A man tries to be the one who drives the course of his life, to fight against what gets in his way, and to create something beautiful with the pieces of his world. But being able to succeed in such tasks is never a simple thing in the classic Greek world of Homer's Iliad. Though there are exceptions, it is often the case that it is not a man's failure that pilots his downfall, or a great accomplishment that leads to his success. For in Homer's world there is a force that can manipulate every being's route of life. The Gods- twenty times more passionate, immature, tempered, and scheming than any normal human- who rule from the mountain tops and chose by their desires alone who shall die, who shall be rewarded, who shall suffer, and who shall win. The Iliad describes the troubles, tragedies, and treacheries of the Trojan war, which is blamed on a quarrel between the Gods that gave way to a struggle between the Achaeans and the Trojans. In Homer's Iliad, the Gods involvement is a major cause of the tragedies that take place in the epic of human passions and warfare.
             The opening example of Godly involvement in the Iliad occurs in the very first book. The actions of two separate Gods, Apollo and Athena, play a major role in the events that take place. The book starts off with an explanation of a terrible plight that is happening amid the Achaeans, who are in Troy battling the Trojans in a war that was spun by the mischief of the Gods. A terrible plague has broken out among them, and the cause of the pestilence is the God Apollo. Apollo is the key supporter of the Trojan army, but that is not why he has brought about the plague. The real reason is that a priest of Apollo has asked the God to put a plague on the Achaeans because Agamemnon, leader of the Achaean army, has taken his daughter for the trophy and he wants her back. A seer says to Agamemnon that the plague will not be lifted until they "give the glancing-eyed girl back to her fa...