Christian Figures In Homer's The Illiad
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Imitation of any kind is understood to be the best form of flattery. As time goes by, it is hard for a text to contain its own originality. Many times throughout history, writers have borrowed a theme from a text and try to alter the initial author’s idea to create a unique concept. Specific characteristics of Christian figures can be found in certain individuals in Mythology. Hera is the symbols of fertility and marriage in Greek mythology. While some individuals may think the Queen of the gods is an original idea from the Greeks, her origins go back to Judaism. Some of the characteristics that Hera displays in Homer’s The Illiad are very similar to the characteristics of Eve, the Mother of humanity, in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Despite one being a goddess and the other being a mere mortal, Hera and Eve were both born from a male. In the case of the birth of Hera, however, it was not as straightforward as Eve’s birth.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, Hera was birthed from Rheia; but Rheia is forced to bare her children by Kronos. Even though Kronos forces Rheia into childbirth, he consumes his children in order to secure his place as ruler of the gods and mortals from his potential adversaries, “Great Kronos kept swallowing them as each arrived at his mother 's knees from her sacred womb” (l. 459-460). It is not until Zeus, Hera’s brother and future husband, tricks their father into spewing out his siblings and causes the rebirth of Hera. Just as a male immortal attempted