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Abstract:
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This report investigates the theme of supplication in both the Iliad and Odyssey especially in regards to the role of Zeus as protector of suppliants in each of the poems . Although Zeus is never given the epithet Hikesios in the Iliad as is the case in the Odyssey , he nevertheless acts as such in the Iliad’s final scenes of supplication . The scenes discussed in this paper include the supplication between Thetis and Zeus , Adrastos and Menelaus , Hektor and Achilles , Priam and Achilles , Odysseus and the Cyclops , and Odysseus and Arete . While Zeus appears indifferent to the battlefield suppliants in the Iliad such as Adrastos in the beginning of the Iliad , his own interest in justice as well as an increasing value of the suppliant draw Zeus into a more active role in supplications . This phenomenon is further supported by supplication scenes in the Odyssey that refer to events of the Iliad and in which Zeus is explicitly called “protector of suppliants .” |