Homer's "The Iliad" - Role of Supernatural elements or the Gods and Godesses or the deities

In The Iliad, the Olympian gods and goddesses fight and play great roles in human warfare. Homer's portrayals of them suited his narrative purpose or Stylistic presentation. The Homeric gods are not impartial and they are Anthropomorphic. They Control human fate and manipulate the destiny - death of Hector and victor of Achilles. The gods know the mortals’ agony, as they play the largest role in causing it as Zeus says “There is nothing alive more agonized than man/of all that breathe and crawl across the earth.” Below there are the deities with the side they take in bracket. 

The major deities are Zeus - King of the gods (Neutral), Hera - Queen of the gods ( Achaeans),Artemis - Goddess of archery and hunting (Trojans), Apollo - Highly revered and feared sun god (Trojans),Hades - God of the Underworld (Neutral),Aphrodite - Goddess of love and beauty (Trojans), Ares - God of war (Achaeans, then Trojans), Athena-Goddess of wisdom and war (Achaeans), Hermes - Messenger god (Neutral/Achaeans), Poseidon - God of the sea (Achaeans), Hephaestus - God of the forge/fire (Achaeans). 

The minor deities are countless. Some of them are: Eris (Trojans), Iris - Messenger goddess (Neutral), Thetis - Sea nymph who is the mother of Achilles (Achaeans), Leto (Trojans), Proteus (Achaeans), Scamander (Trojans), Phobos (Trojans), Deimos (Trojans), Hypnos (Achaeans). 

Hera wishes to ruin the Trojans only because Paris rejected the bribe. She request Zeus that “I believe, therefore, that you have been promising her (Thetis) to give glory to Achilles, and to kill much people at the ships of the Achaeans.” Athene too hates Paris because of her rejection.  Apollo fights against the Greeks and protects Paris. He infected the Greek encampment with plague and help Paris to kill Achilles. Aphrodite grants her protection to the Trojans. 

The central action of the poem turns on the will of Zeus and his promise to Thetis that the Trojans will succeed until the Greeks are forced to appreciate Achilles’ wrath. He preferred the Trojans, but he wanted to stay neutral because Hera preferred the Greeks.  Zeus' dream causes Agamemnon to mount an attack that he would have otherwise not mounted. This is the beginning of a series of divine actions that support Zeus' pledge to Thetis. Zeus dictates the ebb and flow of the war, although the appeals of men and gods often decide his policy for him.