The Pettiness of the gods.

       In this large scale war between to nations,you'd think most of the drama and struggle going on would be between these two nations of people,The Greeks and The Trojans. Yet...it isn't. This isn't my first time reading the Iliad,yet I am still amazed at the utter immaturity and pettiness of these "gods" that both The Greeks and The Trojans care about and honor so very much. You would think,that instead of fighting among each other,the gods would simply respect each other and get along. But this is not the case. The moment one god compromises or shows favor for a mortal or demigod,all of the gods act out or intervene in some way.
It seems that 'Kleos' does not simply a factor for warriors,the gods must have their take of it as well. At the beginning of The Iliad. The very beginning! We see how the gods get into an argument towards the end of the chapter. And if you think about it,a petty squabble to us means that someone's feelings might get hurt. A petty squabble among these gods practically means a lot of people might just end up dead. Hera and Zeus start to seriously argue and poor Hephaestus comes to the rescue! But how does he do it? Does he use his brute force to silence both his father and mother? Not likely. He pours wine for both of them and they laugh at him running around as a cripple,making a fool of himself. Great parents! Hera was so great in fact,that when Hephaestus was born,she threw him off the side of a mountain. Just because he was crippled. This was my biggest beef when I started reading this. These 'gods' make really awful parents. What parent would laugh at their crippled child struggling to move about quickly and pour glasses of wine for their friends/brothers/sisters? Apparently these gods do! Albeit these gods do many great things for mortals,however in the end I believe they all act on impulse and pretty much do whatever they want with limited checks in their actions. Hence my title,The Pettiness of the gods. They choose so save this man's life,and to kill another's all in a single instant. So much power...so much irresponsibility.

(p.s. I commented on Emily La Force's blog)