Homer's Iliad was a great story and was unlike the Ovid unit that I read in the sense that it was one big story rather than many small ones. This made the reading very intriguing and I read it much faster than I planned! The only strange thing I noticed in the story was the theme of the number 9. Anytime a number was given it was 9 men being killed at a time, or a 9 day truce, etc. Surely this isn't coincidence?
Helen was the daughter of the King of Sparta and had many
suitors. The King made them all promise to be good friends with whoever married
her and that if she was ever stolen away they would all help get her back.
Helen chose Menelaus as her suitor, who was the brother of
Agamemnon. Helen’s father eventually died and Menelaus became the King of
Sparta. One day a prince named Paris came to Sparta whose father was the King
of Troy. Paris stole Helen along with gold and other valuables.
The previous suitor’s of Helen kept their oath and agreed to
help Menelaus and Agamemnon find Helen. Most notably of those who came to help
was Achilles, the “bravest and strongest of all the Greeks.”
After 9 years of unsuccessfully attacking the city of Troy
and its massive walls, some of the Greek fighters left to go loot other cities,
starting a massive fight.
One of the cities that were looted happened to be where the
priest of the god Apollo resided. Agamemnon stole the priest’s daughter and
refused to give her back even after the priest offered him gold. The priest
prayed to Apollo and then Apollo came and began killing the Greek soldiers and
their animals as well.
After 9 days of this, Achilles called a meeting and then they
learn why Apollo had been so mad. Achilles decides to go home because he is fed
up with the greedy Agamemnon and gets so mad that he attempts to kill him. He
is stopped by the goddess Athene and told that eventually he will get the best
of Agamemnon.
As promised for walking out on the fight, Agamemnon sends
men to retrieve Briseis, the woman who was given to Achilles. Saddened,
Achilles cries out to his mother Thetis and tells her to go inform Zeus of what
the Greeks have done, as well as to assist the Trojans.
Thetis goes to Zeus and asks that he assist the Trojans in
battle so the Greeks realize that they need Achilles. Zeus agrees to help even
though it will anger his wife, Hera. Hera does in fact get upset, mostly because
his promise will cause many Greeks to die. Zeus decided that the best way to
help the Trojans was to have Agamemnon dream that if he goes to battle, even
without Achilles, he will win.
Agamemnon follows his dream and begins a war with the
Trojans. This story picks up with Hector, the brother of Paris and leader of
the Trojan soldiers, leaving the battle and trying to convince Paris to come
join the fight. Paris agrees and Hector leaves to go find his wife, Andromache.
He is informed that she is gone and went to watch the battle. Andromache sees Hector as he is about to go
back into battle and tries to convince him not to go. We then learn that
Achilles has killed Hector’s father as well as all of his brothers during the
war. Hector goes to battle anyway but first prays to the gods that his son will
become even a greater warrior than he is. Hector and Paris then join the battle
together.
Agamemnon eventually realizes that the Greeks need Achilles
in order to win the war and sends some men to go persuade him to come back.
Achilles greets the men and joins them for a feast. After the feast the men
tell Achilles why they have come and offer him all of the gifts that they
brought with. Achilles once again talks about how he slaved day after day to
conquer cities and bring riches back to Agamemnon and that he would keep all
the riches for himself even though he did none of the fighting. Achilles
refuses to join the fight and says that he will sail back to his homeland the
next day.
Achilles continues to refuse to fight and his friend
Patroclus begins to ask him if he can go fight while wearing Achilles’s armor
so the Trojans think it’s him. Achilles agrees and allows Patroclus to use his
armor and warns him not go near the city walls. The Trojans make it all the way
to the sea and start burning Greek ships, so Achilles sends Patroclus and 50
ships carrying 50 Myrmidons each.
Once Patroclus gets to the battle, the tides start to turn
and some Trojans, including Hector, flee back to Troy. After Patroclus kills one of the Trojan’s
bravest men, the Trojans rally and Hector decides that the man in Achilles’s
armor must be Patroclus and then he goes to fight him. Hector kills Patroclus,
but only after the god Apollo weakens him.
After Patroclus dies, there is a great fight for his body.
Hector takes the armor of Achilles and puts it on himself. Hector also tried to
take Achilles’s horses and chariot, but Zeus did not allow this. Antilochus is
sent to go tell Achilles of his friend’s death.
After hearing the news, Achilles is so enraged that he says
he will return to battle. Achilles stands in a trench wearing the shield of
Athene and shouts to the Trojans. They
get scared and retreat from the battle. The Greeks then finally claim the body
of Patroclus.
After receiving new armor, Achilles returns to the
battlefield the next day and picks up exactly where he left off. Apollo
intervenes with the battle and takes the form of a man Achilles was chasing.
Achilles cannot catch Apollo and eventually Apollo reveals himself and the fact
that all of the Trojans safely fled into the city during their chase.
Hector is the only remaining Trojan outside of the wall and
as Achilles approaches he begins to run. Achilles chases Hector around the city
and the gods talk about which they should allow to live. Even though Apollo was
helping Hector, Achilles eventually kills Hector with the help of the gods.
Hector’s last wish is for Achilles to give his body back to
his father and mother, but instead Achilles has his horses drag Hector back to
the Greek ships.
Hector’s father, Priam, goes to Achilles and tries to offer
Achilles gifts in exchange for Hector’s body. Achilles agrees and then eats
with Priam in his tent. Priam also asks for a 9-day truce in the fighting, and
Achilles agrees. After 9 days Hector’s funeral is held and the story ends.
