Summary of the Iliad
(I) A quarrel arises between Agamemnon, the commander of the Greeks, and Achilles, their foremost fighter.  Agamemnon takes Achilles' war-prize, the girl Briseis, and Achilles in anger withdraws from the fighting.  He asks his mother, the goddess Thetis, to see to it that the Greeks do badly in his absence.  Thetis exacts this promise from Zeus.   But when Hera, Zeus' wife and a supporter of the Greeks, finds out, she upbraids him, but to no effect.  (II) Zeus, in order to fulfill the promise he made to Thetis, sends a dream to Agamemnon to the effect that he should fight with the Trojans, for he would be victorious.  Agamemnon wakes and reports the dream to the council of nobles, and announces his intention to test the fighting spirit of the Greeks.  He then calls a general assembly and orders them to give up the struggle to take Troy, hoping that the men will reject such a course.  However, most of them eagerly run for the ships, and it is only with difficulty that Odysseus, Nestor and Agamemnon can restrain them and turn them to fight.  There follows a lengthy Catalogue of the Ships, in which the Greek forces are described.  Zeus sends Iris, the messenger of the gods, to the Trojans in disguise to bid them fight with the Greeks.   They march forth from the city of Troy under Hektor's leadership.  There follows a short catalogue of the Trojan forces.  (III) The armies meet and Alexander (Paris) steps forth from the Trojan ranks and Menelaos comes forth to meet him.  Paris then retreats and is rebuked by his brother, Hektor.  A truce is arranged between the Greeks and the Trojans and a duel planned between Paris and Menelaos to settle the issue of the war.  Helen is summoned to the Skaian gate of Troy and there meets Priam and the elders, who enquire of the Greek leaders on the field below them.  Helen describes the appearance and character of several major leaders.  Priam, king of the Trojans, is summoned to pledge oath for the truce and duel.  Paris and Menelaos fight and Menelaos is on the point of killing the unequal Paris when Aphrodite intervenes and whisks him away in a cloud to the bed-chamber of Helen.  Helen reproaches his cowardice and they go to bed.  Meanwhile, on the field, Agamemnon declares Menelaos the winner.  (IV) Zeus stirs up Hera and Athene to break the truce.  Hera descends in disguise and urges the Trojan Pandaros to shoot Menelaos with an arrow.  Athene turns the arrow aside and only allows it to make a flesh wound.  Agamemnon is distressed for his brother and summons the healer Machaon, who comes and tends the wound.  The truce is broken and Agamemnon makes his way up and down the line exhorting his nobles to fight bravely.  The fighting begins and the first casualities fall. (V)  The "aristeia" (description of the prowess) of Diomedes: Athene gives Diomedes fighting strength and the power to distinguish gods and mortals on the field of battle.  He attacks and kills Pandaros and is about to kill Aeneas, Aphrodite's son, when she covers him in a cloud.  Diomedes strikes Aphrodite and she retreats to Olympus.  He is about to strike Apollo, but he is warned off.  Aeneas returns to the battlefield and the Trojans make a stand.  Sarpedon, Zeus' son, is almost killed.  Athene and Hera arm for battle, and Athene encourages Diomedes to attack Ares, god of war.  Diomedes strikes him in the belly with spear and he retreats to Olympus.  (VI)  Menelaus is about to give mercy to Adrestos, when his brother Agamemnon exhorts him to kill him.  Menelaus obeys.  The Trojans hard pressed, the seer Helenos tells his brother Hektor to go to the city and bid the women sacrifice and pray to Athene to avert the power of Diomedes.  Glaukos and Diomedes meet between the armies and before fighting, introduce themselves.  It turns out that they are hereditary guest-friends. They exchange armor and vow not to fight one another.  Meanwhile, Hektor returns to Troy, instructs his mother to sacrific to Athene, and goes in search of Paris, and rebuking him, goes on to meet his wife on the ramparts.  They talk and then Hektor departs, and meeting Paris, they return to battle.  (VII) Hektor proposes a duel between himself and any of the Greeks.  Menelaos offers himself, but Agamemnon dissuades him.  After a chastening by Nestor, nine men stand forth and Ajax, the best man among them, wins by lot the privilege of fighting Hektor.  Hektor fares badly until herald breaks off the fight as night falls.  Nestor counsels the building of a wall around the ships.  There is a truce to allow for the burning of the dead.  (VIII) Zeus forbids any of the gods from interfering in the fighting.  He visits the battlefield and inclines the battle towards the Trojans.  After an initial rout, the Greek attempt to take their stand against the raging Hektor.  Athene and Hera start in a chariot on their way to the battlefield, but are warned to turn back by Iris the messenger of Zeus.  They submit.  The Trojans camp for the night outside the walls of the city.  (IX) In the evening the Greeks are in panic.  Agamemnon again suggests going home.  Nestor recommends taking food and posting the guard before taking further council, and then suggests reconciliation between Agamemnon and Achilles.  Agamemnon admits his fault and agrees to offer great gifts if Achilles should agree to return to the fight.  Odysseus, Phoinix and Ajax go to persuade Achilles, but without success.  Achilles sees in his dishonor at Agamemnon's hand a destruction of all he had worked for in his life.  (X) Agamemnon and Menelaus are awake in worry, and meeting one another decide to call a council of the chiefs.  Nestor advises a spy expedition, and Diomedes volunteers and selects Odysseus as his second.  They go forth and come upon the Trojan, Dolon, who is out to spy on the Greeks.  Diomedes and Odysseus catch him and extract information from him concerning the Trojan forces, including the fact that king Rhesos of Thrace is newly arrived with wonderful horses to reinforce the Trojans.  The two Greeks set out for Rhesos' encampment, and slaughtering the Thracians, take the horses back to the Greek encampment.  (XI) Agamemnon eagerly sets to fight, but is wounded and retreats to the ships.  In succession most of the chief of the Greeks are wounded and retire, Diomedes, Odysseus, Machaon.  Nestor takes Machaon back to the ships in his chariot, and Achilles who is idle by the ships sends Patroklos, his comrade to enquire about the state of the battle.  Nestor asks Patroklos to persuade his friend Achilles to return, or at least himself to help the Greeks and use Achilles' armor to frighten off the Trojans.  Patroklos takes pity on the Greeks.  (XII) The Trojans launch an attack on the walls, against Poulydamas' (Hektor's brother) advice.  Sarpedon succeeds in pulling down a section of wall, but is thwarted by Ajax.  It is Hektor, with a great stone, who smashes through the front gates, and orders the Greek ships to be put to the flames.  (XIII) Poseidon stirs up the fighting spirit of the Greeks.  Idomeneus, though wounded earlier, is eager to go back to the fight and he contends with Aineas.  There is great slaughter of Trojans, but in another area Hektor rages on virtually unchecked.  (XIV) Nestor leaves his tent to see the Greeks in flight.  The wounded chiefs meet, and again Agamemnon counsels flight.  Diomedes advises that they return to battle in spite of the fact that they are wounded.  Hera deceives Zeus into sleeping with her and then she casts Sleep upon him.  When Zeus is asleep, she tells Poseidon to give aid to the Greeks in direct violation of Zeus' order.  Ajax strikes Hektor with a rock and puts him out of the battle for a while.  With Hektor gone,  the Greeks advance strongly, Ajax in the front of the battle.  (XV) Zeus wakes and realizing that he has been deceived, chastizes Hera and tells Iris to tell Poseidon to withdraw from battle.  Apollo puts strength into Hektor and he returns and again breaches the Greek walls and makes for the ships.  Even Ajax can not withstand his fury.  He reaches a ship and calls for fire.  (XVI) As fire is carried to the ship, Patroklos beseeches Achilles to return to battle, or at least allow him and his men to help the Greeks.  Achilles assents and Patroklos and the Myrmidons turn the battle, killing many Trojans and even reaching the walls of Troy, before Apollo and Hektor kill Patroklos.  (XVII)  Hektor puts on Achilles' armor that he had stripped from Patroklos.  Greeks and Trojans fight for control of Patroklos' corpse.  Once again the battle turns towards the Trojans.  Antilochus is sent to the Greek camp to bear Achilles the news of Patroklos' death.  The two Ajaxes manage to recover Patroklos' body and try to bring it back to the camp.  (XVIII)  Antilochus tells Achilles of Patroklos death and he greaves.  Thetis, his mother, arrives and tells him not to fight until she returns with a new set of armor.  Meanwhile the battle for Patroklos' corpse goes on with Hektor in the lead.  Poulydamas counsels that the Trojans should retire into the city for the night rather than risking camping on the plain.  Hektor scornfully rejects this advice.  Thetis goes to Hephaistos, who agrees to make the armor.  He makes a great shield with elaborate scenes depicted upon it, greaves, a helmet and a corselet.  (XIX) The next day Thetis delivers the armor. Agamemnon and Achilles are publicly reconciled and the Greeks prepare to fight.  There is some mourning of Patroklos and Achilles arms for battle.  He harnesses his horses, and one of them, Xanthos, speaks and prophesies Achilles' death.  (XX) Zeus allows the gods to intervene in the fight on whichever side they please.  Apollo backs Aeneas in a fight against Achilles, but Achilles is nevertheless about to kill him when Poseidon intervenes and saves him.  Achilles starts his rampage, faces Hektor, but Apollo whisks Hektor away.  (XXI) Achilles kills many by the banks of the Xanthos river (no relation to the horse) and the Scamandros and their streams are filled with the dead.  The rivers object and complain, and when Achilles does not desist, they boil and seethe and catch him in their currents and he would be carried off, if Hephaistos had not applied fire to the streams to make them submit.  Now the gods in general fight openly with one another.  Athene lays out Ares, Hera boxes Artemis' ears.  Achilles attacks Agenor, but Apollo whisks him away, and takes his shape himself, feigns flight and leads Achilles off to another part of the field.  (XXII)  Achilles returns after realizing that he has been duped and finds Hektor waiting for him alone.  For all the other Trojans have fled within the city walls.  After chasing Hektor three times around the walls, Achilles kills him, and ties him behind his chariot and drags him back to the Greek camp.  The Trojans watch on in horror.  Andromache hears the uproar and runs to the walls to see her husband being dragged away.  (XXIII) Patroklos visits Achilles in a dream and asks to be cremated immediately.  Achilles performs the sacrifices and burns Patroklos' pyre.  The funeral is celebrated with games in which the chiefs of the Greeks participate and are awarded prizes by Achilles.  (XXIV) The gods disapprove of the way Achilles is treating the corpse of Hektor.  It must be returned with due compensation.  Hermes guides Priam, Hektor's father, from Troy undetected into the camp of Achilles, and after sharing their personal grief together, Priam departs with the body of his son.  The Trojan have a funeral for him.