Achilles comes to Troy knowing that he will die there if he persists in fighting.  His mother Thetis has told him this (Passage 7). Thetis wishes for Achilles to leave Troy and escape the Moira that necessarily awaits him there, but she is powerless to stop her son and must let him fulfill his fate. Moira, though, is not solely responsible for the death of Achilles.  With Zeus allowing, Achilles chooses this path himself as soon as he sets out to avenge Patroclus’ death. 

Moira also claims the life of Sarpedon, Zeus’ dear son. On the surface, Moira appears to show her power to be superior of that of Zeus (Passage 8); however, although he sheds tears over the decision, it is Zeus who ultimately allows Sarpedon’s death. Even at the moment of the death of Zeus’ son, the power of Moira thus seems subordinate to the power of the Father of the gods. 

In addition, Zeus loves the warrior Hector, a man fated to die at the hands of the Achaeans. Zeus protects Hector as long as he can, even granting Hector great victories over the Greeks for a period of time. For example, note in the eleventh book the following example of Zeus’ love for Hector. "But Zeus drew Hector out of range of the weapons, / out of the dust storm, out of the mounting kills, / the blood and rout of war as Atrides followed hard, / shouting his Argives on, furious, never stopping" (11. 189-92). Zeus himself curses the fate of Hector, saying, "Unbearable — a man I love, hunted round his own city walls / and right before my eyes. My heart grieves for Hector. / Hector who burned so many oxen in my honor, rich cuts" (22. 201-203). Hector must die, seemingly at the hand of a powerful Moira. But here again, Zeus holds the true power. When Athena reprimands Zeus for threatening to save Hector from his fate, "his doom sealed long ago," Zeus tells her that he chooses not to save Hector but to leave him to face his doom. Therefore, we may conclude that because Zeus freely chooses to not 

save men dear to him, Moira does not constrain him.  

These three examples of the power of Moira, namely the deaths of Achilles, Sarpedon, and Hector, far from supporting the argument for the omnipotence of Moira, actually magnify the power of Zeus. Zeus, the weigher of fates, always has the final say and ultimate authority.  After consideration of Zeus’ strength, demonstrated by the manner in which his words and actions control both men and gods and after reflection upon the manner in which the powers of Moira show themselves subservient to the influence of the Father of the gods, we may conclude that Zeus is superior to Moira. 

Hera confirms this in the eighth book: "Let Zeus decide / the fates of the men of Troy and the men of Argos both, / to his deathless heart’s content — that is only right" (8. 494-96). 

¹Lloyd-Jones pg. 22-23
² Adkins pg. 13
³ OCD pg. 589
⁴ Adkins pg. 18
⁵ Otto pg. 264
⁶ Whitman pg. 228
⁷ All translations are those of R. Fagles’ Iliad (1990).

Adkins, A. Merit and Responsibility     
    (Oxford, 1960).
Lloyd-Jones, H. The Justice of Zeus 
    (California, 1971).
Morrison, J.V. "Kerostasia, The Dictates 
    of Fate, and the Will of Zeus in the 
    Iliad." Arethusa 30: 273-96.
Otto, W. The Homeric Gods (Moses 
    Hadas, tr.). (London, 1954).
Whitman, C. Homer and the Heroic 
    Tradition (Harvard, 1958).

The Brent Malcolm Froberg Scholarship to
the American School of Classical Studies at Athens:

Jeffrey Hunt
Gamma Omega at Baylor University

The Scholarship to the American Academy in Rome

Andrew C. Siebengartner
Iota at the University of Vermont

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the Vergilian Society at Cumae

Claudia Hough
Gamma Gamma at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The Scholarship Committee
Francis M. Dunn, University of California, Santa Barbara
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