or compete for Zeuss attention. Athena punishes Arachne for having more skill than herself.. The lesson is that those who try to be to great will be punished, which is the same as it would be in a kingdom. A subject who would try to be better than his sovereign is often killed. The second type of divine interaction is psychological. In this class the gods are treated as forces within the human mind. The god can make the mortal have a sudden insight, a lust for battle, unusual wisdom, uncontrollable love, and great anger. In all of these the mortal is subject to mental control by one of the Gods. In the Iliad, this is constantly being used as an excuse. When Paris taunts and challenges Meneleaus in the Iliad, the reason for his actions are explained with So Athena fired the fools heart inside him ( Iliad, book 4, ln 120). The Goddess put the fight into Paris in order to further her cause. Helen also suffers from mental control. Her reason for leaving with Paris is not because she loved him, but that Aphrodite made her do it. In fact, Helen refuses to go to Paris, yet Aphrodite makes her do it ( Iliad, book 3 ) Maddening one, my Goddess, oh what now? Lusting to lure me to my ruin yet again? (Iliad, book 3, ln 460-461). This shows that the Gods can do what they want with the mortal mind, and that mortals are powerless to stop it.Psychological intervention also takes the form as irrational behavior. When Agamemnon fights with Achilles, he later claims that Zeus made him do it. When he tries to get Achilles back he claims I was mad, I will not deny it..I was mad and persuaded my wretched thoughts ( Iliad, book 9, ln 116-119) . Later, Agamemnon elaborates and says I was mad, and Zeus took away my senses ( Iliad, book 19, line 137) . The Gods are used as an excuse for a sudden change in behavior, or something so irrational that it is unthinkable. The Gods also interfere in the form of Battle lust. Ares, the God of war, is better described...
