An interesting thing just happened to me... I have been planning, since class let out on Tuesday at approximately 12:23 PM on August 30, to write my blog on the meaninglessness of Achilles' choice, and the meaning of fate. I planned on using the text, (book 9, line 320 in particular), and the book of Ecclesiastes. I logged onto UM Epic and prepared to write my blog. Much to my dismay I realized that this topic has already been written about. Not that I couldn't have still written about it, but, in order to prevent redundancy, I decided to write about something else that has been bothering me about this book. (May I take this time to point out that if something in a book BOTHERS you, it is probably a really good book).
Hera. The goddess. The wife of Zeus. She infuriates me. Throughout the book I have been impressed again and again with her selfishness (but then again, in this book, join the club). But I only thought I disliked her, until I read Book Fourteen.
In Book Fourteen, from lines 153-240 we see Hera use three forms of deception/trickery in order to get her own way. 1. She seduces her husband. What could be seen under different circumstances as an expression of love between husband and wife is corrupted by the underlying motive of using her beauty to get something in return. 2. She lies. Repeatedly. Both to Aphrodite and Zeus. 3. She bribes Sleep into coaxing Zeus into a peaceful slumber in return for Pasithea, the lady that Sleep has longed for "all his days."
Two things about Hera's actions immediately come to my attention: 1. Most of her trickery is done in direct contradiction to her husband, Zeus. Let's just say that in the "wives submit to your husbands" department, she fails. Epically :-) 2. She is supposed to be an example. She is a goddess, one that is worshipped and looked up to. It is no wonder the characters of The Iliad are full of greed and deceit. The very ones that they worship are just as, if not more, corrupt.
These musings are, granted, somewhat discombobulated and random but, bottom line: I am thankful to belong to and worship a holy and pure God. The God who does not need to lie, trick, or deceive. The God who IS Truth and True Love.
p.s. I commented on kelsey.cassandra.moore's post.
1) Amen to that last paragraph!
ReplyDelete2) I'm glad that you noticed that, that Zeus is not the only god who you can argue is a villain, but his wife as well (no wonder they got married). That's odd that you would mention the whole "wife submission" thing, because Hera was the goddess responsible for protecting the sanctity of marriage. With all Zeus' sexual conquests that he is famous for, that makes her out to be really ineffecient at her job. That may somewhat explain why she openly defies her husband, but it still doesn't excuse her constant trickery and her misuse of beauty and sexuality. I concur: Hera is a...well, you know!