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Iva Arnaut
Professor Borislav Beri
EL 004
29 April 2014
Drawback of gods

The Iliad is, right next to The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the
most famous and important epics, and it has a large influence on modern literature. Seduction
is a motif present in all three of them and is very important because it has a significant effect
on further progress of actions. It is possible to analyse different aspects of seduction:
participants, motives, location, duration, a means of seducing, the relationship between the
seducer and the seduced and aftermath.
Unlike the seduction of humans who are made by gods in The Book of Genesis and
The Epic of Gilgamesh, in The Iliad, the goddess Hera seduces the god Zeus, her husband and
brother. In The Book of Genesis, the serpent seduces Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit
against their gods will while in The Epic of Gilgamesh Shamhat, the prostitute, seduces
Enkidu, who is raised by animals.
The motive behind the serpents seduction is the sin. The goal is to make Adam and
Eve disobey their gods commandments. Shamhat seduces Enkidu to initiate him into
civilization, to make him leave the forest and confront Gilgamesh, as he is his equal. Hera has
one motive, and that is to destroy the Troy. She seduces Zeus to distract him from helping the
Trojans and to give the Achaeans advantage in the battle.
While the seduction in Genesis takes place in the Garden of Eden and the seduction in
Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia, the seduction in Iliad occurs on Mount Ida. Zeus and Hera are
surrounded with a golden cloud so no one can see them. Shaded with clouds, and
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circumfused in gold (The Iliad of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, Book XIV, [262])
This is supernatural and unearthly.
Another thing that is supernatural is Heras seducing instrument. She succeeds in
tricking both Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Hypnos, the god of sleep. Aphrodite gives
her a breast band which attracts him sexually and after they sleep together, Zeus falls asleep
because Hypnos uses his powers on him, which enables the Achaeans to be in a favoured
position in the battle. Gazing he spoke, and, kindling at the view, his eager arms around the
goddess threw. Glad Earth perceives, and from her bosom pours unbidden herbs and
voluntary flowers (The Iliad of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, Book XIV, [262]) .
Shamhat also uses her sexuality to seduce Enkidu, she attracts him with her naked body and
her attributes. Contrary to that, Adam and Eve are promised knowledge and wisdom.
Adam and Eve, as well as Zeus, are seduced in a short period of time as opposed to
Enkidu, whose seduction lasts for six days and seven nights. Hera is persuasive only with the
help of her magic band and that is why it takes her so little time to entice Zeus.
Hera gets what she wants even though Zeus is stronger than her. He is called lord of
Hera, which puts her in an inferior position, but her actions prove that she, in fact, is not.
Unlike Hera and other goddesses in Iliad and goddesses in Gilgamesh, in Genesis females are
inferior. There is only one god and he is male. He first creates a man and then a woman, out
of a man. Woman is also the one who is deceived first. Overall, men are superior through the
whole Book of Genesis.
The serpent is unfamiliar to Adam and Eve so it is strange that they are tricked so
easily. Shamhat is one of the first humans Enkidu sees and therefore it is expected that he is
seduced without difficulties. It is in his human nature to be interested in other humans and
attracted to them, even though he is surrounded by animals for the most of his life. Hera and
Zeus are spouses and siblings. That means they are connected in more than one way which
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makes it easy for Hera to seduce him on one hand, but difficult on the other because Zeus
knows her which makes her actions predictable. She seeks help from more than one deities in
order to surely succeed.
In all three of the epics, seduction shows weaknesses in humans, as well as in gods. As
is commonly believed, gods are strong entities without any flaw, but The Iliad portrays gods
with human characteristics. They are powerful and omnipotent, but they are nave, inattentive
and heedless as well.