Abstract
Homer’s Iliad, a 24-book epic detailing the events of the Trojan War, is a critical work which raises questions and themes about the relationship of divine beings and mortals in literature. The intervention of gods and goddesses in this work presents them as major plot devices. Two types of interventions occur: non-disguise interventions and disguise interventions. Non-disguise interventions are when divine beings come down to a mortal as their recognizable selves. Disguise interventions are when divine beings appear to a mortal undercover in disguise. These disguise interventions fall into two categories: unrecognized disguises (when mortals do not know that a god or goddess is in disguise) and recognized disguises (when mortals have the revelation that a god or goddess is speaking to them in disguise). \r This thesis will analyze most non-disguise and disguise scenes in the Iliad. I reach the conclusion that deities have different reasons for intervention and disguise, in ways that both affect the plot of the epic and insinuate to a higher purpose of intervention in Greek religion.