The Iliad The Gods Quotes

The Gods

Quote 7

(Poseidon:)
Father Zeus, is there any mortal left on the wide earth
who will still declare to the immortals his mind and his purpose?
Do you not see how now these flowing-haired Achaians
have built a wall landward of their ships, and driven about it
a ditch, and not given to the gods any grand sacrifice?
Now the fame of this will last as long as dawnlight is scattered,
and men will forget that wall which I and Phoibos Apollo
built with our hard work for the hero Laomedon's city. (7.446-453)

Bad things happen when humans try to build things without the gods' permission. Or is Poseidon more angry because he thinks the wall will have a kind of immortality? Talk about a fragile ego.

The Gods > The Gods

Quote 8

(Zeus:)
Hera, be not utterly angry with the gods, for there shall not
be the same pride of place given both. Yet Hektor also
was loved by the gods, best of all the mortals in Ilion.
I loved him too. He never failed of gifts to my liking.
Never yet has my altar gone without fair sacrifice,
the smoke and the savour of it, since that is our portion of honour. (24.65-70)

Unlike Teukros, Hektor always remembered his manners in dealing with gods. Even if they cannot save him from his fate, they still keep looking out for him.