Significant moments

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Book events:

Book 1

v

Agamemnon,

commander-in-chief of the Achaean army, takes Chryseis as his prize. Chryseis’s

father, Chryses serves as a priest of the god Apollo, he begs Agamemnon to

return his daughter and offers to pay an enormous ransom. Agamemnon refuses,

Chryses prays to Apollo for help.

v Apollo sends 9

days of plague in response to Chryses' prayer

v

Agamemnon says that he

will return Chryseis only if Achilles gives him Briseis as compensation.

v

Achilles prays to his

mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, to ask Zeus, king of the gods, to punish the

Achaeans.

Book 3

v Duel of Paris (Alexandros) and Menelaos – Paris stole Helen from Menelaus. He challenges the Achaeans

to single combat with any of their warriors. Menelaus steps forward but the

Paris chickens out. Hector chastises Paris for his cowardice. Paris finally

agrees to a duel with Menelaus, declaring that the contest will establish peace

between Trojans and Achaeans by deciding once and for all which man shall have

Helen as his wife.

v View from the wall (Helen and Trojan elders) – Priam asks Helen about the Achaeans he sees in battle. She

identifies Agamemnon, Ajax, and Odysseus. Priam marvels at their strength and splendour.

v Priam leaves the scene,

unable to bear watching Paris fight to the death.

v Rescue of Paris; Aphrodite and Helen and Paris

Book 4

v Council of gods

on continuation of war – Zeus wants the war to end while Hera wants the

complete destruction of Troy

Ø

Zeus gives way and

sends Athena to the battlefield to rekindle the fighting

v Pandaros breaks

the truce to not partake in the battle as it is meant to be 1v1

v Battle, with

Agamemnon's encouragement and restarts – He meets Nestor,

Odysseus, and Diomedes, among others, and spurs them on by challenging their

pride or recounting the great deeds of their fathers.

Book 6

v

The gods depart the

scene of the battle + with them gone the Achaians overpower the Trojans who

draw back to the city.

v Helenos advises

Hektor to go into city – Helenos

tells Hektor to arrange for the queen (Hektor’s mother, Hekabe) and the other

royal women of the city to make an offering in the temple of Athena in hopes of

placating the goddess.

v Glaukos and

Diomedes

Ø They step into the area

between the two resting armies and challenge each other to personal combat.

Ø They discover that there

were once ties of friendship between their grandfathers; thus, according to the

heroic code, they must maintain these same bonds of friendship.

They promise to avoid fighting each other in the battles to come.

Ø As a token of their

fellowship, they trade armor. Diomedes comes out ahead in this exchange because

he swapped his bronze armour for Glaukos’s golden armour.

v Hektor and his

mother – Hektor instructs his

mother, Hekuba, about the rites to be held in Athena's temple

v Hektor and

Paris/Helen – Hektos

finds Paris at home with Helen and her handmaidens, and he scolds him for his

irresponsibility. Paris admits that he has been disgracing himself, and he

prepares himself to join the fight.

v Hektor and

Andromache and son – Andromache begs Hektor to not go back to war due to the

loss of the majority of her family. If hektor dies – she will be enslaved and

Astyanax would be orphaned.

Book 9

v

Standing before them,

Agamemnon weeps and declares the war a failure. He proposes returning to Greece

in disgrace.

v

Diomedes and Nestor

encourage the men

Ø

Diomedes claims he

will fight even if everyone else gives up

Ø

Nestor reminds the Achaians

that Troy is fated to fall and suggests that Agamemnon makes peace with

Achilles

v

Embassy to

Achilles - Agamemnon decides to offer Achilles a great

stockpile of gifts on the condition that he return to the Achaean lines. He

sends Odysseus, Ajax, Phoenix, Euybates and Odios to communicate the proposal

to Achilles.

v

Phoenix uses the

ancient story of Meleager, who, in a fit of rage, refused to fight, to

illustrate the importance of responding to the pleas of helpless friends.

v

Despite the gifts +

the story of Meleager, Achilles refuses to come back to the war and the

Achaians are left feeling defeated again.

Book

11

v

Wounding and withdrawal of several

Greek leaders - Zeus rains blood upon the Achaian lines, filling

them with panic.

v

Agamemnon fights well at the beginning

and kills many Trojans. With advice from Zeus, the Trojans fight defensively

until Agamemnon is injured.

Ø

Agamemnon

and most of the other Achaian leaders are wounded and are forced to withdraw

from the fighting.

Ø

Diomedes hurls a spear

that hits Hector’s helmet and causes his to retreat. Paris wounds Diomedes with

an arrow causing him to retreat.

v

Achilles sends Patroklos to ask

about Machaon – the healer Machaon

receives wounds at Paris’s hands. Achilles sends Patroklos because his own pride will not allow him to show

any interest in the fate of the Achaians.

v

Nestor's appeal to Patroklos – Nestor tells Patroclus about all of the wounds that the

Trojans have inflicted upon the Achaian commanders. He begs Patroclus to

persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle. If that fails, he suggests that

Patroklos should enter the battle disguised in Achilles’ armor. This ruse would

at least give the Achaians the benefit of Achilles’ terrifying aura.

Book

16

v

Battle

continues: Patroklos joins battle wearing Achilles armour, drives Trojans back,

slays Sarpedon, is killed by Apollo and Hektor

Ø

Achilles gives

Patroklos his armour and sends his Myrmidon soldiers, who have not been

fighting during their commander’s absence, out to accompany Patroklos.

Ø

Aristeia - Patroclus

now slaughters every Trojan he encounters. Patroclus soon spears Sarpedon,

Zeus’s son, and both sides fight over his armour.

Ø

Achilles had told Patroklos to not go

to Troy but to come back to the ships straightway. Patroklos disobeys this and

follows the retreating Trojans to Troy.

Ø

Hubris – Patroklos kills Cebriones

Ø

Apollo sneaks up

behind Patroklos and wounds him, Euphorbus spears him in the back and Hektor

easily finishes him off.

Book

18

v Achilles informed of Patroklos' death – Achilles

seeks revenge and re-joins the battle

Ø Thetis informs Achilles that if he stays home he

is fated to a boring life but if he returns to battle he is fated to death.

Ø Thetis promises new armour, as his was captured

by Hektor when he killed Patroklos, from Hephaestus as he owes Thetis a favour.

v Achilles shows himself to turn back Trojans, night

falls, ending the battle

Ø

Achilles

(at the suggestion of Hera) appears at the Achaian trench and shouts his

ferocious war cry – he can’t join the battle yet as he has no armour yet and

his mother wont allow him to fight without it

v Assembly of Trojans; lament of Achilles

Ø

Achilles

vows to kill Hektor and to slaughter twelve Trojan warriors on the funeral pyre

of Patroklos.

v New armour made by Hephaistos, with description

(Shield of Schilles)

Book

19

v

Thetis

brings the armour to Achilles

v

Achilles

and Agamemnon’s reconciliation

Ø

Achilles

calls assembly of Greeks to renounce his wrath

Ø

Agamemnon gives

Achilles the gifts that he promised him should Achilles ever return to battle.

He also returns Briseis.

v

Achilles announces his

intention to go to war at once. Odysseus persuades him to let the army eat

first, but Achilles himself refuses to eat until he has slain Hector. Achilles

mourns for Patroklos along with Briseis.

v

En route to battle Achilles scorns the horses

for leaving Patroklos to die, the horse replies that it was the gods’ fault and

reminds Achilles he has the same fate.

Book

22

v

Battle continues with Hektor alone outside Troy - With the Trojans now secure in their city, Hektor

stands outside the city gates on his ones and prepares to meet Achilles

v Hektor is finally slain by Achilles

Ø

Hektor still wears

Achilles’ old armour, stolen from Patroclus’s dead body, and Achilles knows the

armour’s weak points intimately.

Ø

Hektor 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.

Ø

The other Achaians

gather round and exultantly stab Hector’s corpse.

v

Achilles ties Hector’s

body to the back of his chariot and drags it through the dirt. Priam and Hekabe

witness the devastation of their son’s body and wail with grief.

Ø

Andromache, who was

preparing a bath for Hektor upon his return, 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

23

v Achilles and the Myrmidons

drive their chariots in a ritual procession around the bier of Patroklos.

Ø Achilles refused to let

the men remove their armour upon returning to the camp and commanded them to

bid farewell to Patroklos first.

v

Achilles mourns by the

corpse +promises to sacrifice 12 Trojans in Patroklos’ honour

Ø

he refuses to wash

until he has buried Patroklos.

v

The ghost of Patroklos appears to him. Patroklos

asks Achilles to burn his body quickly as his spirit can't be accepted into the

underworld until his body has been disposed of.

Ø Patroklos is aware that Achilles will die soon so he

wants their ashes and bones to be buried together.

v Patroklos’ funeral

Ø Achilles

cuts off a lock of hair he had planned to give to the River Spercheios and

gives it to Patroklos

Ø Achilles

slaughters a great many animals on the pyre—plus the 12 Trojan prisoners.

Ø Achilles

boasts to Patroklos how he will feed Hektor to the dogs.

v Achilles

holds funeral games in honour of Patroklos.

Ø The events include boxing, wrestling, running, dueling, discus

throwing, spear throwing,

archery, and a chariot race.

Ø Prizes (geras) are

awarded including: cauldrons, tripods, horses, mules, cattle, grey iron and

women.

§ Chariot race – A woman skilled in handcraft and a tripod with handles

holding 22 measures (1st place), a mare 6 years old pregnant with a

mule foal (2nd place), a cauldron holding 4 measures (3rd

place), 2 talents of gold (4th place), a two-handled bowl (5th

place)

§ Diomedes = 1st , Antilochus = 2nd ,

Menelaos = 3rd , Meriones = 4th , Eumelos = 5th

BUT Achilles takes pity on Eumelos as he was

winning at the start of the race and gives him 2nd place prize and

gives Antilochus an extra prize – a bronze and tin corselet taken from

Asteropaios – to appease him. Achilles gives Nestor the 5th place

prize as a gift.

· Nestor warned Antilochus about the course and told him to

go really close to the turning post + told him to prioritise racing skilfully

as his horses were the slowest. This caused issues as the turning post was on a

narrow section and Antilochus almost collided with Menelaos which enraged

Menelaos because Antilochus refused to slow down. To remedy his anger

Antilochus gave

Menelaos the mare he won.

§ Boxing – A 6-year-old, female, hard-working mule (1st

place), a two-handled cup (2nd place)

· Epeios volunteered + Euryalos was the only one brave

enough to compete with him.

· Epeios = 1st , Euryalos = 2nd +

very badly beaten up

§ Wrestling – a great tripod valued at 12 oxen (1st

place), a woman skilled in handcraft valued at 4 oxen (2nd place)

· Aias vs Odysseus – they both won as Achilles stopped the

fight since he did not want either of them to get injured as the war was still

going on and so they shared the prizes

§ Foot-race – A silver mixing bowl holding 6 measures (1st

place), a great oxen rich in fat (2nd place), half a talent of gold

(3rd place)

· Odysseus = 1st , Aias = 2nd ,

Antilochus = 3rd

· Antilochus complimented Achilles so was rewarded an extra

half-talent of gold

§ Duel – A sword with a silver nailed hilt taken from

Asteropaios (1st place), Sarpedon’s armour – shield, helmet + a

long-shadowed spear (for both contestants to share), a fine feast in Achilles’

hut (for both contestants)

· Diomedes = 1st , Aias = 2nd

§ Discus – a lump of pig-iron used as a discus (1st

place)

· Polypoites = 1st , Aias = 2nd , Leonteus

= 3rd , Epeios = 4th

§ Archery – Blue-grey iron - 10 double-edged axes (1st

place), 10 single-edged axes (2nd place)

· Teukros drew the lot which gave him the right to first

shot – her hit the crod which caused the dove to fly away but Meriones still

hit the bird with help from Apollo

· Meriones = 1st , Teukros = 2nd

§ Spear-throwing – A cauldron untouched by fire with a flower pattern (1st

place), a long-shadowed spear (2nd place)

· Agamemnon vs Meriones – they do not even have the

competition because Agamemnon will obviously win

· Agamemnon = 1st , Meriones = 2nd

Book

24

v Achilles keeps

mourning, drags body of Hektor around the tomb of Patroklos 3 times each day

v Council of

gods, decision to instruct Achilles to ransom corpse, instruct Priam to go to

Achilles

Ø

The gods (besides Hera Poseidon and Athene) take

pity on Hektor and consider sending Hermes to steal Hektor’s corpse

v Priam travels

to Achilles' tent, protected by Hermes – Escorted by the god Hermes, Priam and an old servant

enter the Achaian camp that night, unseen.

v Priam

supplicates Achilles; they dine together, Priam told to stay the night.

Ø

Achilles

even oversees the preparations of Hektor's body and also grants the Trojans a

12-day truce so that they have sufficient time to conduct Hektor's funeral

rites.

v Priam aroused

before dawn by Hermes and leaves secretly, arriving at Troy at dawn; mourning

for Hektor.

v Trojans gather

wood for pyre.

v Cremation of

Hektor.

v Gathering of

bones, burial.