Summary:
Fate plays an extensive role in Homer's epic The Iliad. Homer shares the destiny of his characters not only with his audience, but also with the characters themselves through the prophecies made by the Greek gods. This act of balancing the knowledge of fate gives the characters their tragedy and their appeal as they push forward heroically to their predestined doom.
" Rage--Goddess, sing the range of Peleus' son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the house of death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feast for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end..." (Iliad, 77)
Fate plays an extensive role in the character's lives of Homer's epic, The Iliad. Homer not only shares the destiny of his characters with his audience, but He shares it with the characters themselves through the prophecies made by the Greek gods. There are many possible reasons why Homer reveals the final moments in the first pages of his book. Homer's original audience would have already been familiarized with the story and so to have the characters balanced with the audience, Homer reveals the characters fates' to them......
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