In the Homeric works humans indirectly control their destiny by their actions and decisions. Homer allows his heroic mortals to stand close to the gods. Characters communicate with their gods through prayers, in an act which merges the divine world of the epic creation with that of mankind. Gods usually hear, often react and sometimes grant human prayers in epic poetry. “But Zeus does not bring to accomplishment all thoughts in men’s minds”, as Achilleus stresses in admitting humanity’s restrained power.
Homeric prayers, signaling moments at which the fictional characters face extreme threats, can and do determine the events of the plot. The prayers of the heroes seek specific tangible benefits from the gods expressing their belief that the gods superintend mortals, sympathize with them, become involved in human affairs, answer their prayers or deny their wishes. In literature an included prayer externalizes sentiments of panic or highlights pivotal moments in the narrative. Prayer becomes more than a mere verbal expression of one’s wish; it is a means to channel feelings, thoughts, energy, spiritual tension, a ritual which if performed as an act of honor or duty is powerful enough to change the course of the world of the epic creation with only constraint the mortal characters' inevitable fatal end. Phoinix, a fictional character in the Iliad, commenting upon the power of prayer reinforces that: “the very immortals can be moved; their virtue and honor and strength are greater than ours are, / and yet with sacrifices and offerings for endearment, / with libations and with savor men turn back even the immortals / in supplication, when any man does wrong and transgresses”
Formal Greek prayer in the epic poems attributed to Homer is ritualized and consists of four basic stages: cleansing, prayer, sacrifice and libation. Acts and gestures form part of the homeric prayer as much as words do. The characters wash their hands, purifying themselves in the context of catharsis. They attain an appropriate posture, lift their arms. They address their gods directly, praise the divine admitting the omnipotence of the Olympians and thus the cosmic hierarchy. They remind the gods of the already established relationship between the supplicant and the divine in an effort to deem themselves worthy of their god’s attention. The characters are now ready to verbally announce their noble wish to be granted and proceed to offer mostly in form of a sacrifice an act of submission.
Examples in the Iliad
In his prayer to Apollo, Chryses, a priest of the god in a Trojan-allied town in the Iliad, washes his hands and lifts his hands prior to requesting fulfillment of his wish. He admits his lower status in relation to the all mighty god, “who set your power about Chryse and Killa the sacrosanct, who are lord in strength over Tenedos” ; the gods’ ruling over humanity is accepted. Similar is Achilleus' prayer to Zeus. The great hero holds a ritual, purifies himself, pours wine to his god, addresses Zeus in words of commendation and admits the nobler nature of the divinity through contrasting the father of gods with the unpurified humans of “unwashed feet”. Glaukos, co-leader of the Lycian forces, prays on the battlefield requesting healing of his wounds to “fight for Sarpedon”. The practical part of the rite is not performed. In the Trojan women's prayer to Athena in the sixth book of the Iliad, Hekabe seems to mechanically carry out the ritual without realizing the significance of its constituent stages, which diminishes the spirituality of her actions. She is about to offer “honey sweet wine, to pour out a libation to father Zeus and the other immortals ” to Hektor who has not previously been cleansed to participate in the ritual. Offering is encountered in the form of a material gift, a robe, to Athene. The priestess lifts the hands to the sky, home of gods, and exalts Athena as “shining among the goddesses”.
