Some Thoughts on Homeric Fate

              The Greeks are deeply bound by a sense of false fate. Each god/goddess is bound by their own base nature and from the nature of Zeus comes the enforcement of fate. This same concept is also demonstrated by Achilles in his attempts to make his name remembered throughout history as the last great demigod.

              In Homeric poetry the Fates are the three daughters of Zeus and the titaness Themis.  The three daughters were Clotho who spun the thread of life, Lachesis who determines the length of life a mortal will have and, Atropos who cuts the thread at the moment of death. They govern life of a mortal in reference to the quantity they will have however Zeus governs the quality of life they will have as explained by Achilles in book 24 starting with line 566, “Two jars sit at the doorstep of Zeus, filled with gifts that he gives, one full of good things, the other of evil.” It is a combination of these entities that determines a man’s fate.

              Just as the Greeks are bound by fate so are the gods who choose to support or tear them down such as Zeus. Called by many names, this god of law mated with a titan to produce the fates which removed him from having to micromanage the mortal race as he had to do with the gods and goddess. By effectively outsourcing this chore Zeus bound himself to fate along with all of mankind. Since the creation of the fates Zeus was caught in a viscous cycle of authority that he chose to adopt. By allowing the fates to exist when they were brought into creation he became bound by his nature of law to uphold the chosen destiny of the mortals. However it is also within the nature of Zeus to show remorse and favor those for whom he has grown attached or those who could interfere with his power to uphold law on Olympus such as Achilles.

              Achilles is the son of Thetis, a titaness, who had one point had rescued Zeus when the other Olympians had risen up against him. This is vital to the story and the flexibility of fate. While Achilles was given a choice to have a long spun thread of life with no fame or a short life rife with misery, his mother could not bear his suffering and petitioned Zeus for intervention. Zeus could not reasonably deny Thetis her request however to grant it would further involve the Olypians into the world of man from which they had been slowly withdrawing over the years. Achilles was the last demigod and doomed to die in the battle at Troy.