is (on the model of the Iliad, e.g. the quarrelon Olympus
96 Cf. II. 5.747 (Zeus commands Athena to attack Hera bore renowned Hephaestus without union with
Ares), 8.391 (Athena's disobedience angers Zeus); Od. Zeus, as she was furious and quarrelledwith her hus-
1.101 (Athena makes for Ithaca, having secured Zeus's band', Hes. Theog.927-8); or, if fatheredby Zeus, he is a
agreementto Odysseus' return),3.135 (Zeus and Athena cripple and a cuckold (II. 1.578, 599-600, Od. 8.308-12).
plan painful nostoi for the Achaeans), 24.540 (Zeus and Ares is a lesser doublet of Athena the warriorgoddess
Athena restrainOdysseus from killing the suitors' rela- (cf esp. II. 5.846-63), and hated by Zeus as much as
tives). Athena is loved by him (II. 5.887-97), to Ares' great
97Athena'sr61ein the fall of Troy is paralleledby her resentment: 6iX' dviet, iT&tEl ~yivao iux'
an6
supportfor Tydeus and Diomedes at Thebes, which was &{&riiov('no, you incite her, since you yourself gave
eventually sacked with Zeus's approval (cf. II. 4.381, birthto this destructive daughter',II. 5.879). The antipa-
390, 408). Nestor recalls how Zeus and Athena helped thy between Zeus and Ares is extended to their sons, as
the Pylians to rout the deceitful Epeians (II. 11.714-17, Heracleskills Cycnus andwoundsAres himself with help
721, 727-9, 736, 753, 758, 761). from Athena (cf [Hes.], Shield of Heracles 325-471).
98 Hera's subordinater61eis embodied in the myths 99 Hera's hatredof Zeus's offspringby other women
surrounding the birth of her own two children, is clearest in the case of Heracles(cf, e.g., II. 14.252-66,
Hephaestus and Ares. Hephaestus is the product of 19.96-133). Significantly,Zeus is said to have helped his
parthenogenesis, conceived by Hera in anger at Zeus: son many times by sendingAthena (II. 8.362-5).
"Hpr 8' "Hpactoov Khutv oi cp6tiarlt ~ttyetoa I 100Burkert(1997) 261.
yeivao, xi to ivrlcw Iri iiptomevdiptlflpxKoiztll ('but Burkert(1997) 262.
o101

22 WILLIAMALLAN
at the end of Book 1, the Theomachiaof Books 20-1) intendedto contrastwith the seriousness
of the action on the human level. There is some point to this, since 'that the divine action
[Aphrodite'sadultery]shouldecho in tones of fun what is deeply serious among men [Penelope's
potential adultery]is typical of the Iliad'.102Yet the 'unquenchablelaughter'(Od. 8.326)103 of
the (male) gods as they look uponAres andAphroditecaught in Hephaestus'trapshould not be
allowed to obscurethe more serious aspects of the scene itself. For Hephaestusdraws attention
to his humiliationand demandspropercompensation(8.306-20), which he is solemnly promised
by Poseidon (8.355-6), should Ares fail 'to pay all that is right in the presence of the immortal
gods' (tioetv a'ioCtgaitivtza ge' 8.348). The scene thus underlinesthe
dOavyrtoot 0eo^ov, - Et'
importance of justice (qua reparations) among the gods ob) oi5 iotE ZEb6vTog
&pvloaox0at is Hephaestus'sresponse to Poseidon (8.358) - even as it revels in the bawdy
humourof Apollo and Hermes (8.335-42). The combinationfits other Olympianscenes in both
epics, and is neitherout of step with the rest of the Odyssey,nor does it prove Iliadic influence,
since therewas humorouspotentialin many divine myths and these can scarcely have been lim-
ited to the Iliad and Book 8 of the Odyssey (cf, e.g., Horn. Hymn Herm., discussed below:
III(b)).
(g) Errors and consequences: Odysseusand his men

The idea that the Odysseypoet aims to presenta clear-cuttale of crime and punishmentis belied
not only by the narrativeof Odysseus'revenge,104 but also by Odysseus'own accountof his wan-
derings. For Odysseus describes both himself and his men committing disastrous errorsand
ignoringwarnings,but only Odysseus survives and the audienceperceive the crucial difference
made by divine protection.10os Though his comrades urge him to depart, Odysseus insists on
meeting the Cyclops, with horrificresults for them, as Odysseus himself admits:
oie - pa' 1toAp ic.pd.ov

ev
v)-
"&o,' pc rttl61prlv 1
i ei soi
o&pp'cziXt6v"tr ~
''i'Oiu, ~eivox o oirl.
o366'tp' 4t)XX'i~tipotit cpavri;pxz~tvb; oeaot." (Od. 9.228-30)
'But I would not listen to them- it would have been far betterif I had! - since I wanted to see the man,
and whetherhe would give me gifts of friendship. But in fact when he appearedhe would not prove
a lovelyhostto my companions.'
Having escaped from the Cyclops' cave, Odysseus cannot resist boasting of his victory and
thereby revealing his name, despite his comrades' warning that they should get away without
notice (9.492-505). As a result Polyphemusis able to pray to Poseidon that if Odysseus reach-
es Ithaca,he will do so after losing all his comrades(9.528-35).
Althoughit is his companions'own decision to kill Helios' cattlewhich ensurestheirdestruc-
tion (the narratorin the proem calls them 'fools' for doing so: 1.7-9), it is clear that Odysseus'
own mistakes have endangeredthose aroundhim, and that his men are caught up in the curse
laid upon their returnby the Cyclops. And while it may be too extremeto say that 'the men are
actually driven to the act by the very gods who punish them for it',106it makes no difference to
Helios or his vengeful response that the men's fatal erroris the productof exhaustionand star-
102Macleod (1982) 3. 104See II(h) below on the killing of the suitors.

103 This phrase(iope3zo; yoog) is also found in the 105Cf 10.277-301, where (despite Poseidon's wrath)
divine quarrelof Iliad 1 (1.599), a less serious counter- Hermes'gift of the plantmoly saves Odysseus frombeing
part to the human one among the Achaeans: the shared transformedinto a pig by Circe.
contrastof divine and human supportsthe view that the 106Fenik (1974) 213. The men's crucialmistake is to
song ofAres andAphroditeis replicatingan Iliadic tech- insist on landing on the island of Thrinaciain the first
nique withoutnecessarilydrawingattentionto the differ- place, thereby ignoring the warnings of Teiresias and
ence between the Odysseyand the Iliad. Circe that the island be completely avoided (12.271-94).

vation. For as with Poseidon's anger (whether at Odysseus' blinding of his son or at the
Phaeacians'assistance to Odysseus), Zeus respects Helios' right to punish those who offend the
god or transgressin his domain. Moreover,Helios' threatto descend to Hades and shine among
the dead (if Odysseus' men are not punished) threatensthe cosmic order (12.382-3). Zeus's
response is immediate:
a nv
"'HI~h,pt' otv ompC oE
Avo'votot
." (P.3Etv8
iaccOvlltoin [poxoiotv idi ri6Opov &poopxv"
x vx OV
Kv y, )' Xa o p'ylt
&v K~~pav
ti'rOt xX6v o
KE iutttjr;oot vi o'ivoit 7ut6vton." (Od. 12.385-8)
'Helios,keepshiningamongtheimmortals andamongmortalmenuponthegrain-giving earth.As for

thesemen,I shallsoonstriketheirswiftshipwitha flashingthunderbolt
andshatterit in smallpieces
in the midstof the sparklingsea.'
Thus Zeus's promiseto see to the men's destructionis motivatednot only by a respectfor Helios'
demandto punish dishonourbut also by Zeus's own r6le as the guarantorof universalorder. As
the god preparesto unleash the storm that will kill Odysseus' men, the poet draws attentionto
Odysseus' unusual knowledge of Zeus's motivation (he heard of the divine council from
Calypso, who heard it from Hermes: 12.389-90), a unique qualification that underlines
Odysseus' authorityas a narrator(like the poet himself) of the gods' justice.
(h) The killing of the suitors

Odysseus' vengeance on the suitors is regularlytreated as the archetypalembodimentof the
Odyssey'speculiarlymoral pattern. One scholareven remarksthat 'the punishmentof the suit-
ors is more than an example of reciprocalvengeance:it is an enactmentof absoluteand timeless
justice'.107 Yet such a distinction risks creating a misleading scale of values (as if vengeance
were inferiorto some abstractprincipleof justice), since reciprocalvengeance is (qua divinejus-
tice) an 'absoluteand timeless' principleand the centralstorypatternof both Homericepics (and
much Greekmyth). However,althoughthe punishmentof the suitorsis unquestionablydemand-
ed by the honour-basedethics of Homericsociety,'os08 the Odysseypoet complicatesthe initialpic-
ture of the suitorsas a gang of insolent reprobates. The simple moral paradigmthat equatesall
the suitors with Aegisthus, the murderousadulterer,is first proposed by Athena (disguised as
Mentes), as she encourages Telemachusto plot their death (1.294-302). Yet this assertively
moralistic viewpoint becomes less clear-cutas the narrativedevelops. For we get a more par-
ticularizedview of the suitors, revealing that not all of them are wicked, which emerges with
greaterclarity,significantly,as the vengeance draws closer.
We first hear of Amphinomus,one of two decent suitors,in Book 16, where we are told that
'his speeches were the most pleasing to Penelope, since he had a sensible mind' (ia'toza
I -
1-rlve~o7eirt ivyave C)Olotot" ppe&At yap KiXprat'&y(0fyatotv, 16.397-8). He persuades the
suitors to reject Antinous' proposal that they try once more to ambush and kill Telemachus
(16.400-406).109 And his kind words to 'the beggar' prompt Odysseus to warn him against
107Clarke(2004) 88. 109Amphinomus'r6le as a wise adviseris underlined

108 It is prophesied approvingly by Halitherses by the speech introduction ~it ppovwov
optvhe addressedthe
KzaipEiset~ev ('in good will
(2.161-76; cf 24.454-62) and endorsedby Nestor (3.211-
&,yopiloaao
24), Menelaus(4.333-46), Eumaeus(14.80-92), Penelope assembly and said', 16.399), which 'always introduces
(23.63-7) and Laertes(24.351-2), among others. speeches which the narratorapprovesof' (de Jong (2001)
54 on 2.157-60, who compares 2.228 (Mentor), 7.158
(Echeneus), 24.53 (Nestor), 24.453 (Halitherses)).

24 WILLIAMALLAN
remaining any longer with the suitors and even to pray that some god may save him from
Odysseus' vengeance (18.122-50). Yet the narratorimmediatelycontrastsOdysseus' attitudeto
Amphinomuswith that of Athena:
cxotxp 0 i KaXt~ &o~ic~

cpiov tZ1ji~VO; i~top,
vE1JzYt~o)vK~qxXX11v5i1yixpiccucv6avr~o&'UCt~n.
d~XX'o~i~6' Icfjpomc6Srje
ij; cp~Sy &iKicitbv 'A~-i~vrj
T1X~~i~oI)
1Jt CG q1~'~ fv~
p (Od. 18.153-6)
Amphinomuswent back throughthe hall with a troubledspirit,shakinghis head; for his heartwas full
of foreboding. Even so, he could not escape his doom, as Athenahad bound him too to a violent death
by the hands and spear of Telemachus.
Indeed,Athena's determinationto kill all the suitors, regardlessof their individual conduct, is
alreadyclear:
cxirzxp'A0-ivrl
&XXt
xo6pt w'4IX&rv '(d1.6i0
tTcAaKptttlOrlv
yvoirl 0' oi' ztvkg Ei(3V kVomaitCOt.
oiYZ' d~latgt~~ot"
O 6' 6 ry tk,' zasfit cctt (Od. 17.360-4)
Now Athenacameandstoodclose by Odysseus,son of Laertes,andurgedhimto go amongthe suit-

ors beggingbits of breadso thathe wouldknowwhichof themweredecentmenandwhichlawless;
buteven so she was notgoingto saveanyof themfromtheirdoom.
Athena's interventionsimultaneouslyseparatesthe suitors into the good and the bad and under-
lines her indifferenceto their decency. Thus the audience know Amphinomus'fate even as he
offers the disguised Odysseus protectionand urges the suitors to stop abusing both the beggar
and the servantsof Odysseus' household (18.394-5, 414-21). The disjunctionbetween charac-
ter and fate is even clearerin the case of the suitorLeiodes, whom the narratorintroducesas the
first to attemptto string Odysseus' bow:
Atcirj; 6ir
&S p~vro;&vioatczo, O~voiro;uiA6,
0aopi uo)OGK~oS &iK(XXOv
L3KE, itcapcxKpJ1T11p(
t~ wZ)xtX~t~aO; i ct~t'
raoahical & oi o'io
~XOpci &~
kcoxv,1r~coiv veji~oacyCiviati-ijpec~~a (Od.21.144-7)
Leiodeswas firstto rise,the son of Oenops,whowas theiraugurandalwayssat in the farthestcorner

besidethe beautifulmixingbowl. Theiractsof recklessfolly werehatefulto him alone,andhe was
full of indignation
at all the suitors.
The narrator'scomment on Leiodes' decency is expandedby Leiodes himself in his appeal to

Odysseus (22.312-19), yet Odysseus rejectsthe supplicationand cuts off Leiodes' head while he
is still speaking (22.326-9). Thus both goddess and humanprot6g6kill the two more virtuous
suitorswith equal ruthlessness.110The parametersof reciprocalvengeance among both gods and
110
Cf Hdlscher (1988) 268: 'die Unverhilltnis-
mil3igkeit der Rache tritt gegen Ende krafl hervor, und
eben dadurch, daB der Dichter fiir diese Opfer
[Amphinomusand Leiodes] Sympathieerweckthat'.

mortalsare seen to be similarlyimprecise,and guilt by associationis enough to bring aboutdis-

aster for Amphinomus and Leiodes (as for the Phaeacians) 'beyond their destined share' (cf
1.33-4; II(b) and (d)).
Thus althoughOdysseus presentshimself as merely the agent of divine justice (22.411-18),
and the death of the suitors is greeted as a divine act (by Penelope: 23.63-7) and as proof of the
gods' power (by Laertes:24.351-2), the killing of the suitors can only be said to constitute 'an
enactmentof absolute and timeless justice'l in a very particularsense, which recognizes the
rough and ruthless reciprocityof divine justice as it is embodied in the text of the Odyssey (as
well as the Iliad).112Furthermore,it must take accountof the clearrisks to communalwell-being
posed by Odysseus' vengeance, which sparks a civil war when the suitors' kinsmen seek to
avenge their deaths (a dangerforeseen by Odysseus himself: cf 23.117-22). The poem ends as
it began with Athena and Zeus reachingan agreementin Odysseus' favour (24.472-86; cf 1.44-
79), and the narratoragain underlinesthe importanceof the gods' intervention. For Odysseus
and his men are on the verge of wiping out the suitors' kinsmen before they are checked by
Athena (24.528-36). Moreover,Odysseus ignores Athena's commandand has to be restrained,
firstby Zeus's thunderboltand then by a warningfromAthenanot to incurZeus's anger(24.537-
44). Odysseus thus acts with typically heroic impetuosity and would have killed his fellow
Ithacanshad not the gods intervened. The cycle of violence is ended only by a divinely spon-
sored settlementwith the suitors'families. As at the end of the Iliad, divine concernfor human-
ity helps resolve a profoundcrisis, and Zeus's decision restoresthe communalvalues of social
order.113
(i) Thescope of Homericjustice

A centralpartof the argumentso far has been thatthe common view of the gods of the Odyssey
as peculiarlymoralisticis mistaken,andthatthe poem's pictureof divinity and of humanrespon-
sibility and punishmentis no differentfrom thatof the Iliad."14With this in mind, let us consid-
er two furtherclaims regardingthe gods of the Odyssey which are no less influential:the first
may be summed up in the statementthat 'The differentconception of the gods in the Odyssey
implies a greaterremotenessof man from the deity, i.e., greaterindependenceand responsibili-
ty';l"sthe second in the observationthat the Odyssey'sgods are 'less colourful and less clearly
individualised'.116Yet the gods of the Odysseyare neithermore remote nor less individualized,
and seem so only if one disregardsthe differenttype and scope of story narratedin the Odyssey
(comparedto the Iliad) and its smaller cast of characters,both human and divine. Unlike the
Iliad, whose wider narrative(the TrojanWar)constitutesan event of cosmic proportions(mark-
ing the end of the age of heroes: cf. Il. 12.9-33; Hes. W&D 161-5), the Odyssey confines itself
for the most partto one of many nostoi (albeit an eventful one). However,thereis no difference
lll See n.107. entirely typical of early Greek hexameterpoetry,pace,

112 Though the Iliad poet has chosen to present the e.g., Schein (1996) 10: 'One function of the much
Trojans as far more sympathetic than the suitors (it is maligned twenty-fourthbook is to insist on the correct-
obvious, but still notable, that the Iliad presents individ- ness of this new kind ofjustice' (emphasisadded).
ual Trojancharacters,whereaswe get only one side of the 114Pace, e.g.. Griffin (1980) 77: 'The Odyssey ..
story in its account of the Argives attackingThebes and has a differentconceptionof the gods and heroism. Gods
the Pylian narrative),there is a parallelinsofaras both the and heroes alike need and receive moraljustification,of a
Trojans and the suitors face indiscriminatevengeance. sort much closer to our ideas.' Cf also Griffin(2004) 44
The poet of the Odyssey could have presentedthe suitors on 'this anxiouslymoralpoet'; yet the Odysseypoet is no
as a whole more positively (see Danek (1998) 41-2 for more 'anxious'aboutmoralresponsibilityandpunishment
traces of alternativeversions in the Odyssey itself), but than is the poet of the Iliad; see I, esp. (a), (b) and (f).
their story remains sufficiently nuanced to explore the 115Kullmann(1985) 10.
ethical implicationsof reciprocaljustice. 116Kearns(2004) 67.
113 Thus Book 24 is both the clearest expression of
the Odyssey'svision of social justice and at the same time

26 WILLIAMALLAN
in the depictionof divine and humaninteraction,and the narrator'snarrowerscope explains the

apparentmoral 'shift', which is in fact no more than the contrastbetween a narrativethat con-
tains many heroes and conflicting gods and one that contains far fewer of both. The basic con-
tinuity is strikingnonetheless. And while it is true that in the second half of the Odyssey 'the
Gods form a united front',"7insofar as there is no deity who proteststhe killing of the suitors,
this cancels neitherthe troublingaspects of their punishmentnor the clash of divine wills pre-
sented in the first half of the poem (see rII(c) and (h) above).
Thus the Odyssey'svision of divinejustice may appearnarrowerthanthe Iliad's, but the same
moralityand theology underlieboth epics. In each the gods regularlypursuetheirpersonalinter-
ests with little regardfor human ideals of divine justice, and the 8aicr (or 'order') enforced is
often a harsh one."18 Moreover, as in the Iliad (e.g. 18.497-500), the mechanisms of justice
which operate in the Odyssey are embodied both in particularsocial institutions,such as com-
pensation settlements'l9or judicial assemblies,120and in the cosmos as a whole.'21 Thus the
Homeric epics display a fundamentalcontinuitythat tells againstmodels of early Greek epic or
intellectualculturewhich continueto be premisedupon their difference. For althoughdevelop-
mental models of early Greek thought (especially those of Snell and Frfinkel)122 are no longer
overtly influential,and despite Lloyd-Jones'scriticisms of Dodds's view that the Iliadic Zeus is
not concernedwith justice (cf n. 10), the full extent of the ethical and theological continuities,
not only between the Homerepics themselves but also between those works and the rest of early
Greek epic, continue to be underestimatedor obscured. In a stimulating recent account of
Homericepic the developmentalmodel is appliedto cosmic historyitself, but the projectis ham-
pered by the assumptionthat 'the portrayalof the gods in the Odyssey is different from that in
the Iliad'.123However, the essential continuityis particularlyevident in the fact that the Greeks
themselves seem not to have perceived any such difference between the poems: Aristotle, for
example, locates a numberof differencesbetween the epics with regardto structureand plot (cf
esp. Poet. 1459b13-16), but none pertainingto the gods or their morality,124 while Herodotus
famously treats Homer and Hesiod as equals in their presentation(and definition) of divinity
(2.53.1-3).125 Their analysis of early Greek poetry should guide ours, not least because Zeus's
117 Kearns (2004) 69. However, when Kearns adds drawnfrom civilized life and relatingthe restraintof vio-
'And this unity, it is strongly implied, is founded on a lence through law, underlinesthe indiscriminatecruelty
moral basis: personalfavouritismapart,it is simply right of the divine whirlpool.
that Odysseus should triumphover his enemies and be 121IncludingHades;cf. Od. 11.568-71, where Minos
reinstatedas rulerof Ithaca',the implied contrastwith the dispensesjustice among the dead.
Iliad is misleading, since the Iliad poet also makes clear 122Their view of the Odyssey as morally circum-
the 'moralbasis' of Troy's fall. scribed(comparedto Hesiod), but still an advance on the
118 It is therefore misleading to claim, as Griffin Iliad (cf esp. Frdinkel(1975) 85-93), was foreshadowed
(1995) 12 does, that 'generally speaking the divine is on by Jacoby (1933), e.g. 188-9: 'Wir sind noch sehr in den
its best behaviourin the Odyssey', since this flattens out Anflingen des ethischen Bildungsprozesses ... denn als
the complexities and turbulenceof the narrative. Ford Hiiter der sittlichen Weltordnungbilden die G6tter eine
(1996) points to analogous faults in Cook's attempt to Einheit; auch das ist ein "Fortschritt" von den
present 'a perfectly consistenttheodicy in which virtuous gegeneinanderundjeder fir sich handelndenIliasg6ttem
self-restraintis rewardedand injusticepunished'. zu "derGottheit"der Philosophie.'
119 Cf. Od. 22.54-64, where Odysseus rejects 123Graziosiand Haubold(2005) 75.
124Although, one should add, Aristotle says very lit-
Eurymachus'offer of communalcompensationfrom the
suitors; and contrastHephaestus'agreementto accept a tle about the gods even in tragedy.
fine from Ares (or Poseidon: 8.344-59). 125 The status of Homer and Hesiod as cultural
120 Cf. Od. 12.439-41: iaog 8' ikni86pnov &vilp 'authorities'(on the gods and much else) is used cogent-
dyopifOevA&vcXrl I Kpivov vEiKEgO oVoReXX&y
Strhctolvo ly by Ford (1997) 98 to explain the 'high-handedness'of
a'.r~lv, I rlo;g 8i1Tye 6oiopaXap6i8tog e(paw later appropriationsof their poetry (by Pindarand Plato
('At the time when a man rises from his seat in the mar- among others): 'it was the pragmatic practice (a long
ket-place for dinner,when he has settled many disputes poem is more widely useful in small pieces) of people for
between young men who seek justice, then it was thatthe whom Homerwas more importantas an authoritythan as
timbersreappearedout of Charybdis'),where the simile, an authorof an aestheticallyunified text'.

power is presentedin both Homeric epics (as in Hesiod) within a cosmic context, and in such a
way thathis decisions and actions combine a recognitionof each god's interestsandhonourwith
a concern for social norms of justice among mortals(cf iII(c), (e) and (h) above).
III
(a) Hesiodicjustice and/as universalorder

Just as one should avoid treatingthe Odyssey'spresentationof the natureand values of the gods
as if it were different from the Iliad's, so one should resist attemptsto interpretthe gods of
Hesiod as if they were differentfrom those of Homer. For despite Lloyd-Jones'sdemonstration
of the essential continuityin early Greektheology, one still meets with accountsof Hesiod's cos-
mos which treatit as a moral 'advance'on what has gone before. Thus one scholarwrites of the
Theogony:'Die g6ttliche Welt entwickelt sich hin zur aufgeklartenHerrschaftdes Zeus; dabei
ilberwindetHesiod die amoralischeDimension der homerischenG6tter:Bei ihm sind die G6tter
tatsaichlichdie Garantender Gerechtigkeitund vergeltendas Gute und B6se, das die Menschen
anrichten.'126However,as we shall see, the divine world thatHesiod presentsis no more 'devel-
oped' thanthat of Homer,nor is the rule of Zeus portrayedby Hesiod any more 'enlightened'.127
In Hesiod, as in the Iliad and Odyssey,the narratorfocuses on Zeus's power and on the per-
sonal quarrelsof the gods. For in Hesiod's eyes the currentworld-orderis the consequence of
internecinestrifebetween Zeus and Prometheus,son of the TitanIapetus. In otherwords, Zeus's
orderis equal to the way things are, and the way things are (for example, that men must work to
survive because Zeus has hidden 'the means of life': W&D42-7) is caused by Zeus's quarrel
with Prometheus,who poses a threatto Zeus's r6gime. Indeed, a similarpatternof stasis lead-
ing to orderinforms the backgroundto the Iliad: Zeus's favour to Thetis arises from his power
struggleson Olympus(RI.1.396-406), and so (as in Hesiod's pictureof the world) a disputeover
divine supremacyleads to the status quo: the death of Achilles, the fall of Troy,the end of the
heroic age. The very structureof the Theogonyexpresses Zeus's supremacy:128 the Muses sing
the history of the cosmos culminatingin the ascendancyof Zeus, a song thatZeus naturallylikes
to hear.129And althoughHesiod lavishes greatdetail on the defeat of the Titansby the new gods
(Theog. 617-735), the narrativeof Zeus's victory over his father Kronos is strikingly brief:
126Degani (1997) 178. I have underlinedthe notions

(epic, didactic, cataloguepoetry, etc.), we should recog-
that are most mistaken. nize the poet's ability to combine elements from different
127 Hesiod is best seen not as an actualhistorical
fig- stories, styles and genres (Ford(1992) 13-56 offers a bril-
ure (pace, e.g., West (1978) 55: 'The autobiographical liant analysis of Archaic epic as a genre, though I would
passages [in the Worksand Days] are of course authen- ventureto stress the continuityand fluidity of epos even
tic'), but as a poet who has chosen to performparticular more than he does; cf his pp. 29-30 on the Worksand
genres of song in a particularpersona(his paraeneticand Days, which he would set apart from Homer and the
didacticpersonabeing especially prominentin the Works Theogony on the grounds of 'epic objectivity').
and Days). The poet remindsus that he could sing, if he Consider,for example, the 'Catalogueof Women'narrat-
wished, different kinds of song, when he boasts of his ed by Odysseus (Od. 11.225-332; for its relationshipwith
victory in the poetic contest at Chalcis (W&D 654-7): he the Hesiodic Catalogue, cf Osborne(2005) 16-17) or the
crosses to Euboea from Aulis, alluding to Homeric epic paraenetic verse deployed by Homer in the Iliad (esp.
(650-3), which he too could sing, it is implied, since the 9.434-605); in the lattercase there is a particularlystrik-
Muses can inspirevarious 'paths of song' (658-9; for the ing continuity with the techniques deployed by Hesiod,
metaphor, cf, e.g., Od. 8.72-5, 479-81, 22.347-8). the difference being that 'Hesiod' is overtly inside his
Hesiod also connects the Muses' inspirationwith his abil- poem and his use of the paraeneticpersonais on a (rela-
ity to relate 'the will of aegis-bearingZeus' (W&D 661- tively) largerscale.
2), reminding us that this is fundamentalnot only to 128Cf Thalmann(1984) 39-41.
Homeric epic but to his style of epos too. Thus rather 129
Similarly,the hymn to Zeus that opens the Works
than thinking in terms of historical personalities (the and Days stresses his supremepower over mankindand
Hesiodic 'I' is as constructed as, e.g., Archilochus' his rOleas an enforcerof order(3-8).
Lothario persona:fr. 196a West) and sealed-off genres

28 WILLIAMALLAN
Kronos is 'defeated by the wiles and strength of his own son' (vtlreig t~Xvrlt~ot firltpi se
7rx~at6g ioo, Theog.496). Hesiod does not explain how Kronoswas overcome, not because he
is reluctantto presenta god attackinghis own father,but because the poem's focus is less on how
Zeus comes to power as on how he succeeds in maintaininghis power, since that is the basis for
the currentworld-order.
The maintenanceof Zeus's supremacyrelies upon his carefuldistributionof powers and priv-
ileges among the othergods afterdeposing Kronos. Unlike Ouranosand Kronos, Zeus is elect-
ed by the othergods to be theirking (Theog. 883-5); he avoids his father'sand grandfather'smis-
take of not sharingpower, but makes sure to keep it close by apportioningit chiefly among his
sons and daughters.130 WhenZeus appealsfor help againstthe Titans,he promisesthe older gods
that, if they assist him, their privileges will remainundiminished,and that those whom Kronos
ignoredwill be given honoursin his new regime (Theog. 390-6). Yet Zeus's respect for the older
gods serves merely to supporthis own dominance:
ij;6' caiiztw;
idvtroaa 6uxac~npi~
L6;tCEp
i7r3~arrl
2c~a' txdzt6;& Ci~yxKpxtri "i16
rtEz (Theog.402-3)
aa&1~3E.
In the sameway he fullycarriedouthis promisesto all, whilehe himselfis mighty

in his powerandrule.
Hesiod is especially emphatic about the honours given to Hecate (Theog. 411-52). But rather
than seeing this as the expression of 'her evangelist' and 'zealot',131we should see the passage
in terms of the structureof the world-orderaccording to Hesiod: Hecate is dwelt upon not
because Hesiod had a personalcult of the goddess, but because she is made to stand for the gen-
eral process of Zeus's canny negotiationswith the gods who precededhim.
Hesiod's Zeus is no more 'advanced' in moral terms than Homer's. Both poets present a
series of decisions made by a powerful and unknowablegod. In Hesiod's account, Zeus pun-
ishes mankind with Pandorato get back at Prometheus (Theog. 561-612, W&D 54-105).132
However, to dwell on the moralityof Zeus's motives or his treatmentof humanitywould be mis-
leading, since the point of Hesiod's narrativeis to display Zeus's power and its connection to
cosmic order,which is a direct result of Olympianpower politics. Nevertheless, as in Homer,
there is, as far as humansare concerned,a positive value to the world-orderestablishedby the
gods. For Zeus has given humansthe gift of justice, which sets them apartfrom animals (W&D
276-80).133And Hesiod, like Homer,reflects the process of personifying and allegorizing such
positive social norms: both (W&D 256-62) and the Atzai (II. 9.502-14) are daughtersof
Aicrl
Zeus, who seek redressfrom theirfatherwhen they are abusedor refusedby mortals. Moreover,
the basileus who is just is favouredby the gods, whetherby Zeus (W&D 280-1; cf. II. 1.237-9),
the Muses (Theog. 81-93) or Hecate (Theog. 429-30). Finally, if we ask ourselves what social
functionsHesiod's poetrymight have fulfilled, we find thatit communicatesthe same basic ideas
and values as Homeric epic: Zeus's order is supreme; his will is inscrutableto mortals but
inescapable;humansshould avoid excess and respect legitimate claims to honourandjustice.
130Zeus's election by the other gods underlinesthe 132The punishmentis typically disproportionate:it is
importanceof his need to rule by consensus. It is also Prometheus'trick, but all men suffer for it (Theog. 550-
significant that Zeus is depicted requiringthe aid of the 2); cf. W&D 240-7, I(f). Moreover, when Zeus ends
supremely strong Hundred-Handers(Briareus, Cottus Prometheus'torment,he does so not out of pity, but to
and Gyges) in orderto overcome the Titans(Theog. 148- boost the kleos of his son, Heracles (Theog. 526-34).
53, 617-735); cf. II. 1.402-6, where Briareus is said to 133Cf Clay (2003) 83: 'It is precisely Dike, daughter
have defendedZeus's supremacywhen it was challenged of Zeus and Zeus's gift to mankind, that renders the
by some of his fellow Olympians. heroes betterthanboth the races of bronze and silver that
131West (1966) 277-8 on Theog.404-52. precededthem.'

(b) TheHomeric Hymns, or, the world according to Zeus

A central theme of the major Homeric Hymns, as of Homer and Hesiod, is the r6le played by
Zeus's supremacyin the evolution of divine and humanhistory,and, in addition,how his power
operates so as to maintaincosmic order. The hymns to Demeter (2) andAphrodite(5) focus in
particularon how that order is established through Zeus's control of female deities, as Zeus
determinesthe extent to which Demeterand Persephonecan play the r6les of eternalmotherand
daughter,and curbsAphrodite's(sexual) power by turningit back on the goddess herself. Zeus
sets in train the plots of both hymns, approvingHades' abductionof Persephone(Hom. Hymn
Dem. 3, 30, 77-80; cf. Theog. 913-14) and making Aphrodite fall in love with the mortal
Anchises (Hom. HymnAph. 45-57).
The Hymnto Demeter reflects the pervasivenessof Greek genderideology, as the fertilityof
gods, humansandnatureitself are interlinkedunderthe patronageof Zeus, who controlsnot only
the sexual maturationof his daughterPersephonebut also the division of the agriculturalyear
(via his reconciliationwith Demeter;cf 445-7, 470-3). Since girls must be made useful by mar-
riage and child-bearing(cf, e.g., W&D 695-705), Persephonecannot remain a virgin forever.
Moreover,Demeter has not asked Zeus for eternalvirginity for Persephone,134 and so she must
accept her daughter'sinevitable progress to marriageand motherhood. Demeter's fixation on
her own maternalrble is no less problematicthanher hostility to her daughter's,since she is not
only resistant to Persephone's maturationbut acts as a 'bad' mother even in her grief at
Persephone'sabsence. For she seeks to make the baby Demophon immortal(231-41), as if to
create a divine surrogateto replace her own child, yet her actions are once more doomed to fail-
ure, since she acts (as in the case of Persephone)without the permissionof Zeus, whose agree-
ment to the crossing of the boundary between mortal and immortal is essential. Finally,
Demeter's 'dreadfulwrath' (350, 410) puts the nascent Olympian r6gime in jeopardy since it
threatensto destroy humanityand so end the ztiaic paid to the gods (352-4). Zeus's solution is
to confirm and expand Demeter's own status and privileges (441-4). The hymn ends with both
Demeter and Persephonejoining Zeus on Olympus,and with their enhancedpowers confirming
his (483-6; cf 364-71).
In the Hymnto Aphrodite(5) the goddess' abilityto 'lead astrayeven the mind of Zeus' poses
a threatto his supremacy(cf 36-8). As soon as Aphroditehas slept with Anchises, underZeus's
influence (45-57, 166), she regretsthe resultingdiminutionof her power (247-55). Similarpat-
ternsof rivalry,hierarchyand controlare foundin the hymnsto Apollo andHermes. In the Hymn
to Apollo (3), Hera delays the new god's birth out of jealousy (91-101) and, in anger at Zeus's
productionof Athena from his own head, gives birthby herself to the monstrousTyphoeus, 'a
bane to the gods' (n3tifa0eootv, 352).135 In the Hymn to Hermes (4), the conflict between old
and new gods is transposedto older andyoungerOlympians(cf 375-6, 386), as Zeus's own chil-
dren,Apollo and Hermes,bringtheir disputeto trialbefore their father.136Once Zeus reconciles
them (396, 506-7), the baby Hermes is able to secure his rightful and place among the
zty{
gods, impressingApollo with the newly invented lyre and a song that, ingeniously and appro-
priately,celebratesthe divine orderthat he is aboutto enter (423-33). Thus the majorHomeric
Hymns display the same conceptionof the cosmos and the gods as the rest of early Greekhexa-
meter poetry, as Zeus's plans are realized throughthe actions and reactions of others, and the
competingwills of the gods result in a fixed orderthat is identifiedwith the will of Zeus.
134 In the Hymn to Aphroditepermamentvirginity is 135 Cf nn.98-9.

grantedto Athena, Artemis and Hestia. As their father, 136 Hermes'challengeis accepted: 6i iv ci
866&b
Zeus's control over his daughtersAthena and Artemis is 6bio nap& Zlvi Kpovi{ovt (312); cf 324: KEi0ty6p
implicit (cf 7-20), while Hestia is presentedas requesting dcpoTpotot 6iKrl KUOTCKEto TZoayVIm.
such an exceptional status as a privilege (ypaq) from
Zeus, acknowledging his control even over the sexual
lives of his sisters (21-32).

30 WILLIAMALLAN
(c) Greekcosmic order and its Near Eastern contexts

Recent comparativestudies (andparticularlythe pioneeringworks of WalterBurkertand Martin
West) have greatly enrichedour understandingof the interactionbetween Greece and the vari-
ous culturesof the ancientNear East.137Yet even if one accepts that (in the very broadestterms)
'Greek literatureis a Near Easternliterature',138 it remains to ask (in the case of each specific
or
myth, story-pattern idea) how the Greeks have transformedthese Near Eastern'influences' -
or rather,to ask how a commoninheritancehas been given a particulararticulationand meaning
in Greekculture. For while scholarscan point to many striking'parallels',139 they do not always
consider how the Greekexample has been made uniquely and specifically Greek,that is, how it
has been changed and assimilated to a wider, pre-existing and distinctively Greek world-view.
Yet such a process of assimilation is a fundamentalaspect of all culturaltransmission,and its
importanceemergesvery clearly if we considerhow the Greekview of cosmic order(as embod-
ied in early Greek epic) differs from its Near Easterncongeners. Thus, even if we accept that
(say) the stories of the divine succession found in HittiteandAkkadianliteraturehad a profound
influence on Homer and Hesiod,140we should also ask what a comparisonof the Greek and the
Near Easternmaterialreveals about each of these culturesin and of itself.141
137 Cf esp. West (1966) 20-31, (1997); Burkert extremely strong Bronze Age contacts between western
(1991), (1992; German orig. 1984), (2004); for a brief Asia Minor and Greece, which could well have left their
overview of recent work on such cultural transmission mark on Greek myth and poetry (it is hardly a coinci-
from the perspective of a Near Eastern specialist, see dence that many figures of Greek myth come from for-
Bryce (2002) 257-68. eign lands, including Cadmus, Pelops, Cecrops and
138West (1966) 31. Danaus). Of course, this letter (and others like it: cf
139 Haubold (2002) offers a useful critique of the Niemeier (1999)) attest to political rather than literary
unreflectivemethodology of Hellenists who merely cata- contacts. Yet although we do not possess Mycenaean
logue 'parallels'that are said to 'speak for themselves'. Greek texts reflecting the literaryor mythological tradi-
Yet while he praises archaeologists who have 'long tions of the Near East, it is not unlikely thatmyths, story-
appreciatedthe Eastern Mediterraneanas a connected patternsand other ideas were carriedvia tradingroutes,
landscapeof mutual influences' (p. 5), he himself offers diplomatic channels and the migration from the late
no account of how such literaryand cultural'influences' Bronze Age onwards of 'healers, seers, and singers or
are meant to operate. Indeed, it may be more helpful to poets' (Bryce (2002) 259, who compares Od. 17.382-5).
think in terms of 'interaction' rather than 'influence', For BronzeAge bardsin Greece, cf West (1973) 187-92,
wherein 'interaction'refers to a continuous process of (1988) 156-65; S. Morris(1989).
cultural contact and borrowing that operates in both 140 For the Akkadian Atrahasis and Homer's
directions ('influence', by contrast, suggests a one-way 'Deception of Zeus', cf Burkert (1992) 88-96; for
process) and over a long period of time. ThoughBurkert Gilgamesh and the Homeric epics, cf West (1997) 336-
(2004) 23 continues to speak of the eighth and seventh 47, 402-17; Bryce (2002) 261-3. George (2003) 1.3-70
centuries as the high-point of the 'orientalizingrevolu- presents a detailed literary history of The Epic of
tion', he also recognizes that 'contacts of all sorts were Gilgamesh from the third millennium onwards. Csapo
continuous'. It is likely thatmany 'oriental'featuresmay (2005) 67-79 offers an illuminatinganalysis of the Greek
have dated from earlier periods, since (as Bryce (2002) and Hittite myths of divine succession, tabulating the
267 observes) 'throughoutthis period [i.e. from the late main parallels between them (pp. 74-5), but also asking
BronzeAge to the eighth century]therewas regularcom- fundamentalquestions about what (in terms of cultural
mercialand political contactbetween the Greekand Near transmission)such parallelsactually show.
Eastern worlds (allowing perhaps for a hiatus of 100 141In addition,though literaryinteractioncould (and
years or so in the eleventh centuryBC)'. Moreover,evi- did) occur, caution is requiredwhen comparing similar
dence of such early cultural interactionis growing (cf phenomenain differentcultures,especially with regardto
Koenen (1994) 25-6), the most spectacularrecentdiscov- chronology. Most (1997), for example, analyses the
ery being a cuneiform letter from the king of the alleged Near Eastern 'sources' of Hesiod's five races of
Ahhiyawa to the Hittite king HattusiliIII (c. 1267-1237 men (W&D 106-201), noting that 'In fact we do not pos-
BC). In this letterthe king of the Ahhiyawa supportshis sess any oriental sources older than Hesiod from which
claim to some disputedislands in the northernAegean by he could have derived his version' (p. 120). He goes on
asserting that his ancestor ('Kagamunas') received the to ask 'How much of the whole myth of the races in the
islands from the king of Assuwa (i.e. the dominantpower Worksand Days could have been derived from a thor-
in the Troaduntil the end of the fifteenthcentury)as part ough familiaritywith the traditionof Greek epic? The
of a marriage alliance; cf Latacz (2004) 243-4; Kelly answer is: a surprisingly large amount' (p. 121; for
(2006). The letter offers further testimony to the details, see his pp. 121-6).

Let us therefore(as a test case) consider the BabylonianEnuma Elish, or Epic of Creation
(composed in the twelfth centuryBC at the latest),'42and comparethe r6les of MardukandZeus.
Like Hesiod's Zeus, Mardukis elected by the othergods to be the leading deity (thoughthis hap-
pens beforehe has dealt with the threateningTiamatand her monstrousallies: TabletIII),143 and,
once crowned king of heaven, Mardukordersthe universe and apportionsamong the gods their
various r6les and privileges.144However, unlike the Greek model centredaroundZeus and his
family, none of the other gods is Marduk'schild. Burkertremarks:'One might say thatthe ori-
ental assembly of the gods is more a kind of senate, whereas Homerintroducesa family, includ-
ing currentfamily catastrophessuch as mutualscolding of parentsand blows for the children.'45
But, it is importantto add, the divine family has a far wider significance within the more sys-
tematic Greekmodel, where the family structureis used to emphasizeZeus's supremeauthority
and to dramatizehis eternalbalancingact with the competingwills of the othergods. Moreover,
even if it is the case that Hesiod, for example, presentsa model of the universe, many of whose
parts can be paralleled in other Near Eastern literatures(e.g. myths of divine succession, a
supremegod apportioningpowers, the dangerousconsort of the chief god, and so on), it is yet
more strikingthat all these elements have been combined into one coherent system. To put it
ratherbaldly, even if Hesiod gets many of his parts from elsewhere, the system itself is still
unique. And the world-orderthat we find in early Greekepic is distinctivelydifferentfrom that
found in contiguouscultures,since it is based on the all-embracingorderandpower of Zeus; fur-
thermore,it presentsa level of analysis of the repercussionsof Zeus's position which is peculiar
to the Greektradition.'46Thus, when consideringinterculturalcontacts,we should bear in mind
(to a greaterdegree than is often the case) the distinctiveness of the Greek model,147which is
exemplified with particularvividness both in the power of Zeus's will and in the prominenceof
the Atb; poui as a narrativepatternin early Greekpoetry and myth.'48
IV
In conclusion, our discussion has sought to explore the moral and theological universe of the
Homeric epics. Furthermore,it has tried to show that the patternsof humanand divine justice
which they deploy are also to be found throughoutthe wider corpus of early Greek hexameter
poetry. All such poetry, as we have seen, is concernedin various ways with the explorationof
divine power and its politics. Poets seek to show how Zeus's power operatesin the world, and
the polytheistic and anthropomorphicfacets of theirreligious conceptionshave importantimpli-
cations for the system of divine power that they develop. Although the similaritiesbetween the
early Greek texts are striking, they should not surprise us, for as one scholar has observed,
'Poems, afterall, come not from the gods but from otherpoems, and if Homerwas at all like the
poets we know from othertraditionaloral societies, his trueteacherswere the poets he heardand
142 Van De Mieroop (1997) 47 favours the twelfth 145Burkert(2004) 25.

century,though Dalley (1991) 229 finds such a date too 146 Consider,for example, how Zeus ends inter-gen-
late. The end of the twentiethcenturyBC is a secure ter- erationalconflict throughhis self-interestedmethods of
minus post quem, since only then did Babylon and its family planning and female control; cf II(e). It is
patrongod Mardukachieve the prominenceand hegemo- notable that the basic patternof a chief god who learns
ny which are narratedand celebratedin the poem itself. from the mistakesof the divine succession before him, as
143ContrastHes. Theog. 881-5, where Zeus's elec- Zeus does, is in itself a further novel and distinctive
tion takes place only after the Olympian gods have aspect of the Greekmodel.
defeated the Titans. 147For example,when West(1988) 169 remarks'It is
144In the Sumerian story of cosmic order,by con- hardly going too far to say that the whole picture of the
trast, Enki organizes the universe and assigns the gods gods in the Iliad is oriental', the individuality of the
theirpowers but derives the authorityto do so from Enlil, Greek world-orderis unfortunatelyelided.
who remainsthe chief god; cf Black et al. (2004) 215-25 148 Cf Ati6; o 1.5 = Od. 11.297
= 8~xeEieEi POki', II.
('Enki and the world order'). Cypria fr. 1.7 Bernab6/Davies.

32 WILLIAMALLAN
the poets they had heard.'149As well as being concernedwith power politics among the gods,
each text treats the gods, and Zeus in particular,as deeply concernedwith the social norms of
justice, both human and divine. Moreover,while each of the poems presents characterswho
maintainthe 'simple' view - namely,that humanwrongs will be punishedmore or less immedi-
ately by the gods - they also explore the problemsinherentin such an account of divine justice.
The inadequacyof the simple view is seen to generatetheological problems,which are only par-
tially allayed by presenting the competing divine wills within a moral pattern governed by
Zeus. 150
The discussion of the Iliad in Part I aimed to show that the popularpicture of 'amoral' or
'frivolous' Homeric gods is misleading. Thus, simply to say of 'divine justice' in the Homeric
poems that 'this seems an unlikely role for the timd-seekingOlympians'is1risks creatinga false
dichotomy,since the gods can be (and are) interestedboth in their own and in wider issues
"ti~ij
of justice. Indeed, it emergedthat any attemptto separatemattersof from wider issues of
tilup
justice, whetheramong gods or humans,representsin itself a false dichotomy;cf I(d), (f); also
II(d). This is particularlytrue of such institutionsas the oath and guest-friendship,where the
gods' concern for their own -tnnlis simultaneouslya concern for justice (cf I(b), esp. n. 16).
We saw the basic continuitybetween divine and humanvalues: as social beings shapedby the
relationsamong themselves, the gods value justice as much as humansdo and are equally ready
to asserta basic entitlementto honourand fair treatment,and to supportthe sanctionsthat ensure
justice and punish its violation. Thus values such as justice are shown to be socially constituted
on both the divine and humanplanes, and each level displays not only a hierarchyof power (and
the resultingtensions), but also a structureof authority.152In addition,we saw thatthe moraland
theological world of the two Homeric epics is the same, since the Iliad reflects a system of social
norms and punishmentsthat is no differentfrom that of the Odyssey.
The presentationof the gods in the wider hexametercorpusof Hesiod, the Epic Cycle and the
Homeric Hymns reveals a remarkablycoherenttraditionin which the possibility of divine con-
flict is combined with an underlyingcosmic order. The considerationof Near Easternparallels
made clear that the idea of cosmic order as 'the paradigmof justice'"53is not unique to Greek
thought;yet it also broughtout the distinctivenessof the Greek system as a whole and, in par-
ticular,of the way it uses the divine society underZeus's authorityas a comprehensiveexplana-
tory model. For,as one scholarhas expressedthe matter,Zeus's authority'embodies the demand
for an underlyingunity,not chaos, in experience'.'54Finally,while it has not been my intention
to deny the differencesbetween the poets, whose variouskinds of story entail distinctemphases,
it emerged that it has not been sufficiently stressed to what extent the poets, despite their indi-
vidual approaches,are all drawingon essentially the same model of divine society and authori-
ty on the one hand,and divine-humaninteractionon the other. Thus whereasHesiod, for exam-
ple, places more emphasison stasis among the gods as the foundationalaition of Zeus's orderin
the world, the wider cosmic frame is also present in Homer. And within Hesiod's works them-
selves, the Worksand Days is more concernedthan the Theogonyto relate events on the divine
149Ford(1992)90. 152The importanceof socially createdforms of value

150Despite some of the argumentsused by those who in the epics is often neglected, even by classically trained
see the Odyssey as a morally more 'advanced'text, it is philosophers,who still presenta rathernarrowview both
prima facie unlikely that any major epic would endorse of Homeric society and its ethical conceptions; cf., e.g.,
the simple model of 'good always rewardedand sinner Lucas (1993) 5: 'The concept of responsibilityis one that
always punished', for this would not be a particularly has developed and grown over the ages. We take it for
useful or credible theodicy, since it is obviously contrary granted, but the Homeric heroes had little use for that
to what one might presume to have been the case in the concept, centring their moral vocabulary on merit and
actual world of the audience. kudos instead.'
151Adkins (1997) 711. 153Burkert(2004) 60.
154Gould (1985) 25.

DIVINE JUSTICEAND COSMICORDERIN EARLYGREEKEPIC 33
plane to everyday human life, yet many of its elements (e.g. farming and sea-faring)are con-
ventionalepic featureswhich one also finds in Homer. And althoughmany have stressedthe dif-
ferences between the Iliad and Odysseywith regardto divine justice, these (we saw) are merely
apparentand come not from any change in the gods themselves but from the Odyssey'speculiar
narrativestructure,with its focus on one hero and his main divine patronand foe. Homer and
Hesiod may not have gone unchallenged as authoritieson mattersof religion and ethics (e.g.
Xenophanesfr. 11, Heraclitusfr. 42 DK), but as subsequentGreekliteratureshows, theirdepic-
tion of the gods, and particularlyof Zeus as the focal point of cosmic order and justice (both
humanand divine), proved to be a remarkablyenduringand productivemodel for making sense
of the world.
WILLIAM
ALLAN
University College, Oxford
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What evidence does the author provide about divine justice in early Greek epics?

What evidence does the author provide about divine justice in early Greek epics?

Divine Justice and Cosmic Order in Early Greek Epic

Author(s): William Allan

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DIVINE JUSTICEAND COSMICORDER IN EARLYGREEKEPIC*

* The Iliad and Odysseyare cited from the editions of

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5 Heubeck (1988) 23. 9 Dodds (1951) 32.

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"~iXhr1; JJAVXO)J3rl tE K(XLC'iXroS 013)K16ZE

oYji~o Ko13PlGilV ~ihXoov KO(iK~il XtO 7t~oXX~

'There'sno lackof outrageandshameon yourpart- thatoutrageyou didme, you shamelessbitches,

This content downloaded from 186.136.159.207 on Wed, 22 May 2013 23:09:32 PM

This content downloaded from 186.136.159.207 on Wed, 22 May 2013 23:09:32 PM

86Co0iev'ApEpi8ttov Yv. viv 8' 6pttai ncto

Xpubv dya& 6&ip,

who in expectationof gold fromAlexander,splendidgifts,was mostopposedto givingHelenbackto

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o;Lpov6' ico AocEZ&E

leaptdown,andhimhe killedon theground,slicingoff his armsandheadwithhis sword,

(c) Zeus and thefall of Troy

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""EKtop 6' 6tpAvrlotvwiXrlv' oi43o;'AEr6Apov,

'Andlet PhoebusApollospurHectorintobattle,andbreathestrengthintohim againandmakehim

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(d) Divine and human justice as social practices

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communal appraisal.37Moreover,the stability and regulationof human society as a whole is

(e) Judgementsand sanctions (humanand divine)

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6); 6' i~lbXaixiaw XCY(X KLX(alvfl Pk~3pteEXO(OV

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T)V OckXo;o . piv 6rpotp 'i01w 6Xpov 3I6v

Confrontedby Zeus's certainopposition, Hera concedes immediately. Her resigned I8tCaxto,

hxoi 6' &8 po-rpotiotyv

Thepeoplewerecheeringon bothmen,showingsupportfor each,while the heraldstriedto restrain

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() Moral anthropomorphism,order and the will of Zeus

~vO'~iXho~;pL~V ir&~lViiv&av~v,o~i~&~toO' "Hprlt

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As Macleod comments, 'There is a powerful antithesis between the accumulated "Ikto; ip I

"xixa IlXlh k; Gtpertov kX0k Kcai1)~i yG1~tritEihov'

&Ocavd~ixovKCXoXXocot, lrtcppeoi C/otvoCL/Vrltatv

52 Macleod (1982) 88 on 24.27-8. Indeed, the p ei

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(a) The Odyssey.:a new divine world?

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(b) The Odyssey: a new moral world?

'Oh,howthesemortalsblamethegods! Theysaytheirtroublescomefromus, andyet theytoo them-

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foregroundshumandisregardof divine warnings,74the subsequentnarrativealso makes clearthe

(c) Divine rivalry and anger

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of Amphinomus:II(d) and (h)). Poseidon's persecutionof Odysseus is motivated by kinship

All the gods pitied him except Poseidon;he ragedceaselesslyagainstgodlikeOdysseusuntil he