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Divine Anger and Morality

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Divine Anger and Morality CHAPTER SIX DIVINE ANGER AND MORALITY We saw a possible example of Zeus' moral indignation at human in­ justice in the last chapter. Although it is located in a simile where the poet tends to describe social conditions different from those in main parts of his epics, it still obliges us to examine in full what causes divine indignation in Homer, before we can say whether the gods have any sense of moral indignation or no such sense at all. 1 Divine nµTj There is no doubt that the gods are angered when their nµft is damaged or challenged, especially by mortals. Most notably they get angry at, and take action against, men who forget to make them due offerings (fl. 9. 533ff. Artemis at Oeneus, Od. 4. 351ff. the gods at Menelaus). This is so well known that it is the first cause to be suspected whenever men sense divine anger at work (fl. 1. 65, 5. 1 77-8). The gods also take revenge when their property is damaged (Od. 12. 348,376 Helios at the companions of Odysseus), when their sanctuary is defiled (Od. 3. 135ff., 4. 502, Athena at Locrian Ajax), when their priests are insulted (fl. 1. 9ff. Apollo at Agamemnon), when mortals compare themselves with the gods in some skill or in well-being (fl. 2. 595-600 the Muses at Thamyris, 24. 605ff. Apollo and Artemis at Niobe, Od. 8. 224-8 Apollo at Eurytus), and when they are threatened with direct violence (fl. 2. 781-2 Zeus at Typhoeus, 6. 130-40 the gods at Lycurgus, 21. 456-7 Poseidon and Apollo at Laomedon, cf. Apollo's warnings to Diomedes at fl. 5. 440-2 and to Patroclus at fl. 16. 707-11, anger of Poseidon at Troy at fl. 24. 25-7). They can be angered also by disobedience of men or lesser gods (fl. 3. 413 Aphrodite angry at Helen; cf. potential 1 In the following, the terms K6toc;, vtµemc;, 6mc;, µfjVlc;, x6)..oc; and their derivatives are discussed as one category. For finer definitions of various words denoting 'anger', see P. Considine, 'The Etymology ofMHNII:' in Studies in Honour ofT. B. L. WebsterVol. 1 (eds.J. H. Betts,]. T. HookerandJ. R. Green, Bristol 1986), pp. 53-64. 94 CHAPTER SIX cases: fl. 15. 121-2 Zeus at Ares and other gods; Od. 5. 146-7 Zeus at Calypso; Od. 13. 148 Zeus at Poseidon). Their sense of honour is very human in logic and excessively di­ vine in the scale of retaliation. Hera and Athena are angry at Paris for his judgement at their beauty contest, and as retaliation, they are determined to destroy the whole city of Troy (fl. 4. 24ff.; cf. fl. 24. 25-7). Poseidon is angry at the Phaeacians (Od. 13. 173) only be­ cause they have helped a man whom the god happens to hate. Their punishment is the termination of their seafaring tradition. 2 What they have done is completely in accordance with human moral codes and with what men believe to be a god-given 8eµtc;, i.e. ~s1vi11. Yet the patron of ~s1vi11, Zeus himself, authorises Poseidon to punish them saying (Od. 13. 143-4): av6p<i>V 6' Ei 7t£p Tii; OE J3{1J Kai KO.p'TE'i EiK©V oO n Tif:1, aoi 6' &aTi Kai e~oniaro Timi; aiEi. As far as we know, the Phaeacians are peaceful, non-violent people (cf. Od. 8. 246-9). Therefore, the l3i11 and Kpa't6c; mentioned here must be their 'competence' especially their sea-faring skills, not physical violence against Poseidon. But that is enough to hurt the god's sensitive pride. Alcinous realises this when the god's punish­ ment has just begun (13. 172-4; cf. 8. 565-6): (h n6no1, ,1j µala 611 µe nalaiq>am 0taq>a0' iKave1 1taTpoi; eµou, Bi; (j)<l<JKE Iloae16arov' ayaaea0ai nµiv, oOveKa noµnoi an11µovti; Eiµev lmavTrov. 3 Such unreasonable jealousy of the gods is felt also by Penelope. She says that the gods' jealousy prevented Odysseus and her from enjoy­ ing the flower of their life together (Od. 23. 210-2). The gods some­ how resent continuous human happiness and successes. The gods are indeedjealous beings. They often become jealous at 2 For various interpretations of their actual punishment, see S. E. Bassett, 'The fate of the Phaeacians', GP 28 (1933), 305-7; ed. W. B. Stanford, The Odyssey of Homer2- (Hampshire and London 1965), on 13. 156-8. 3 There is some clumsiness of the plot in this episode. The gods are talking about 'not honouring Poseidon' as their reason for punishing the Phaeacians, while the prophecy talks about Poseidon's 'jealousy' of the unfailing escorts of travellers by the Phaeacians. This clumsiness may be explained, asJ. Irmscher, Gotterzorn bei Homer, p. 60, says, as due to the poet's attempt to combine two independent stories, 'die Lokalsage vom versteinerten Schiffe (163) mit dem Poseidonzorn gegen Odysseus in Verbindung zu bringen.' .
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