Ars Politica - Ep23: The Iliad, 10-15 - a podcast by Stephen Wolfe

Books 10-15 - The Deception of Zeus
10 The Night RaidGrand war turns into personal vendettas and quests for glory.
When frontal attacks are stopped, guerrilla warfare ensuesPrisoner of war strategies: Dolon tells all too quickly and becomes useless
The legitimacy of fighting the unarmed11-13 Hector pushes the Greeks to their ships
Hector’s aristeiaAjax and Hector exchange words
14 Hera tricks Zeus (male/female stereotypes)Agamemnon feels like a failure, wants to flee by night and sail home. Odysseus calls him out. Ag is a humbled man at this point.
Hera and Poseidon want to throw the battle in favor of the Greeks. Zeus favors Hector and is also carrying out his promise to Thetis by throwing the battle in favor of the Trojans. Hera, a typical woman, only has one real power: beauty. Zeus, a typical man, only has one real weakness: women. 
Are the gods just anthropomorphisms? Humans deified? Emotions abstracted. 
Since gods can’t die, they don’t have risks, hence they can’t gain glory. Achilles talks about this in the movie Troy, 2000.15 The Greeks at Bay (Zeus and Poseidon struggle)
Zeus threatens Hera, and Hera promptly obeys her lord. 
Zeus and Poseidon disagree about who is in power. 
Trojans reach ships once again. Zeus wont’ turn them back until he “sees the glow of the burning ships.”The fleeting glory of life. 

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