“She Shuddered on her Throne and Made high Olympus Quake.” Causes, Effects and Meanings of the Divine Nemesis in Homer

Abstract

This article aims at exploring the Homeric gods’ sensitivity to a particular kind of indig- nation that is expressed in the Homeric po- ems by the term nemesis and by the verbal forms arising from it. My purpose is to an- alyse the passages that allow us to establish the causes of divine nemesis towards the mortals and the gods themselves, as well as their effects. This survey also represents an opportunity for investigating the relation between the attribution of emotions to the Greek gods and the anthropomorphic repre- sentation of the divine.