Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part B

(Achilles slays Hector; source: Wikipedia)

Plot:

• In the fight for Patroclus' body, Hector manages to strip Achilles' armor off the dead body. Hector retreats when he says the Greater Ajax standing before Patroclus to protect him. When Glaucus criticizes Hector for being a coward, Hector wears Achilles armor and rouses the Trojans. Menelaus, fearing for the plight of the Greeks, sends Antilochus to tell Achilles of Patroclus' fate.
• After hearing of Patroclus' death, Achilles is tortured with sadness and guilt and curses his pride for causing him to feud with Agamemnon. Thetis warns her son that if he kills Hector, his own death will follow soon after. Achilles swears to avenge his friend no matter the cost and Thetis tells him that she will ask Hephaestus to forge new arms for Achilles the following day. Zeus gives Achilles the idea to stand by the trenches and roar to spark fear in the Trojans and cause them to retreat. The plan works and the Trojans retreat. However, at Hector's suggestion, they don't retreat into the walls of the city.
• The next day, Achilles fights fiercely at battle causing the Trojans to retreat behind city walls. In order to help the Trojans, Apollo disguises himself as Agenor, a Trojan warrior, so that Achilles will pursue him while the Trojans retreat safely. Hector is the only Trojan outside the city walls and his father, King Priam, prays that he should retreat to safety.
• Despite his parents' pleas, Hector choses to remain outside the gates and ponders what he can do when Achilles arrives. He decides to face him head on in battle but flees when he sees Achilles approaching. The two men run around the city three times while the gods ponder what to do and ultimately decide let fate take Hector's life. Still, Apollo gives Hector strength to run but Athena tells Achilles that victory will be his.
• Athena tricks Hector into confronting Achilles by taking on the form of Deiphobus. Hector tries to strike a deal with Achilles such that the victor with return the body of the loser to his comrades. A furious Achilles dismisses this idea and begins fighting with Hector. Hector discovers that Athena has tricked him but wishes to die an honorable death. Achilles kills Hector as he charges towards him and then ties Hector to his chariot to drag back to the Greek ships. When Andromache sees this, she faints at the wall.
• Zeus tells Thetis to convince Achilles of accepting a ransom for Hector's body. At the same time, Zeus sends a messenger to Priam asking him to go to Achilles' camp to give him treasures in exchange for his son's body. With Hermes' protection, Priam manages to reach Achilles' tent undetected by the Greeks.
• Priam begs Achilles to accept the ransom and Achilles agrees. After ordering the anointment of Hector's body, Achilles eats and drinks with Priam and is reminded of his own father Peleus. Priam asks to sleep, for he is tired, and is granted permission to do so. Hermes wakes Priam up, lest the Greeks discover him. After a nine day truce between the Greeks and the Trojans, Hector is given a great burying.

Characters:

• Apollo - favors the Trojans, interferes in battle often to trick the Greeks
• Priam - king of Troy and father to Hector, loves Hector and thinks of him as his favorite son

Style:

• Descriptive writing is often written in past tense: "Very fierce was the fight for the body of Patroclus"
• One of my favorite lines in the Iliad is the comparison Achilles draws between Hector and himself and men and lions.

Bibliography. The Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907).