QOTD

[selenite0]

A discussion of RPG design wandered onto how the gods would interfere in battles between the heroes in the Iliad. When I called it a tragedy celticdragonfly's response was:

"Large chunks of the Iliad aren't a tragedy, they're an idiocy."

Comments

[estokien.livejournal.com]

It is hard to call it a tragedy when there is so little free will involved. Having recently read through it, I also have to say that the fight between Achilles and Hector is one of the biggest letdowns ever. It is only drawn out by Hector running away around and around Troy for several verses. Well at least you can't say that Homer underestimates the value of morale in combat. I also have to wonder how much of the divine interference would be called other factors these days. Would a god being with a mortal just be him being in the zone that day? Was the favor of Zeus just another way of looking at the ebb and flow of battle?

I'm not sure what you can do with the gods and goddesses whisking their favorites off of the battlefield when they got in trouble, though.