The Odyssey and the Iliad In our day and age, people strive for independence and a sense of authority. However, at many times this is more easily said than done. Whether it be God, or in the eyes of the Achaeans and Trojans, the immortals, lives and actions are commonly defined by a higher being. Which leads to Homer’s epic poems the Odyssey and the Iliad which deal with constant conflict in a world where the mortals are not even masters of their own destiny. The main character Odysseus, and the two armies, the Achaeans and the Trojans have little control over their own fate. Their destinies are defined by the gods. The gods