Should the character and story you have chosen be regarded as myth or history, or could it be

both?

The Iliad and the character Apollo is a form of myth. The Iliad not only fulfill the criteria of being set

in the distant past1, containing characters and a plot, but also holds a tradition within itself,

describing behavioural patterns which were relevant not only within the story but also serving as

models for its contemporaneity2. Despite fantastical elements, however, The Iliad still maintains

elements which would have been familiar to audiences of its time, ensuring that such tales remained

attractive and identifiable3. The character of Apollo in turn is a part of a divine mythology: a

supernatural being depicted as far above that of mere mortals, and wielding fantastic powers4. Like

many other gods depicted throughout classical literature, Apollo can be seen to be the cause of much

human suffering through his interventions.

The divines, while all-powerful, often play a subordinate role to mortal characters, whom are often

central to the drama5. In The Iliad, Achilles has been likened to be Apollos mortal counterpart, to

the perfection of whose attributes [he] most closely appropriate[d], albeit in imperfect, human

fashion.6 Not only does the anger of Apollo foreshadow the wrath of Achilles7, Achilles himself cites

Apollos slaughter of Niobes children to Priam, perhaps putting himself in the position of Apollo and

Priam in Niobes position8. So while a supernatural being, Apollo has been depicted here much like

Achilles has been in The Iliad: as a contact with the past and [to] pass inherited wisdom9.

1
Barry P. Powell, Classical Myth (4th edn., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004), pg.
2.
2
Ibid. pg. 3.
3
Kurt Raaflaub, Historicity of Homer in Margalit Finkelberg (ed.), The Homer Encyclopedia v.2 (New York:
Wiley, 2011), pg. 360.
4
Barry P. Powell, Classical Myth (4th edn., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004), pg.
4.
5
Barry P. Powell, Classical Myth (4th edn., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004), pg.
7.
6
Robert J. Rabel, 'Apollo as a Model for Achilles in the Iliad', The American Journal of Philology, 111/4
(1990), pg. 430.
7
Ibid., pg. 439.
8
Ibid., pg. 437.
9
Barry P. Powell, Classical Myth (4th edn., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004), pg.
3.
It is this inherited wisdom that is often featured in tales involving the divines. Both the anger of

Apollo and the tale as told by Achilles serve to reinforce one theme: that the arbitrary suffering of

mortals can often come about as a result of their presumptuous challenge of the gods10. This way, we

can see that the gods often have no concept of justice attached to their character11 which further

distances the listeners from these legendary figures.

Homeric epics such as The Iliad would also exert their conceptions of the divines upon later works.

Again, the sufferings of humanity are often attributed to the interference of the divines- whether

through mortal means or through more direct intervention. In Sophocles work, Oedipus decries

Apollo as the source of his woe. Again, the purposes behind Apollos actions remain rather

mysterious12 but one thing remains clear: that the gods are responsible for the tragedy of human

existence13. A similar fate befalls Orestes, who at the behest of Apollo murders his mother in order to

avenge his father. However this only results in incurring the wrath of the Erinyes and other mortals.

From these examples, we can see that the divines as depicted in divine myths are responsible for

much human tragedy one way or another. One thing, however, remains true through all this- that the

gods inevitably triumph14 through their interventions.

10
Robert J. Rabel, 'Apollo as a Model for Achilles in the Iliad', The American Journal of Philology, 111/4
(1990), pg. 439.
11
Wolfgang Kullmann, Gods and Men in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology,
89 (1985), pg. 20.
12
Ibid., pg. 21.
13
Ibid.
14
Mary R. Lefkowitz, Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths (New Haven, Conneticut:
Yale University Press, 2003), pg. 141.
Bibliography

Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth (4th edn., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall,

2004).

Kurt Raaflaub, Historicity of Homer in Margalit Finkelberg (ed.) The Homer Encyclopedia v.2

(New York: Wiley, 2011), p.359 -60.

Mary R. Lefkowitz, Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths (New Haven,

Conneticut: Yale University Press, 2003).

Robert J. Rabel, 'Apollo as a Model for Achilles in the Iliad', The American Journal of Philology,

111/4 (1990), pg. 429-440.

Wolfgang Kullmann, 'Gods and Men in the Iliad and the Odyssey', Harvard Studies in Classical

Philology, 89 (1985), pg. 1-23.