force of nature than an anthropomorphic deity . In essence, Achilles is not so much fighting a God, as he is fighting a force of nature. Another good example deals with the nature of Posiedon in the Odyssey. Posiedon play the role of the sea God as well as the sea itself . In book 5 of the Odyssey, Odysseus attempts to drown Odysseus churned the waves into chaos, whipping all the gales from every quarter ( Odyssey, book 5, lines 322-323). Posiedon displays both the natural and anthropomorphic facets of his nature. What does this have to do with the divine interactions with humans? Simply stated, the Gods are generally human in characteristics, therefore they have the same motives as mortals. Because the Gods have the same motivations as mortal men their actions can be predicted. Divine interactions and relationships with mortals can be compared to a mortal kingdom. The Gods are the ruling class, and the mortals occupy the lower classes. Kings and heroes occupy the middle class, they are greater than other mortals, but lesser than the gods. A majority of Greek heroes and kings trace their lineage back to one of the Gods, and use it to claim superiority over other mortals. Odysseus, Achilles, Heracles, Atreus, Agamemnon, and many other heroes claim divine parentage, but this will be discussed more later. . When talking about divine interactions, it is best to group them into them into two groups, physical and psychological. The first type that will be discussed is the physical interactions between Gods and mortals. Gods have the same desires and emotions as humans, and because of this the Gods constantly meddle in mortal affairs, yet the always seem to stay just on the outside of their plane of existence. The Gods are ever present, but are usually just outside of the mortal plain of existance. They are an unseen force that influences mortal affairs. The way the Gods physically interactwith mortals comes in many forms. In the realm of...
