The role of the gods is a dominant theme in Homer's "The Iliad." The gods take sides either for the Greeks or the Trojans, all, that is, except for Zeus, who seems to stay neutral and impartial, even when his know son, Sarpedon, is about to die. The gods in the story add a twist to the war; they intervene and change some of the events so that their favorite cause or warrior may win. No matter what the gods or humans do, they are still bound to fate, and it is Zeus who must be the peacekeeper and deliverer of this fate. The gods have the ability to control mortal lives and human actions. The gods are all-powerful, but Zeus is the supreme authority. This paper will focus upon Zeus, examining how his actions influenced in the war and the role he plays in the story as a whole. Zeus, as the overseeing authority, ensures that fate will be carried out, despite the trickery of the other gods and humans.
             Zeus is the ultimate power over the war, making sure that however the war is meant to play out actually transpires. Fate must play out perfectly, and Zeus has the final say in the war to guarantee that this is so. Hera and Athena have to ask Zeus if they can intervene in the war before they are even allowed to. The fact that other gods and goddesses must first appeal to Zeus if they wish to have a part in the war shows us that Zeus is the utmost authority, the all-powerful, the all mighty. Zeus is god of the sky and thunder. The gods and goddesses seem to respect Zeus, and certainly he shows no weakness, no wavering about whether to follow through on the dictates of fate, even when it came to the loss of his own mortal son. Zeus had to face the fact of fate and let his son stay in battle; he wasn't going to go against his own rules and take him out of battle, so his son died. Zeus had to accept that his son's fate was to die in battle. Zeus was able, however, to have Apollo take his son's body from the battlefield and t...