war field and protect their chosen warriors For example Apollo saves Hector from danger Athena helps Greek warriors like Diomedes Without this divine help the war would move differently Their support makes the story larger than a human struggle Gods Show Human Emotions Homer shows the gods with strong human feelings They are jealous angry proud and loving Hera becomes angry with Zeus and argues with him like a wife Aphrodite saves Paris because of love Ares enters the battle in anger but is wounded This behavior is very human Though they are divine their actions reflect mortal life This makes them close to people and believable Phoenix an Achaean commander says to Achilles that the Gods have emotions Even the gods themselves can bend and change Thus the immortals in the poem behave like men and women Gods' Quarrel and Fight The gods not only guide humans but also fight among themselves In one battle Athena helps Diomedes to wound Ares The gods even insult each other They take revenge and show rivalry Their quarrels are similar to those of men Zeus though king of gods cannot stop all disputes Shall then the Grecians fly O dire disgrace No let my Greeks unmoved by vain alarms This divine quarrel adds drama to the story It proves that the immortals are not calm rulers They share the same weakness and anger as mortals do Gods and Fate Homer presents gods as powerful but not all-powerful Zeus is the king of gods yet he also follows Fate Even he cannot fully change destiny For example Zeus cannot save his son Sarpedon from death Gods try to delay or hasten events but fate rules at last This shows a realistic belief of the Greeks And fate No one alive has ever escaped it neither brave man nor coward I tell you it s born with us the day that we are born This makes the gods look limited and human-like Their emotions before fate make them closer to mortals Gods in Human Life The immortals also act in human daily life They accept prayers and sacrifices When Chryses prays Apollo sends a plague to punish the Greeks When Agamemnon insults the priest Apollo reacts People depend on the gods for help in battle and peace The gods reward respect and punish insult This shows their close link with human society The divine and mortal worlds are not separate Homer makes gods part of common life acting much like mortals In The Iliad the action is strongly shaped by the immortals They guide warriors fight in battles and quarrel like men and women They feel love jealousy pride and anger At the same time they cannot escape fate Homer shows that gods are powerful but not perfect Their behavior reflects mortal life nbsp