SUMMARY OF BOOK ONE OF THE ILIAD Homer begins by saying that the wrath (anger) of Achilles is the theme

of his poem. He says that a big quarrel took place between Achilles the great warrior and Agamemnon the king of the Greeks. He asks "which of the gods caused them to quarrel?" It was Apollo, the archer god who was angry at the treatment of Chryses, his high-priest. Chryseis, his daughter, had been captured in war by Agamemnon and Chryses came to the Greek camp to ask for her return. He wore the crown of Apollo and brought a great ransom. The Greek troops thought it was a good idea to accept it. But Agamemnon was angry at the thought of his girl being taken and he refused. He was very rude to Chryses and threatened to kill him if he came back. Chryses went away, upset, and prayed to the god Apollo for revenge: "Let the Danaans pay with your arrows for my tears". Apollo heard his prayer and swooped down to earth "like nightfall" and rained his arrows on the Greek camp causing a terrible plague which killed animals and men. To find out why the gods were angry, Achilles the great warrior called an assembly of the Greeks. He asked the soothsayer, Calchas to explain Apollo's anger. Calchas agreed to do so but first asked Achilles for protection. Achilles said that no one would do him any harm and that his safety was guaranteed. Calchas announced that the problem was Agamemnon's treatment of Chryses. He said that Apollo would not be satisfied until the girl was returned to her father with expensive gifts. Agamemnon jumped up in a rage, he was seething with anger and shouts at Calchas that he always prophesies bad things for him, never good. He says that he has a right to this girl and can't give her up because then he would be the only one without a prize. So if he gave her up he would have to get another prize in compensation.

Now Achilles intervenes and points out that there is no alternative, Agamemnon will just have to give up the girl and wait for his compensation till later when they have defeated the city of Troy.

SUMMARY OF THE ILIAD BOOK ONE (2)

Agamemnon tells Achilles that he is a great man but that he will not be tricked by him. He says that if the army does not give him another girl instead of Chryseis he will simply come and get someone else's girl. He feels that it is not right that he, the king of all of them should be the only one without a prize. Achilles calls Agamemnon a "shameless schemer, always aiming at a profitable deal" and an "unconscionable cur". He wonders why anyone bothers to obey him as he takes the biggest share of the loot. He points out that the Trojans never did him any harm and that the only reason he is fighting is that Agamemnon asked him to. He threatens to go home and leave the fighting. Agamemnon then gets up to speak. He says to Achilles that he can go home if he wants, "I am not begging you to stay". He goes on to say that Achilles is the most disloyal and disrespectful of all the princes and adds "To you violence and fighting are the breath of life...your anger leaves me cold". Now he says that Briseis, Achilles' prize is the girl he plans to take to replace Chryseis who will be sent back to her father. Achilles is devastated by this. He has his hand on his sword, ready to kill Agamemnon when, prompted by Hera, Athene arrives down to persuade him not to do anything drastic. Seen only by Achilles, she urges him to "sting him with words instead" of killing him. She promises he will be rewarded later on. Achilles knows that he must obey the gods so he puts his sword back and speaks instead. Achilles swears an oath that the day will come when Agamemnon will regret his treatment of him. On that day the Achaeans will fall in their hundreds to Hector, killer of men. Now Nestor stands up. He is the oldest and wisest of the Greeks

and the King of Pylos. He tries to mediate between the two men and to get them to compromise. He reminds them that great men have listened to his advice in the past and says that the Trojans would be delighted to hear the two best men in the Greek camp arguing. He urges Agamemnon not to take Achilles' girl as they all relied on his strength on the battlefield. He tells Achilles that he should have more respect for Agamemnon, his king. But neither man is prepared to listen. Agamemnon says that Achilles is trying to lord it over them all and that he will not accept it. Achilles responds that if Agamemnon tries to take anything else of his besides Briseis, he will kill him. The assembly breaks up and Chryseis is brought back to her father on one of the ships by Odysseus and his men. They celebrate a big sacrifice to Apollo to appease his anger and Chryses prays to the god to stop the plague. Meanwhile Agamemnon sends two unwilling heralds to fetch Briseis from Achilles' hut. In fact he is nice to them and says that he realises that it is not their fault. She is upset when she leaves him. Now Achilles calls on his mother, Thetis, and tells her how he has been insulted. She weeps for him and agrees to his request. She laments the fact that he is destined to live a short life and now he is being insulted as well. Achilles says for her to remind Zeus of a favour he owes her (she once warned him of a plot by the other gods to overthrow him and got the hundred armed monster, Briareus, to protect him and get him to agree to give the Trojans the upper hand in war). She goes to Zeus and reminds him of the favour. Although he knows Hera will not be happy, he agrees to let the Trojans have the upper hand in war. The chapter ends with a big feast on Olympus where Hephaestion cheers up all the gods.