and Greeks alike address Zeus as "Father Zeus, / Ruling over us all from Ida, god of greatness, glory!" (3. 375, 376). No matter what men try, they can never overpower the Father; "…the will of Zeus will always overpower the will of men" (16. 805). These illustrations, by word of gods or of men, show that the authority of Zeus as ruler over all mortals is complete. 

Moreover, Homer often depicts Zeus as granter of prayers, describing how "Zeus would not fulfill their prayers, not yet…" (1. 357) or urging, "all of you pray to Cronus’ son, almighty Zeus" (7. 222).  Achilles’ memorable prayer to Zeus, when he asks the god for triumph and safety on behalf his comrade Patroclus, shows Zeus in this capacity (Passage 1). Another example of this behavior occurs in the eighth book when weeping Agamemnon asks the god to allow the men to escape with their lives: "the god bent his head that the armies must be saved, / not die in blood" (8. 281-282). Therefore, Zeus’ effective responses to the prayers of men exemplify his power. 

In addition, Zeus strongly flexes his muscles as giver of victory throughout the Iliad, whether handing success to Hector as he crushes the Argives back against their ships or granting courage to Patroclus as he emerges as a great warrior. The warriors acknowledge Zeus’ 

 status here without question, as Nestor illustrates when he admonishes the warrior Diomedes (Passage 2).

Finally, the Iliad shows Zeus’ power over men as leveler of doom. "Father Zeus has lopped the crowns of a thousand cities, / true, and Zeus will lop still more — his power is too great" (1. 138-139). Throughout the poem, the reader sees repeatedly that Zeus ultimately decides the outcome of every battle. In a most vivid picture, Zeus holds up his great scales and doles out both doom and victory (Passage 3). In short, Zeus shows total power over men in the Iliad, as ruler, prayer-granter, and giver of victory and doom.

On another level, the Iliad also shows the might of Zeus over the other gods. Many times, Zeus and the other gods speak of the Father’s overwhelming power (Passage 4). Some gods can briefly divert Zeus from his goals, as when Hera, Aphrodite, and Sleep conspire to distract his watchful eye so that they may fight for the Greeks. Sleep cries, "Now give [the Argives] glory, if only a moment’s glory — / long as Zeus still slumbers. I’ve covered him over, / sent him into deep, soothing sleep as soon as Hera seduced great Zeus to lose himself in love" (14. 425-429). But Zeus quickly recovers, causing the moment of glory won by the other gods to be brief indeed. The effectiveness of Hera’s trickery is temporary, as predicted by Poseidon and serves to stress Zeus’ capability of fulfilling his plans (Passage 5). Therefore, the power of Zeus, shown by his authority over both men and gods, seems complete. As ruler, granter of prayers, giver of victory, leveler of doom, and king of the gods, Zeus seems omnipotent. 

How then does Moira influence human and divine affairs? Moira exerts her authority, just as Zeus does, over both men and gods. Over mortals, Moira hangs the weight of doom and death. Moira also seems to have the power of rendering gods helpless in saving their favorite heroes from death. 

of a valiant warrior going to meet his fate in death, as do the sons of Antenor. "So then and there under royal Agamemnon’s hands / the two sons of Antenor filled out their fates / and down they plunged to the strong House of Death" (11. 308-309). As a comfort to his weeping wife, even defi- ant Hector makes the following comments about Moira (Passage 6). Moira, then, controls the life and death of men. Unable to escape, men must bow to Death and Moira when the time comes to die.  By contrast, Moira’s power over death affects the gods in a different manner.  Since the gods themselves are immortal, Moira can only control the gods by defying their wills in relation to men, whose death Moira decides. Moira seems to rule