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Background for The Iliad's story line begins with
the angry goddess Eris, (Discord) who was not invited to the
wedding of Peleus and Thetis (Achilles' parents); she planed
revenge and threw a golden apple with the inscription "for
the fairest" in the wedding feast. All the goddess present
claimed it for themselves, but the choice came down to
three: Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. They asked Zeus to make
the final decision, but he wisely refused.
Instead, Zeus sent them to Mount Ida, where the handsome
youth Paris was tending his father's flocks. Priam had sent
the prince away from Troy because of a prophecy that Paris
would one day bring doom to the city. Each of the three
goddesses offers Paris a bribe if he will name her the
fairest: Hera promises to make him lord of Europe and Asia;
Athena promises to make him a great military leader and let
him rampage all over Greece; and Aphrodite promises that he
will have for his wife the most beautiful woman in the
world. From then on both Hera and Athena are dead-set
against him, and against the Trojans in general.
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Nicholas Poussin; French (1594-1665)
Venus and Adonis ca. 1628; oil on canvas; 30"x 39 3/4" Walter H.
Kimball, Georgianna Sayles Aldrich, Mary B. Jackson, Edgar J. Lownes
and Jesse Metcalf Funds 54.186
The most beautiful woman in the world at the time si Helen, a
daughter of Zeus and Leda. Helen is already married to Menelaus, the
king of Sparta. Helen's adoptive father Tyndareus had required all
the men who wanted to marry her swear a solemn oath that they would
all come to the assistance of Helen's eventual husband should he ever
need their help.
Paris visits Menelaus in Sparta and abducts Helen, taking her back
to Troy with him, seemingly with her active cooperation. Paris also
takes a large part of Menelaus' fortune. This was a serious breach of
the laws of hospitality, which held that guests and hosts owed very
specific obligations to each other. In particular, the male guest was
obligated to respect the property and wife of his host as he would
his own.
Menelaus, his brother Agamemnon, and all the rest of Helen's
original suitors, invite others to join them on an expedition to Troy
to recover Helen. An armada of some 1,200 ships eventually sails to
Troy, where the Achaeans fight for years to take the city, and engage
in skirmishes and plundering raids on nearby regions. The story opens
in the tenth year of the war.
Book I: The Wrath of Achilles
Agamemnon offends Chryses, the priest of Apollo, by refusing to
ransom back his daughter. Apollo sends a plague on the Achaeans in
retribution. At a gathering of the whole army, Agamemnon agrees to
give the girl back but demands another woman as compensation, and
takes Briseis, Achilles' concubine.
Achilles is enraged and pulls his whole army out of the war. In
addition, he prays to his mother, the goddess Thetis, to beg Zeus to
avenge his dishonor by supporting the Trojans against the Achaean
forces. Zeus agrees, though not without angering his wife, Hera.
Book II: Agamemnon's Dream and the Catalogue of
Ships
Zeus sends a false prophetic dream to Agamemnon, indicating that
if he will rouse the army march on Troy, he can capture the city that
very night. As a test, Agamemnon calls another assembly and suggests
instead that the whole army pull up its tents and sail back home.
This turns out to be a very bad idea. The troops rush away to get
ready for the voyage home and their leaders have a very hard time
restoring them to order. The army is eventually mobilized for war,
and a catalogue (reread the Time Table who's who guest list in The
Great Gatsby) of the Achaean and Trojan forces involved in the
fight follows.
Book III: The Duel between Paris and
Menelaus
In what is most likely a flashback episode, a truce is called so
that Menelaus and Paris can meet in single combat, the winner to take
Helen and all her treasure home with him. Solemn oaths are sworn by
both sides to abide by the outcome of the duel. Helen watches the
fight with King Priam from the walls of Troy and points out the chief
leaders of the opposing forces. Just as Menelaus is on the point of
killing Paris, his protector, the goddess Aphrodite, takes him safely
out of the battle and back to his bedroom in Troy.
Book IV: The Truce is Broken
Hera schemes with some of the other gods and goddesses to break
the truce. Athena tricks Pandarus, an ally of the Trojans, into
shooting an arrow at Menelaus, wounding him slightly. General
fighting breaks out again.
Book V: The Aristeia
Helped by Athena, Diomedes sweeps across the battlefield, killing
and wounding Trojans by the dozens. He even wounds the goddess
Aphrodite when she tries to rescue her son Aeneas, and the war god
Ares, when he tries to rally the Trojan forces. NB: aristeia
is a Greek word which means a particular character demonstrates
exceptional valor or merit.
Book VI Hector Returns to Troy
While hacking his way through the Trojans, Diomedes meets Glaucus,
the grandson of a man his own grandfather had hosted, which makes
them "guest-friends" who cannot harm or fight against each other.
Meanwhile, Hector has gone back to Troy to urge his mother to offer a
sacrifice to Athena in an attempt to win back her favor for the
Trojans. He then meets his wife and baby son on the wall of Troy
before getting Paris and taking him back to the battle.
Book VII: The Greeks Build a Wall
Hector and Paris return to the fighting, and Hector challenges one
of the Achaeans to a duel. Ajax is chosen, but the outcome of the
fight is indecisive. As night falls, arrangements are made for a
truce to allow the dead on both sides to be collected and buried.
During this truce, the Achaeans fortify their camp.
Book VIII: The Trojans Gain the Upper
Hand
When the fighting resumes after the burial truce, Zeus forbids the
other gods to interfere any further in the course of the war. He
himself begins actively assisting the Trojans. Things go very badly
for the Achaeans all day, and they retire behind their new
fortifications for the night, while the Trojans camp out on the plain
before them, to be ready for battle first thing the following
morning.
Book IX: The Embassy to Achilles
At the urging of several of his advisers, Agamemnon sends an
embassy to Achilles and offers to give Briseis back, and promises
greater rewards to come when Troy is finally conquered. Since
Agamemnon has not apologized for taking Briseis, Achilles refuses to
sail home with his army the next morning.
Book X: A Night Raid
Agamemnon spends a restless night, and eventually decides to send
a spy into the Trojan camp to see what can be learned. Diomedes and
Odysseus are chosen from among volunteers. They capture a Trojan spy
sent to reconnoiter their own camp and, based on information they get
from him, the two men kill the newly arrived Thracian king Rhesus
with some of his men and make off with a team of horses.
Book XI: The Aristeia of Agamemnon
When fighting resumes the following morning, Agamemnon gets his
day of glory, but eventually is wounded (as are many of the other
leading fighters in his army). The Trojans push their opponents back
to the wall of the camp and Achilles sends his friend Patroclus to
find out what is happening. Nestor meets Patroclus on this errand,
and urges him to get Achilles to come back to the fighting or,
failing that, to borrow Achilles' armor himself and masquerade as his
friend in an attempt to trick the Trojans into giving the Achaeans
some breathing room.
Book XII: The Trojans Break Through
Before Patroclus can get back to Achilles' tent, the Trojans break
through the fortification wall and head for the beached ships,
intending to burn them and so prevent the Achaeans from returning
home.
Book XIII: The Battle for the Ships
The fighting rages up and down the beach, and the Achaeans are
barely able to keep the Trojans away from their ships. Zeus leaves
Mount Ida temporarily, and Poseidon covertly assists the Achaeans.
Ajax, with Poseidon's help, manages to halt Hector's advance.
Book XIV: Hera Distracts Zeus
Here schemes to distract Zeus while Poseidon helps the Achaean
forces. She entices her husband into making love on top of Mount Ida.
As the two of them sleep after their lovemaking, Poseidon continues
to help the Achaeans, who drive the Trojans back from the ships. In
the fighting, Ajax stuns Hector but does not quiet kill him.
Book XV: The Achaeans at Bay
When Zeus wakes up and discovers what has been going on, he forces
Poseidon out of the fighting. This swings the balance back toward the
Trojans, who once more drive their opponents back to the ships and
try to set fire to them.
Book XVI: Patroclus Fights and Dies
Patroclus finally gets back to Achilles, who lets his friend
borrow his distinctive armor and his troops against the Trojans.
Achilles warns him, however, not to pursue Hector or to get too close
to the city itself. As Patroclus is putting on Achilles' armor,
Hector sets fire to the first of the ships. When Patroclus and the
Myrmidons enter the battle, the Trojans fall back and Patroclus has
his aristeia, killing many Trojans, including Sarpedon, a son
of Zeus himself.
Patroclus ignores Achilles' advice and pursues Hector and the
Trojans all the way back to the walls of Troy. There he is confronted
by Apollo, who stuns and disarms him. The Trojan Euphorbus wounds
Patroclus, and Hector finishes him off, but not before Patroclus
prophesies Hector's own impending death.
Book XVII: The Aristeia of Menelaus
Hector strips Achilles' armor from Patroclus' body. He tries to
take the body as well, but the Achaeans fight him off, led by
Menelaus. Helped by Ajax, Menelaus distinguishes himself in the
fighting against Hector and Aeneas.
Book XVIII: The Shield of Achilles
Achilles hears the news of Patroclus' death and vows to revenge
himself on Hector for the injury. His mother tells him that if he
kills Hector, his own death will follow shortly, but Achilles insists
he will have revenge. She asks the god Hephaestus to forge new armor,
including a richly worked shield for Achilles.
Book XIX: Achilles is Reconciled with
Agamemnon
Prodded by Odysseus, Achilles agrees to a formal reconciliation
with Agamemnon and accepts the gifts he is offered in recompense for
Agamemnon's slight, but vows not to eat or drink until he has
revenged Patroclus' death by killing Hector. He puts on his new
armor, and his immortal horse Xanthus foretells his coming death.
Book XX: The Gods Themselves go to
Battle
Zeus gives the gods permission to interfere in the fighting again,
which they do with great enthusiasm. Achilles goes on a rampage
against the Trojans, and only direct divine intervention saves anyone
who is unlucky enough to turn up in his path.
Book XXI: Achilles and the River
Scamander
Achilles continues to hack his way through the Trojan ranks.
Eventually he kills so many that the river is clogged with corpses.
The river god attempts to drown Achilles, but is balked by
Hephaestus. Achilles eventually crosses the river and moves on toward
Troy, where he is diverted by Apollo just long enough to allow the
Trojans (except for Hector) to pull back behind the city walls.
Book XXII: The Death of Hector
Hector stands outside the gates, debating whether to stand and
fight Achilles or to retreat within the city himself. As he ponders,
Achilles approaches and begins to chase him around the city walls.
After the third circuit of the city, Apollo withdraws his protection
from Hector. Athena, taking the form of one of Hector's brothers,
tricks him into fighting Achilles, who kills him. Still enraged,
Achilles ties Hector's body to his chariot and drags it back to the
Achaean camp, as Hector's family watches in horror from the walls of
Troy.
Book XXIII: The Funeral of Patroclus
Patroclus' ghost comes to Achilles at night and asks him for a
speedy burial. The next day, his friend gives him a magnificent
funeral, complete with memorial games, at which Achilles
presides.
Book XXIV: Hector's Body is Recovered and
Buried
On the orders of Zeus and with the protection of Hermes, Priam
makes his way to Achilles' camp at night to ransom back the body of
his son. Achilles is moved to pity the old man and makes him
comfortable after agreeing to accept the ransom he offers for
Hector's body. Achilles guarantees the Trojans a suitable amount of
time to prepare for and conduct Hector's funeral.
Content for the above was copied and gleaned from a great teaching
resourse: Novels for Students, Volumes 1-12. Comp. and Ed.
Elizabeth Thomason. Michigan: Gale Group, 1999.