The Iliad
a brief summary of the story so far

In the tenth year of the Achaean (Greek) siege of Troy, a rich city in Asia Minor, Agamemnon, the most powerful king among the Achaean allies, quarrels with the bravest of them, Achilles. Agamemnon had taken as his concubine the captive daughter of a Trojan priest of Apollo; at the priest's request, the god had sent a plague to devastate the army. Agamemnon agrees to give back the girl but demands compensation from the army for the loss of his share of the spoils of war. Achilles opposes this demand as unreasonable and Agamemnon, at the end of a furious argument, announces he will take away Achilles' girl Briseis, whom Achilles had captured in a raid. Achilles draws his sword to kill Agamemnon but is dissuaded from violence by the goddess Athena, who promises that he will be amply recompensed for Agamemnon's insults at some future date. He goes back to his tent and pulls his men out of the fighting. But he also asks his mother, the goddess Thetis, to intervene. She is to use her influence with Zeus, the king of the gods, and ask him to inflict defeat and suffering on the Achaeans, so that they will turn against Aganemnon. She goes to Olympus and, in spite of the opposition of Zeus' wife Hera (who favors the Achaean side), Zeus grants her prayer.

In Books II-V Agamemnon calls an assembly of the troops. In an attempt to test morale he suggests abandoning the war; the ensuing stampede for the ships is stopped only by Odysseus with the aid of the goddess Athena. The Achaeans then muster for battle, and the poet describes each contingent in what is known as the catalogue of Ships; he then proceeds to list the Trojan forces. The two sides join battle, but Hector, the Trojan 1eader, proposes that the war be settled by a duel between Manelaus, the Achacean king, and Paris, the Trojan prince who had run off with Menelaus' wife Helen Both sides agree; Menelaus wins the fight and is about to kill Paris when the goddess Aphrodite, who protects Paris because he gave her the prize for beauty, rescues him and sends him to join Helen in Troy. Agamemnon tells the Trojans to give back Helen and all her possessions and also to pay an indemnity; it looks as if the two sides will make peace on those terms but the gods, at the urging of Hera and Athena, prevent it. Athena persuades Pandarus to shoot an arrow at Menelaus during the truce. Menelaus receives only a light wound, but the truce is broken; the battle resumes. Zeus' promise is not fulfilled immediately; the Achaean hero Diomedes dominates the battle and the Trojans are hard pressed.

In Book VI Hector goes to Troy to organize prayers to Athena; the poet gives us a glimpse of the rich, civilized city which the Achaeans will in the end destroy. Hector meets his mother Hecuba, his brother Paris, and Helen, the cause of the war; he then sees, for the last time as it turns out, his wife Andromache and his infant son.

In Books VII and VIII the promise of Zeus is fulfilled. After an inconclusive duel between Hector and Ajax the Achaeans are driven back and the Trojans, who usually retire behind their city walls at night, camp out on the field, ready to deliver decisive assault in the morning.

In Book IX Agamemnon summons a council; they advise him to make amends to Achilles. He agrees, and proposes not only a magnificent list of gifts but also to restore Briseis (whom he swears he has not touched) and to offer one of his daughters in marriage to Achilles after the war. This offer is made to Achilles by Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix, an old retainer of Achilles, but Achilles refuses outright. The insult to his honor is too great to be wiped out by gifts. He will go home, with all his men. Phoenix tries to persuade him, reminding him of the story of Alcmaeon, who also withdrew from the fighting alliance in anger, was begged to return and refused. When in the end he came back to the fighting, he had forfeited all of the gifts he would have been given if he had complied earlier. Achilles still refuses to fight but he has been moved; he will stay at Troy. And the final appeal from Ajax moves him still more; he will not join the battle, he says, until Hector fights his way to the Greek ships and sets them on fire. Phoenix stays with Achilles; Odysseus and Ajax return to report the failure of their mission.

In Book X Odysseus and Diomedes make a successful night raid on the Trojan lines but this is the last Achaean success for some time. In Books XII to XVII the tide of battle turns against the Achaeans. Paris wounds Diomedes with an arrow; Odysseus is wounded and withdraws; Machaon, the Achaean physician is also wounded. Achilles, who is watching the fighting and rejoicing in the Achaean losses sends his friend Patroclus to see if the wounded man he saw was indeed Machaon and this, the poet says, "is the beginning of his evil." For Patroclus, moved to pity by the wounded men he sees in the Achaean camp and by Hector's assault on the wall the Achaeans have built to protect their ships, will appeal to Achilles on the Achaeans' behalf (XIII-XIV). Achilles refuses to join the fighting himself but allows Patroclus, equipped with his own armor, to take the field. After driving the Trojans back, Patroclus is killed by Hector, who strips off the armor of Achilles and puts it on. After a desperate fight, the Achaeans recover the body of Patroclus and take it back to their camp (XV-XVII).

When Achilles hears of the death of Patroclus, he resolves to avenge him by killing Hector, but he must wait until his goddess mother brings him new armor; it is forged by Hephaestus, the divine smith, and includes a marvelous picture shield. Achilles then calls an assembly of the Achaeans, accepts Agamemnon's apology and, after mourning over the corpse of Patroclus, puts on the armor and goes into battle.

(This is where we take up the story)