The Iliad - summary
Book 1
Homer's tale begins nine years after the Greek arrival at Troy. Nine years previous, the Greek fleet had gathered at Aulis from the area's various city-states to depart together in order to reclaim Helen from Paris for her husband Menelaus. Paris was given the love of Helen by Aphrodite in return for presenting her with the golden apple. Paris, having taken Helen from the house of her husband, returned to his father's city, Troy.
The Text begins with an invocation to the muse opening with the broad spectacle of war and narrowing to a specific conflict: "Rage - Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighter's souls, but made their bodies carrion feats for the dogs and birds and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end." Book 1, lines 1-6
In this first line Homer, establishes one of this epic's constant themes: Rage, that of Achilles, as well as other major characters. Countless deaths follow this rage in the setting of the Trojan war. This general introduction ends with the conflict between Agamemnon and the main character Achilles. Homer asks: "What god drove them to fight with such a fury?" Book 1, line 7
Homer does not ask why the two men fight, but what god causes them to fight. He proceeds to answer his own question. Agamemnon has taken the daughter of Apollo's priest, Chryses, as a war prize. Apollo has sent a plague to the Greek armies as retribution for this act. Chryses appeals to the Greeks primarily (Agamemnon and Menelaus) offering Apollo's wreaths on a golden staff as a ransom for his daughter. Although the Greek troops desire to appease Apollo, Agamemnon refuses, responding to the appeal with a threat. Chryses prays to Apollo for satisfaction and the god plagues the Greek armies for nine more days.
The poem begins with an introduction to the theme of rage. Achilles, raging at the requests and demands of Agamemnon, withdraws from the war until the death of Patroclus. In this section, however, it is the rage of Chryses at his daughter's abduction that moves along the plot. Chryses offers Agamemnon an appropriate ransom for his daughter and the Greek king refuses to accept this. As a result, Chryses appeals to Apollo. Apollo is consumed by rage and punishes the Greek armies with a plague.
Chryses appeal to Apollo causes the god to attack the Greek armies with plague. This intervention leads to the angering of Agamemnon at Calchas' prophecy and Achilles' withdrawal for battle. Apollo's intervention on Chryses' behalf begins the series of events that continue throughout the epic.
After these nine days, Achilles calls for a prophet to interpret the meaning of the plague. Calchas stands up and asks for protection for what he is about to say. Achilles promises to protect him against any one. Calchas reveals that Apollo is punishing them for Agamemnon's treatment of Chryses. He also advises that Chryseis should be given back to her father without ransom and that an offering of a hundred bulls should be sent with her. Agamemnon insults Calchas, saying his prophecies are always negative, and furthermore, that he prizes Chryseis above all else and will give her up only in exchange for another prize (i.e. woman or treasure). Achilles tells him that there are no more prizes and that the king should wait until Troy has been conquered. Agamemnon threatens to take the prize of another leader in exchange for his loss thereby angering Achilles.
Achilles points out that many of the Greek leaders are fighting as a service, not because they were actually harmed by Trojans like Menelaus. Achilles also says that he would rather go home than remain disgraced in Troy. Agamemnon tells Achilles that he might as well leave and that he is going to take Briseis away from him anyway, alleging that this will teach Achilles how much greater the king is than he. Agamemnon remains angry with Achilles because Achilles has overstepped his own bounds in seeking out a seer and calling for a prophecy without consulting Agamemnon. Achilles considers attacking Agamemnon, but the goddess Athena tells him to calm down. If this is done, Agamemnon will suffer eventually and he will profit. Achilles agrees: "if a man obeys the gods they're quick to hear his prayers." Book 1, lines 5-6
Achilles calls Agamemnon a coward and smashes his Sceptre, swearing that the Greeks will someday long for Achilles. Nestor pleads with the two men, telling Agamemnon that it is better to lead and encouraging Achilles to not fight. Agamemnon swears that he will not yield to Achilles while Achilles asserts that he would be a coward to submit to Agamemnon's orders. Achilles returns to his own ships.
Agamemnon is enraged by Calchas' prophecy because is blames him for the destruction. He is also angry that Achilles over stepped his bounds in asking for a prophecy, which is the office of the true leader. As a result, Agamemnon capitulates but demands Achilles' prize in exchange for his own. Achilles, equally enraged at the presumption of and selfishness of Agamemnon, withdraws from the Greek camp and the battle.
Athena prevents Achilles from losing his temper and attacking Agamemnon, promising him greater glory if he waits. Athena's intervention alters the course of the story line. If Achilles had attacked Agamemnon, by winning he would have disrupted the chain of command and by losing he would have ended the story line. Without Agamemnon there is no war, without Achilles there is no hero and no rage.
The Greeks return Chryseis and Agamemnon sends men to seize Briseis. Achilles consents, saying that the Greeks will regret this action. Patroclus leads out Briseis. Achilles weeps and begs his mother, Thetis to help him, retelling what has happened so far. Achilles asks his mother to speak to Zeus on his behalf because Zeus is indebted to Thetis for rescuing him from a plot attempted by he other gods. Thetis laments her son's short life and accepts his requests.
Meanwhile, Odysseus returns Chryseis and Chryses asks Apollo to stop the plague. This is followed by a detailed description of sacrifices to Apollo. Apollo ends the plague and the sun sets. The sun rises the next day and Achilles is still enraged. Because Zeus was dining with the Aithiopians, Thetis had to wait twelve days to speak to him. She explains to Zeus that her son has been disgraced and belittled by Agamemnon and asks for retribution. Zeus, quiet for a few moments, curses because he is going to come into conflict with Hera, but pledges to honour Thetis' request. Hera addresses Zeus and taunts him for making secret plans because she is concerned that the Greeks, whom she favours, will be slighted. Zeus tells Hera to mind her own business, but Hera guesses Thetis' request and predicts the deaths of many Greeks as a result of it. Hephaestus begs Hera not to struggle with Zeus and tells her to have patience because he will support her and the Greeks. The sun sets as Zeus and Hera go to sleep.
Book 6:
The battle continues with Ajax Telamon killing Trojans along side the rampaging Diomedes. Polypoetes, and Antilochus join in the fray while Menelaus attacks the Trojan Adrestus. Adrestus begs to be given mercy and Menelaus considers, but Agamemnon chides him for being weak. Agamemnon stabs Adrestus as Nestor speaks to raise the morale of the Greek troops.
The Greek army begins to beat the Trojans back. The Trojan seer Helenus, tells Aeneas to rally the Trojan troops. He also tells Hector to return to the city and sacrifice to the gods requesting that Diomedes' be held back. Helenus explains that Diomedes is now the strongest Greek because Achilles is out of the battle. Both men carry out their instructions.
Glaucus and Diomedes meet in No Man's Land. Diomedes asks Glaucus about his lineage because he is afraid to fight another divinity, citing the story of Lycurgus and his attack on the immortals with its resulting blindness. Glaucus tells the story of his father Sisyphus and Diomedes realises that the two men are Guest-friends. They decide not to fight each other and exchange armour as a token of this pledge. Zeus takes Glaucus' wits away because he allows him to trade his gold armour for Diomedes' bronze.
Hector arrives in Troy and meets his mother Hecuba. He tells his mother to pray to Athena for the defeat of Diomedes. He does not perform the sacrifice himself because he is covered with the filth of battle. Hecuba offers a dress to Athena and the sacrifice of twelve heifers, but the goddess meets this with deaf ears.
Hector goes to the halls of Paris to find him polishing his armour rather than fighting. He berates his brother and Paris admits that he is a coward and pledges to proceed to battle immediately. Helen asks Hector to sit and speak with her but Hector says that he must go to see his wife and son.
He finds his wife in the watch tower overlooking the battle. Andromache begs Hector to think of his son, Astayanax and not risk his life in the midst of the battle, but to guide the fight from the walls instead. She implores him to think of her to, so that she and her son would never be bereft of a husband and father. Hector is touched by this plea, but does not allow himself to be moved: "All this weighs on my mind too, dear woman. But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan women trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward." Book 6, lines 523-525
Hector's fear of shame overpowers his fear of death and concern for his family. Also, in the following lines, Hector reveals to us that he thinks Troy will fall and Priam will die, predicting the dark fate of his wife and child sold as slaves in a far - off land. He prays for the future of his son and tries to cheer up his wife, but she remains sad. After leaving his family and exhibiting such empathetic behaviour, Hector meets up with Paris, who has prepared for battle and the two leave through the Scaean gates. Paris attempts to downplay his own fighting prowess and Hector chastises him lightly, criticising him only for avoiding battle, not for lack of ability.
Book 16
Patroclus goes to Achilles’ tent and begs to be allowed to wear Achilles’ armour if Achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armour, with the understanding that Patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. As Patroclus arms himself, the first ship goes up in flames. Achilles sends his Myrmidon soldiers, who have not been fighting during their commander’s absence, out to accompany Patroclus. He then prays to Zeus that Patroclus may return with both himself and the ships unharmed. Homer reveals, however, that Zeus will grant only one of these prayers.
With the appearance of Patroclus in Achilles’ armour the battle quickly turns, and the Trojans retreat from the Achaean ships. At first, the line holds together, but when Hector retreats, the rest of the Trojans become trapped in the trenches. Patroclus now slaughters every Trojan he encounters. Zeus considers saving his son Sarpedon, but Hera persuades him that the other gods would either look down upon him for it or try to save their own mortal offspring in turn. Zeus resigns himself to Sarpedon’s mortality. Patroclus soon spears Sarpedon, and both sides fight over his armour. Hector returns briefly to the front in an attempt to retrieve the armour.
Zeus decides to kill Patroclus for slaying Sarpedon, but first he lets him rout the Trojans. Zeus then imbues Hector with a temporary cowardice, and Hector leads the retreat. Patroclus, disobeying Achilles, pursues the Trojans all the way to the gates of Troy. Homer explains that the city might have fallen at this moment had Apollo not intervened and driven Patroclus back from the gates. Apollo persuades Hector to charge Patroclus, but Patroclus kills Cebriones, the driver of Hector’s chariot. The Trojans and Achaeans then fight for Cebriones’ armour. Amid the chaos, Apollo sneaks up behind Patroclus and wounds him, and Hector easily finishes him off. Hector taunts the fallen man, but with his dying words Patroclus foretells Hector’s own death.
Book 22
Hector now stands as the only Trojan left outside Troy. Priam, overlooking the battlefield from the Trojan ramparts, begs him to come inside, but Hector, having given the overconfident order for the Trojans to camp outside their gates the night before, now feels too ashamed to join them in their retreat. When Achilles finally returns from chasing Apollo (disguised as Agenor), Hector confronts him. At first, the mighty Trojan considers trying to negotiate with Achilles, but he soon realizes the hopelessness of his cause and flees. He runs around the city three times, with Achilles at his heels. Zeus considers saving Hector, but Athena persuades him that the mortal’s time has come. Zeus places Hector’s and Achilles’respective fates on a golden scale, and, indeed, Hector’s sinks to the ground.
During Hector’s fourth circle around the city walls, Athena appears before him, disguised as his ally Deiphobus, and convinces him that together they can take Achilles. Hector stops running and turns to face his opponent. He and Achilles exchange spear throws, but neither scores a hit. Hector turns to Deiphobus to ask him for a lance; when he finds his friend gone, he realizes that the gods have betrayed him. In a desperate bid for glory, he charges Achilles. However, he still wears Achilles’ old armor—stolen from Patroclus’s dead body—and Achilles knows the armor’s weak points intimately. With a perfectly timed thrust he puts his spear through Hector’s throat. Near death, Hector pleads with Achilles to return his body to the Trojans for burial, but Achilles resolves to let the dogs and scavenger birds maul the Trojan hero.
The other Achaeans gather round and exultantly stab Hector’s corpse. Achilles ties Hector’s body to the back of his chariot and drags it through the dirt. Meanwhile, up above on the city’s walls, King Priam and Queen Hecuba witness the devastation of their son’s body and wail with grief. Andromache hears them from her chamber and runs outside. When she sees her husband’s corpse being dragged through the dirt, she too collapses and weeps.
Book 24
Achilles continues mourning Patroclus and abusing Hector’s body, dragging it around his dead companion’s tomb. Apollo, meanwhile, protects Hector’s corpse from damage and rot and staves off dogs and scavengers. Finally, on the twelfth day after Hector’s death, Apollo persuades Zeus that Achilles must let Hector’s body be ransomed. Zeus sends Thetis to bring the news to Achilles, while Iris goes to Priam to instruct him to initiate the ransom. Hecuba fears that Achilles will kill her husband, but Zeus reassures her by sending an eagle as a good omen.
Priam sets out with his driver, Idaeus, and a chariot full of treasure. Zeus sends Hermes, disguised as a benevolent Myrmidon soldier, to guide Priam through the Achaean camp. When the chariot arrives at Achilles’ tent, Hermes reveals himself and then leaves Priam alone with Achilles. Priam tearfully supplicates Achilles, begging for Hector’s body. He asks Achilles to think of his own father, Peleus, and the love between them. Achilles weeps for his father and for Patroclus. He accepts the ransom and agrees to give the corpse back.
That night, Priam sleeps in Achilles’ tent, but Hermes comes to him in the middle of the night and rouses him, warning him that he must not sleep among the enemy. Priam and Idaeus wake, place Hector in their chariot, and slip out of the camp unnoticed. All of the women in Troy, from Andromache to Helen, cry out in grief when they first see Hector’s body. For nine days the Trojans prepare Hector’s funeral pyre – Achilles has given them a reprieve from battle. The Trojans light Hector’s pyre on the tenth day.
Homer's tale begins nine years after the Greek arrival at Troy. Nine years previous, the Greek fleet had gathered at Aulis from the area's various city-states to depart together in order to reclaim Helen from Paris for her husband Menelaus. Paris was given the love of Helen by Aphrodite in return for presenting her with the golden apple. Paris, having taken Helen from the house of her husband, returned to his father's city, Troy.
The Text begins with an invocation to the muse opening with the broad spectacle of war and narrowing to a specific conflict: "Rage - Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighter's souls, but made their bodies carrion feats for the dogs and birds and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end." Book 1, lines 1-6
In this first line Homer, establishes one of this epic's constant themes: Rage, that of Achilles, as well as other major characters. Countless deaths follow this rage in the setting of the Trojan war. This general introduction ends with the conflict between Agamemnon and the main character Achilles. Homer asks: "What god drove them to fight with such a fury?" Book 1, line 7
Homer does not ask why the two men fight, but what god causes them to fight. He proceeds to answer his own question. Agamemnon has taken the daughter of Apollo's priest, Chryses, as a war prize. Apollo has sent a plague to the Greek armies as retribution for this act. Chryses appeals to the Greeks primarily (Agamemnon and Menelaus) offering Apollo's wreaths on a golden staff as a ransom for his daughter. Although the Greek troops desire to appease Apollo, Agamemnon refuses, responding to the appeal with a threat. Chryses prays to Apollo for satisfaction and the god plagues the Greek armies for nine more days.
The poem begins with an introduction to the theme of rage. Achilles, raging at the requests and demands of Agamemnon, withdraws from the war until the death of Patroclus. In this section, however, it is the rage of Chryses at his daughter's abduction that moves along the plot. Chryses offers Agamemnon an appropriate ransom for his daughter and the Greek king refuses to accept this. As a result, Chryses appeals to Apollo. Apollo is consumed by rage and punishes the Greek armies with a plague.
Chryses appeal to Apollo causes the god to attack the Greek armies with plague. This intervention leads to the angering of Agamemnon at Calchas' prophecy and Achilles' withdrawal for battle. Apollo's intervention on Chryses' behalf begins the series of events that continue throughout the epic.
After these nine days, Achilles calls for a prophet to interpret the meaning of the plague. Calchas stands up and asks for protection for what he is about to say. Achilles promises to protect him against any one. Calchas reveals that Apollo is punishing them for Agamemnon's treatment of Chryses. He also advises that Chryseis should be given back to her father without ransom and that an offering of a hundred bulls should be sent with her. Agamemnon insults Calchas, saying his prophecies are always negative, and furthermore, that he prizes Chryseis above all else and will give her up only in exchange for another prize (i.e. woman or treasure). Achilles tells him that there are no more prizes and that the king should wait until Troy has been conquered. Agamemnon threatens to take the prize of another leader in exchange for his loss thereby angering Achilles.
Achilles points out that many of the Greek leaders are fighting as a service, not because they were actually harmed by Trojans like Menelaus. Achilles also says that he would rather go home than remain disgraced in Troy. Agamemnon tells Achilles that he might as well leave and that he is going to take Briseis away from him anyway, alleging that this will teach Achilles how much greater the king is than he. Agamemnon remains angry with Achilles because Achilles has overstepped his own bounds in seeking out a seer and calling for a prophecy without consulting Agamemnon. Achilles considers attacking Agamemnon, but the goddess Athena tells him to calm down. If this is done, Agamemnon will suffer eventually and he will profit. Achilles agrees: "if a man obeys the gods they're quick to hear his prayers." Book 1, lines 5-6
Achilles calls Agamemnon a coward and smashes his Sceptre, swearing that the Greeks will someday long for Achilles. Nestor pleads with the two men, telling Agamemnon that it is better to lead and encouraging Achilles to not fight. Agamemnon swears that he will not yield to Achilles while Achilles asserts that he would be a coward to submit to Agamemnon's orders. Achilles returns to his own ships.
Agamemnon is enraged by Calchas' prophecy because is blames him for the destruction. He is also angry that Achilles over stepped his bounds in asking for a prophecy, which is the office of the true leader. As a result, Agamemnon capitulates but demands Achilles' prize in exchange for his own. Achilles, equally enraged at the presumption of and selfishness of Agamemnon, withdraws from the Greek camp and the battle.
Athena prevents Achilles from losing his temper and attacking Agamemnon, promising him greater glory if he waits. Athena's intervention alters the course of the story line. If Achilles had attacked Agamemnon, by winning he would have disrupted the chain of command and by losing he would have ended the story line. Without Agamemnon there is no war, without Achilles there is no hero and no rage.
The Greeks return Chryseis and Agamemnon sends men to seize Briseis. Achilles consents, saying that the Greeks will regret this action. Patroclus leads out Briseis. Achilles weeps and begs his mother, Thetis to help him, retelling what has happened so far. Achilles asks his mother to speak to Zeus on his behalf because Zeus is indebted to Thetis for rescuing him from a plot attempted by he other gods. Thetis laments her son's short life and accepts his requests.
Meanwhile, Odysseus returns Chryseis and Chryses asks Apollo to stop the plague. This is followed by a detailed description of sacrifices to Apollo. Apollo ends the plague and the sun sets. The sun rises the next day and Achilles is still enraged. Because Zeus was dining with the Aithiopians, Thetis had to wait twelve days to speak to him. She explains to Zeus that her son has been disgraced and belittled by Agamemnon and asks for retribution. Zeus, quiet for a few moments, curses because he is going to come into conflict with Hera, but pledges to honour Thetis' request. Hera addresses Zeus and taunts him for making secret plans because she is concerned that the Greeks, whom she favours, will be slighted. Zeus tells Hera to mind her own business, but Hera guesses Thetis' request and predicts the deaths of many Greeks as a result of it. Hephaestus begs Hera not to struggle with Zeus and tells her to have patience because he will support her and the Greeks. The sun sets as Zeus and Hera go to sleep.
Book 6:
The battle continues with Ajax Telamon killing Trojans along side the rampaging Diomedes. Polypoetes, and Antilochus join in the fray while Menelaus attacks the Trojan Adrestus. Adrestus begs to be given mercy and Menelaus considers, but Agamemnon chides him for being weak. Agamemnon stabs Adrestus as Nestor speaks to raise the morale of the Greek troops.
The Greek army begins to beat the Trojans back. The Trojan seer Helenus, tells Aeneas to rally the Trojan troops. He also tells Hector to return to the city and sacrifice to the gods requesting that Diomedes' be held back. Helenus explains that Diomedes is now the strongest Greek because Achilles is out of the battle. Both men carry out their instructions.
Glaucus and Diomedes meet in No Man's Land. Diomedes asks Glaucus about his lineage because he is afraid to fight another divinity, citing the story of Lycurgus and his attack on the immortals with its resulting blindness. Glaucus tells the story of his father Sisyphus and Diomedes realises that the two men are Guest-friends. They decide not to fight each other and exchange armour as a token of this pledge. Zeus takes Glaucus' wits away because he allows him to trade his gold armour for Diomedes' bronze.
Hector arrives in Troy and meets his mother Hecuba. He tells his mother to pray to Athena for the defeat of Diomedes. He does not perform the sacrifice himself because he is covered with the filth of battle. Hecuba offers a dress to Athena and the sacrifice of twelve heifers, but the goddess meets this with deaf ears.
Hector goes to the halls of Paris to find him polishing his armour rather than fighting. He berates his brother and Paris admits that he is a coward and pledges to proceed to battle immediately. Helen asks Hector to sit and speak with her but Hector says that he must go to see his wife and son.
He finds his wife in the watch tower overlooking the battle. Andromache begs Hector to think of his son, Astayanax and not risk his life in the midst of the battle, but to guide the fight from the walls instead. She implores him to think of her to, so that she and her son would never be bereft of a husband and father. Hector is touched by this plea, but does not allow himself to be moved: "All this weighs on my mind too, dear woman. But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan women trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward." Book 6, lines 523-525
Hector's fear of shame overpowers his fear of death and concern for his family. Also, in the following lines, Hector reveals to us that he thinks Troy will fall and Priam will die, predicting the dark fate of his wife and child sold as slaves in a far - off land. He prays for the future of his son and tries to cheer up his wife, but she remains sad. After leaving his family and exhibiting such empathetic behaviour, Hector meets up with Paris, who has prepared for battle and the two leave through the Scaean gates. Paris attempts to downplay his own fighting prowess and Hector chastises him lightly, criticising him only for avoiding battle, not for lack of ability.
Book 16
Patroclus goes to Achilles’ tent and begs to be allowed to wear Achilles’ armour if Achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armour, with the understanding that Patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. As Patroclus arms himself, the first ship goes up in flames. Achilles sends his Myrmidon soldiers, who have not been fighting during their commander’s absence, out to accompany Patroclus. He then prays to Zeus that Patroclus may return with both himself and the ships unharmed. Homer reveals, however, that Zeus will grant only one of these prayers.
With the appearance of Patroclus in Achilles’ armour the battle quickly turns, and the Trojans retreat from the Achaean ships. At first, the line holds together, but when Hector retreats, the rest of the Trojans become trapped in the trenches. Patroclus now slaughters every Trojan he encounters. Zeus considers saving his son Sarpedon, but Hera persuades him that the other gods would either look down upon him for it or try to save their own mortal offspring in turn. Zeus resigns himself to Sarpedon’s mortality. Patroclus soon spears Sarpedon, and both sides fight over his armour. Hector returns briefly to the front in an attempt to retrieve the armour.
Zeus decides to kill Patroclus for slaying Sarpedon, but first he lets him rout the Trojans. Zeus then imbues Hector with a temporary cowardice, and Hector leads the retreat. Patroclus, disobeying Achilles, pursues the Trojans all the way to the gates of Troy. Homer explains that the city might have fallen at this moment had Apollo not intervened and driven Patroclus back from the gates. Apollo persuades Hector to charge Patroclus, but Patroclus kills Cebriones, the driver of Hector’s chariot. The Trojans and Achaeans then fight for Cebriones’ armour. Amid the chaos, Apollo sneaks up behind Patroclus and wounds him, and Hector easily finishes him off. Hector taunts the fallen man, but with his dying words Patroclus foretells Hector’s own death.
Book 22
Hector now stands as the only Trojan left outside Troy. Priam, overlooking the battlefield from the Trojan ramparts, begs him to come inside, but Hector, having given the overconfident order for the Trojans to camp outside their gates the night before, now feels too ashamed to join them in their retreat. When Achilles finally returns from chasing Apollo (disguised as Agenor), Hector confronts him. At first, the mighty Trojan considers trying to negotiate with Achilles, but he soon realizes the hopelessness of his cause and flees. He runs around the city three times, with Achilles at his heels. Zeus considers saving Hector, but Athena persuades him that the mortal’s time has come. Zeus places Hector’s and Achilles’respective fates on a golden scale, and, indeed, Hector’s sinks to the ground.
During Hector’s fourth circle around the city walls, Athena appears before him, disguised as his ally Deiphobus, and convinces him that together they can take Achilles. Hector stops running and turns to face his opponent. He and Achilles exchange spear throws, but neither scores a hit. Hector turns to Deiphobus to ask him for a lance; when he finds his friend gone, he realizes that the gods have betrayed him. In a desperate bid for glory, he charges Achilles. However, he still wears Achilles’ old armor—stolen from Patroclus’s dead body—and Achilles knows the armor’s weak points intimately. With a perfectly timed thrust he puts his spear through Hector’s throat. Near death, Hector pleads with Achilles to return his body to the Trojans for burial, but Achilles resolves to let the dogs and scavenger birds maul the Trojan hero.
The other Achaeans gather round and exultantly stab Hector’s corpse. Achilles ties Hector’s body to the back of his chariot and drags it through the dirt. Meanwhile, up above on the city’s walls, King Priam and Queen Hecuba witness the devastation of their son’s body and wail with grief. Andromache hears them from her chamber and runs outside. When she sees her husband’s corpse being dragged through the dirt, she too collapses and weeps.
Book 24
Achilles continues mourning Patroclus and abusing Hector’s body, dragging it around his dead companion’s tomb. Apollo, meanwhile, protects Hector’s corpse from damage and rot and staves off dogs and scavengers. Finally, on the twelfth day after Hector’s death, Apollo persuades Zeus that Achilles must let Hector’s body be ransomed. Zeus sends Thetis to bring the news to Achilles, while Iris goes to Priam to instruct him to initiate the ransom. Hecuba fears that Achilles will kill her husband, but Zeus reassures her by sending an eagle as a good omen.
Priam sets out with his driver, Idaeus, and a chariot full of treasure. Zeus sends Hermes, disguised as a benevolent Myrmidon soldier, to guide Priam through the Achaean camp. When the chariot arrives at Achilles’ tent, Hermes reveals himself and then leaves Priam alone with Achilles. Priam tearfully supplicates Achilles, begging for Hector’s body. He asks Achilles to think of his own father, Peleus, and the love between them. Achilles weeps for his father and for Patroclus. He accepts the ransom and agrees to give the corpse back.
That night, Priam sleeps in Achilles’ tent, but Hermes comes to him in the middle of the night and rouses him, warning him that he must not sleep among the enemy. Priam and Idaeus wake, place Hector in their chariot, and slip out of the camp unnoticed. All of the women in Troy, from Andromache to Helen, cry out in grief when they first see Hector’s body. For nine days the Trojans prepare Hector’s funeral pyre – Achilles has given them a reprieve from battle. The Trojans light Hector’s pyre on the tenth day.