The origin of this position may, as I conceive, be found in the traditions which they inherit, and according to which they would naturally be exhibited as the administrators of the government of the world, on behalf, if I may so speak, of the Godhead.
But there were, among the inborn tendencies of polytheism, two at least which powerfully tended to give to these divinities a position not only associated with that of Jupiter, but on the one hand more palpable and practical, and on the other of higher moral elevation. These were the tendencies which, among the incidents of his supremacy, on the one hand, blessed him with personal repose, and, on the other, endowed him with unbounded appetite. The first, by making Apollo and Minerva, as his organs, the practical governors of the world, tended to increase their importance at the expense of his, and the second gave them a moral title as it were to gain ground upon him. In the time of Homer this process was considerably advanced; so that while they seem to share with Jupiter the office of general direction, which they hold subject to his control, it falls to one of them, to Minerva especially, to conduct the highest of all the divine processes in the administration of moral discipline, and in the exercise of influence over the human soul.
In the war before Troy, what is done by Juno or by Neptune is commonly done in the way of unauthorized, or even of forbidden, interference. In this, Minerva shares: for she has a less perfect conformity of will with that of Jupiter than Apollo, though she has a more profound moral resemblance of character to the ideal, from which the Homeric Jupiter was a depravation. Of the action before Troy, however, as a whole, thus much remains true: that, when the will of Jupiter is to be wrought out in favour of the Greeks, it is done entirely by Minerva, and when in favour of the Trojans it is done entirely by Apollo. Each therefore appears as the proper minister of Jupiter, when willing, for conducting the government of mankind. One of them is always willing: and though the other is not equally acquiescent, still it is the view of the case taken by her, in common with other gods more weighty than numerous, to which Jupiter ultimately gives way. Thus we may discern, graven as it were upon the relation between themselves and Jupiter, the mark which shows that it was originally derived from the office of Him, ‘by whom God made the worlds[205].’ Scarcely ever do we find Homer deviate from the general rule which exhibits them as the ordinary Providence of the world for governing the detail of life. There is, I think, but one part of the Iliad which exhibits to us any considerable assumption of this function by Jupiter himself. It is during the latter part of the day which was to be closed by a sunset fatal to Hector, that, besides sending forth Apollo with the blinding Ægis, he himself descends to such acts of minute interference as breaking the bowstring of Teucer[206].
It is frequently ascribed to them.
Regarded from without, these two deities appear to us as frequently receiving from men the ascriptions of Divine Providence.
The idea of Divine Providence is frequently expressed by Homer under the names θεὸς, θεοὶ, ἀθάνατοι, δαίμων. It is also often conveyed by the name Jupiter alone, or by such an expression as ‘Jupiter and the other immortal gods,’ in which he appears at their head. In one place of the Odyssey, though only one, the day being the festival of Apollo, this very extraordinary distinction is assigned to him: and the τις of the Suitors thus places him at the head of the Olympian company[207];
εἴ κεν Ἀπόλλων
ἡμῖν ἱλήκῃσι καὶ ἀθάνατοι θεοὶ ἄλλοι.
Sometimes mortal men look to one of these deities for success in their enterprises, even without naming Jupiter: sometimes that name is conjoined with one of theirs. Apollo himself, appearing to Hector in the form of Asius his uncle, exhorts that chieftain to attack Patroclus, ‘in the hope that Apollo may give him success[208].’ Presently, Patroclus, dying, attributes Hector’s victory to Jupiter and Apollo, his own death to Apollo and Μοῖρα[209]; Apollo, says Xanthus the immortal horse, slew Patroclus, and gave glory to Hector[210]. This cannot well apply to the direct agency of the god in the matter, as he only disarmed the Greek hero. Again, when Patroclus is slain, Minerva takes no part in the proceedings. When Hector is about to be vanquished Apollo retires, and Minerva straightway appears upon the field[211]. In the Doloneia, Ulysses and Diomed succeed, because Jupiter and Minerva befriend them[212]. Minerva rejoices, when she finds her name invoked first of all the gods[213]: and she instructs Laertes to call upon Jupiter with herself, assuming for her own name the first place;
εὐξάμενος κούρῃ Γλαυκώπιδι καὶ Διὶ πατρί[214].