Disempowering the gods

This chapter discusses the idea of the presence and the importance of the gods of the traditional pantheon in the Posthomerica. It analyses the techniques used by Quintus to deprive the divinities of their power on mortal affairs. The study is divided into two parts. On one hand it considers the different sequences of the poem, showing both that the divinities are somehow actively present in the descriptive parts of the poem as much as (or even more than) in the narrative ones, and that the descriptive and dialogical parts are a means to unearth and resonate with some Homeric passages or peculiar mythical variants. On the other hand, it analyses some passages of the Posthomerica in which Quintus makes clear his lack of belief in the Olympian gods and in their intervention.