Violence is a means to an end. Violence is not something most humans resort to for fun. Violence is, however, the right thing to do in certain situations. With violence comes great power. Power and violence walk together, hand in hand. When violence is exhibited, the individual's power is displayed to those around them. In both the Hebrew Bible and the Iliad, violence is described as a way to achieve goals. The reason for this is that violence allows an individual or deity to flaunt their powers, while simultaneously realizing their personal and communal ambitions. Just as mortals have their own goals, deities also have an agenda. God, in the Hebrew Bible, has only two goals: to make humans obey Him blindly and to punish them if they disobey Him. To carry out both of His plans, God uses violence. In Exodus 32, the Israelites who fled Egypt insulted God by "making a molten calf, bowing down before it, and sacrificing to it" (Exodus 32:8), as well as claiming that the calf was the one who brought them out of Egypt . Egypt (Exodus 32:4). By worshiping the calf idol, the Israelites had turned away from God. Because the Israelites had disobeyed God, He ended up pursuing His other goal, punishing the people who had disobeyed Him. Because of the foolish act of the Israelites, God chose to inflict pain on them: "then the Lord sent a plague upon the people, because of what they had done to the calf made by Aaron" (Exodus 32:35). Since God never appeared to humans as man, the only way for the Israelites to experience God's anger and disappointment, and ultimately the power He yields, is through His physical punishment: the plague. Also, conversely, the plague was the physical representation God needed to... middle of paper... all the Trojan men will fight for their beloved Troy, even preventing her from falling. The Trojans had no choice but to fight. They had to use violence to achieve the goal of the people. They must use all the power they have to defend their only home. If they don't, they will show a weakness that the Greeks will take for granted. Violence, once again, is a necessity to achieve a common goal of a city under attack. Violence, although sometimes morally wrong, is sometimes the best way to solve a problem, to achieve a goal. Since violence is a display of a man's powers, violence allows an individual to display his strength and skill. Therefore, both violence and power are attributed to an individual or society's ability to achieve what they wish to accomplish. Works Cited Homer's Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles The Tanakh