Summary of Iliad

In the final year and 10

th
year, of the Trojan War, the Achaeans or the Greeks,
led by King Agememnon, had captured two beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis.
Due to the aforementioned fact, the priest Chryses asked King Agamemnon to release
his daughter. Agememnon rebuffed the request which led the priest to pray to Apollo to
send a plague against the Greeks.
The plague led to the death of his men and so Agememnon later consults
Calchas, a soothsayer, which revealed that it was caused by Agamemnons refusal to
the request of the priest Chryses and so the soothsayer suggested to give Chryseis
back to his father. Agamemnon agreed provided that in exchange for Chryseis, he will
take Briseis as compensation for the loss. Briseis was the woman awarded to Achilles,
the best warrior of the Greeks, which led to another conflict. Achilles was insulted by the
act of the seizure of Briseis. He was enraged and refused to fight for the Greeks
anymore. He was so angry that he prayed to his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis that the
Greeks be annihilated. Zeus, the king of the gods, happened to be indebted with Thetis
and so he granted her request.
With the help of Zeus and Achilles being out of the picture, Hector, the champion
of the Trojans and the son of King Priam, drives the Achaeans back to their beached
ships. Several days of ferocious clashes ensue, including duels between Paris and
Menelaus and between Hector and Ajax. Theres still no progress on the part of the
Greeks in this war to that extent that the heroism of the great Achaean warrior
Diomedes became worthless. The Trojans push the Greeks back, forcing them to take
protection behind the ramparts that protect their ships. The Greeks begin to nurture
some hope for the future when a nighttime reconnaissance mission by Diomedes and
Odysseus yields information about the Trojans plans, but the next day brings disaster.
Several Achaean commanders become wounded, and the Trojans break through the
Achaean ramparts. They advance all the way up to the boundary of the Achaean camp
and set fire to one of the ships. Defeat seems imminent, because without the ships, the
army will be stranded at Troy and almost certainly destroyed.
Because of the worsening standing of the Greeks in the war, Patroclus, a
beloved friend of Achilles, begs the latter to do something to help the Greeks. Achilles,
full of his pride still refuses to fight for the Greeks. Patroclus asked Achilles permission
to take his place in the war. Achilles consents and even let his beloved friend wear his
armor.
The presence of Patroclus enabled the Greeks to push the Trojans away from
their ships because when the Trojans saw him, they thought it was Achilles and they
became absolutely terrified. Unfortunately, Hector slays him and claimed Achilles armor
forged by the god Hephaestus. When Achilles found out the death of his friend, he went
berserk with grief and rage. Thetis consoled his son and later asked Hephaestus to
make Achilles a new armor who designed a special shield especially made for the great
warrior. He reconciled with Agamemnon and finally joined the Greeks in the battle
against the Trojans. Returning to the battle means Achilles had accepted his fate his
death.
Meanwhile, Hector, not knowing that Achilles has decided to rejoin the battle,
gave an order to his men to camp outside the walls of Troy. When the Trojan army saw
Achilles, the Trojan warriors fled in terror back behind the city walls. Achilles
slaughtered every Trojan he sees. Strengthened by his rage, he even fights the god of
the river Xanthus, who is angered that Achilles has caused so many corpses to fall into
his streams. Finally, Achilles confronts Hector outside the walls of Troy.
Achilles chased Hector around the city there times until Athena tricked Hector to
stop running and face his opponent. Since Hector is still wearing the old armor of
Achilles, it became a disadvantage. Achilles memorized and knew the armors weak
points and easily killed Hector. 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 Hectors corpse. Achilles
ties Hectors body to the back of his chariot and drags it through the dirt. King Priam and
Queen Hecuba, Hectors parents, witnessed the devastation and barbaric treatment of
their sons corpse and wail with grief.
Achilles continued to abuse Hectors body in gruesome ways until the gods made
King Priam go to Achilles and begs for his son's body. Priam tearfully pleads Achilles
and 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 and so Hector receives a heros funeral back in Troy.