Lane Cervantes Response 7 1 Seeing as the intercourse in this context does not appear out of affection but rather out of cunning and deceit it is likely that this may in part represent the rivalry that is going on below them on the battlefield Because the husband and wife each favor opposite sides of the battle there is a clear sense of conflict between the two of them In this way it is to a certain extent more characteristic of their relationship as brother and sister than it is of their relationship as husband and wife 2 Homer describes a situation in which the brothers born of Rhea and Kronos were each given their own domain Poseidon was given the sea Zeus the sky and Hades the underworld Hesiod describes the birth of these siblings as well as mentioning their sisters births But in contrast Hesiod describes no such lottery He simply explains what each god s domain was as if it were innate rather than assigned to them 3 Zeus says there is not a thing more dismal than man because he pities them not only because they are not immortal but also because of their suffering on the battlefield 4 Zeus could have saved Sarpedon yet Hera discouraged him from doing so Hera claimed that if he did such a thing the other gods would surely not approve because they too have children in battle Zeus though saddened by it complied with Hera s demand 5 The way in which Patroclus dies seems very unfair given that it was due to the intervention of a divine deity
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