illiad book 5-8

In some regards, gods are simply "beefed up" humans.  They are petty, they take sides in the war, and they often influence the outcome of a particular battle.  One of the ways they do this is that they intervene in the war and can cause some problem between one side or another.  The humans sometimes have more strength or some kind of inspiration when the gods intervene; however, sometimes they need help from the gods when they get in trouble, e.g., Paris has to be "spirited away" from the battle by the goddess Aphrodite when he is nearly about to be defeated.