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Fate Versus Free Will In Homer's Odyssey

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For centuries, people have debated whether one’s future is determined by fate or free will. When Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, this topic is prevalent as a theme. The ancient greeks, it seems, were of the opinion that free will is merely an illusion. In christianity, both modern and ancient, they believe that God knows what will happen but allows one to make their own choices.
In ancient Greek culture, it seems the gods control the fate of men. Homer clearly states in the Odyssey that Poseidon, god of the sea, was angry at Odysseus but “won’t quite kill Odysseus--/ drives him far off course from native land” (1.89-90). This shows us that the gods’ opinions and feelings can affect a man’s fate. Even though Poseidon’s actions seem unfair, …show more content…

They believe that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, which gives him a massive amount of power, unimaginable to mortals. He commands respect and worship like the Greek gods, although he is gracious and loving. In comparison, the Greek gods seem cold because the humans are merely there for their amusement. From the beginning of time, God says, “Let us create mankind in our image, in our likeness”, which means that we have the ability to choose (Genesis 1:26). Since he gave us the freewill to make our own decisions, we are able to choose to worship him or ignore him. He creates an opportunity for a loving relationship between humans and himself. Like the Greeks, we have consequences for our negative actions, but we are also rewarded for our positive actions. Very few times do the Greeks get rewarded by the gods for doing something good. Christians, as a religion, believe in free will; however, God knows what will happen but won’t interfere with our decisions.
In conclusion, the Greeks and Christians have different views on a lot of things; however, they seem to agree on the highly-debated topic of fate and free will. Both believe that it is more complicated than believing in one or the other and instead believe in a mixture. One difference is that the Greeks believe in a balance of fate and free will whereas Christians believe more in free will than fate. All things considered, humans

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