Let me start by stating that, were I in the place of the Greeks or the Trojans, I would feel very much confused. It seems as if all the players in the game are not in fact players, but chess pieces. The gods are the real players, with Zeus at the head. Several places indicate that the driving force behind any one warrior was one of the immortals. In the first twelve books it isn’t as evident, but became much more noticeable in books fourteen through seventeen. While Hera distracts Zeus (in an oh so scandalous manner), Poseidon gathers the Achaeans to charge the Trojans. After the death of Patroclus, there is mass interference from the gods. It is almost as if every other rise in courage is backed by an immortal.
In book 15 Zeus says “Let Phoibos Apollo stir Hektor back into battle” (line 59)
In book 16 Zeus says “In Hektor first of all he put a temper that was without strength”
Another thing I’d like to point out (which we already touched on in class) is the close relationships of the warriors and the emotional reactions to their deaths. There were several instances where the death of a comrade would cause a fellow warrior to rise up and fight with more anger than ever before. This death of a brother of war became such an emotional volcano inside them. They seemed to ride the wave of rage, which gave them the power to take down their enemy, most often the man who killed they’re friend.
So my question out of all that is “who controls the emotions?”. The brotherly support among warriors seems to be of their own heart. But the cowardice or courage of Hektor and several other warriors throughout the battle seem to be in the hands of the gods. How much are the mortals really able to decide for themselves? Do they have free will or are they all chess pieces?
Who controls the emotions? Dr. Mashburn is more qualified than I to speak to classical psychology, but it is my understanding that many of the ancient Greeks regarded the intellect (reason) as the center of the human soul. They viewed the emotions, or passions, as elements of the body, whereas we typically view them as parts of the mind. (The advent of modern psychological drugs does seem to confirm the ancient view.) A primary virtue was temperance, or moderation, which largely entailed self-control in regards to the body. That included maintaining control of the emotions. However, if a man let his emotions get out of control, the emotions would supplant reason, and in extreme cases even take on an identity of their own. Hence the deification of emotions like "panic," "terror," and "rage" in the Iliad. It is the Greek way of describing emotions that get out of control. That is not an answer to your question; rather, it is a very different way of asking the question. We ask "who controls the emotions," but the Greeks are asking "who SHOULD control the emotions?" The later Greeks will say that the virtuous man controls his own passions. But Homer seems more ambivalent in his answer.
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