Mortal exchange In many cultures, Gods act extremely different from humans. They are usually more all-knowing and responsible, not making mistakes they always do the right thing. However, in the Iliad it seems like the Gods act more like humans. Through the Iliad we read narrations from two points of view, the humans and the gods. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whose point of view your reading from because they often seem to switch roles.
This leading into the definitions of piety. The first definition that Euthyphro suggests to Socrates is that piety is persecuting religious offenders. However, Socrates is not satisfied with this response because there are many pious actions that do not involve persecution. (page 5 e) The second definition that Euthyphro suggests is that piety is what is dear to the gods, and that what some gods may agree on, others may not agree on. Thus saying that what is pious may be not pious concluding in a contradiction.
Just because humanity isn't perfect does not mean it cannot reach excellent every now and then. There are significant contrasting plus sides to both. To be an idealist is to reach for the stars. However, idealists often become lost in their dreams, and forget the real world around them; and as a result can acquire an out-of-touch aura about them. Realists on the other hand are more grounded in reality (hence the name), and as a result are often better prepared to deal with it.
Despite being Gods, they possess negative human traits. Anthropomorphism of Zeus and his offspring is limited as they still retain differences to humans like the ability to change into any desired form as well as their status of immortality. 3.
As progressive as these people were sadly, they were held back by their own beliefs. The fear of a raging hurricane controlled by Poseidon or one of Zeus’s deadly lightning bolts left people scared that these awful things could happen to them which made following the lessons of the stories a lot easier than thinking for themselves. When the consequences were so deadly why wouldn’t you follow the rules? The gods were a great way to describe what was going on around them. It was an easier explanation then a scientific equation.
But the Greek gods were to be respected and feared. They didn’t care about the people they were there to boss you around. The biggest difference I can think of is that the Pagan gods aren’t immortal unlike the Christian God. If the Pagan
This is because Pi not intentionally has the values of an agnostic when he is confronted with his dramatic experience of the ship sinking. He questions “Why can’t reason give greater answers? Why can we throw a question further than we can pull an answer?” (Martel, 108) which are exactly the same questions he looks down upon agnostics for
Divination was a very important part of the Greek religious life. Oracles played a very important role in the Greek religion and beliefs. The Greeks considered death as a necessary; therefore immortality was not a desirable. The Greeks believed that you could communicate with the gods at certain places, at certain times, through certain people, and that the gods would give you advice and maybe tell you what was going to happen in the future. In ancient Greece the oracle was a place where prophesies of the future were passed down to mortals; they acted as mediators between man and God.
The movie tries to touch on their existence without actually showing them manipulating the humans. This doesn't work well in the movie, since it brings in the gods on the one hand yet fails to show how they affect the outcome of the war. In the epic, the Trojans rely on certain gods to protect them, but because of relationships not fully understood by them, the gods let them down. Events happen to the Trojans partly as punishment (the violation of the guest-host relationship, Cassandra and Apollo, etc.). The movie portrays none of this, except for a moment or two where characters display fear of gods' retribution; when we see no clear evidence of this happening, it reinforces a sense that the gods have no real role to play.
Which is more desirable, a wonderful illusion or a harsh reality? Not that everyone’s reality is harsh, but is it really real? As Plato pointed out in his allegory of the cave, many people who are part of an illusion take that illusion as their reality and will not easily believe that it is in fact an illusion. This is something that is also true in the movie The Matrix, in which only a few people believe the life they are living has an odd tinge to it, something that just doesn’t feel right. These are just two examples of illusion versus reality, which is a fundamental philosophical topic that dates back to the Pre-Socratics.