The thing that differ humans from the gods is that only the gods can live in a paradise forever, living in ignorance and bliss. They live in the heavens, where time has no meaning, and death is non-existent. Every day is a feast, a party and a ball. Since they are the creators of all things we know to be (and they have no needs to satisfy and if they did, they could satisfy them easily with their godly powers) they never need to worry about tomorrow, the past or the present. Also referring to the epicureans:
Don’t fear God.
Don’t worry about death.
What is good is easy to get.
What is terrible is easy to endure.
The Gods are the perfect role model for this humanistic teaching. The Gods are not concerned about anything, they need not to fear anything, not even death, and they get what they desire. Where this is a lifestyle that we want, we envy the Gods for their easy and ignorant lives. So why would the Gods envy us when they live the life that we desire, the kind of life we strive to live? Why are the Gods, whom never age, never get wrinkles or diseases, envy at us because we are mortal?
Everyone is dying, and we all will die. Death is diverse; old age, disease, cancer, war and the list go on to the infinite. And even so death is the most common thing we humans share in this world; death is what we try to cure. We pray so that we might live long, or live eternal in the afterlife. We develop medicine and live healthy life styles so that we can live ten years more. While someone dies in despair and others in peace, death shares one common property: Death gives us the reason to live, without death, there can be no life.
And what is life without a reason to live? Where waking up tomorrow has no meaning, because there will always be another tomorrow. What you do today matters, because tomorrow forms by the choices you do now. What you do with your life has an impact on the world and your children. Death gives us a raison d’être, and meaning is happiness. A life without meaning is an empty shell haunting the surface of the earth. Making goals, plans and dreams is our desire to make accomplishments before we die, but if we will live forever, what is there?
The gods are envy at Achilles, for he was mortal. And because of his mortality, people respected him for his bravery and skills. To charge in battle when your life is at stake, and when you do it with such carelessness as Achilles, you make history. Achilles name is remembered because he did something extraordinary in his life, something that others have not. The Gods are remembered because we fear them; we dare not to forget them so we are kept safe from harm. So the gods are envy at Achilles, for the gods are remembered through fear, but Achilles’ name is made immortal because of his mortality.
