Passages of formal deliberation involving divine intervention in the Iliad are examined in respect to the nature of the intervention and the degree to which it matches the pre-existent attitudes of the deliberating characters. It is argued that in the passages discussed the gods do not intervene in order to inspire mortals with characteristic thoughts. When the heroes decide in character, they do so by themselves. Deities are introduced in order to motivate a decision that goes against the grain or is otherwise unexpected, or to manipulate events in the interests of the wider plot.
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