In the work of art it reads as follows: "No, by the gods! Would that it had been!"
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3One could certainly categorize the whole utterance there as an interjection, or a set of interjections, even though one might very well not categorize a single word in it as an interjection in the part-of-speech sense.– Brian DonovanApr 28, 2016 at 13:30
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it was used often in the 1950's and 60's sword and sandals b movies said with force and might to invoke the gods or provoke the gods.– v. millerSep 21, 2017 at 20:40
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2 Answers
The phase is mainly used when someone is shocked or surprised by something they hear, read or see which causes them to spontaneously react by saying "By the gods!". So yes, it's most common usage is as an interjection.
In this case "by the gods" stands to qualify the interjection "No!", as in "No, according to the gods!" so it does not serve as an interjection.
However, the exclamatory sentence "By the gods!" used like "Oh my goodness!" is an interjection.
