The poem begins with the poet calling on the Muse to sing of the wrath of Achiles and its consequence. Apollo¡¯s priest Chryses comes to the Achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter Chryseis, who has been captured. Agamemnon sends him rudely away, and Chryses prays to Apollo to punish the Greeks, which Apollo does by sending a plague upon them. The plague claims many lives, and a counsel is held to determine how to stop it. Through the advice of a seer, the Greeks agree that the return of Chryses is the only way to appease the anger of Apollo and stop the plague from taking even more lives. Agamemnon, however, does not give up his prize willingly, and insists that some other ¡°prize¡± should be given in exchange. He demands Briseis, the woman given to Achilles in the same siege. Achilles is so angry with Agamemnon for taking Briseis that he immediately withdraws himself and his troops from the fighting with Troy. He also asks his mother, the goddess Thetis, to plead with Zeus to help him avenge the wrong. Zeus agrees to assist the Trojans in their attack on the Achaians, thus showing Agamemnon that Achilles is a indispensable man, who would be the pivot to succeed in battle.

ffair, which led to the death not only of Hector the Trojan leader, but also, first, of Achilles¡¯ companion Patroclus. It is with these events, varied, tragic, and profound, that the Iliad is concerned.

Agamemnon gathers the rest of his army for a massive attack against the Trojans. The first day of battle opens with a duel between Paris and Menelaos, and a truce among the rest of the armies. After the duel, which ends with Paris being taken out of the battle by Aphrodite, the truce is broken by Pandaros, the Trojan, and the two armies engage in bitter fighting. At the end of the day, there is another duel, this time between Aias and Hector, which is broken up before its end. The two sides retreat, and the Achaians build a wall around their encampment to protect their position and their ships.

Achilles then holds funeral games for Patroclus, giving many great prizes to the victors. Patroclus¡¯s body is mourned and burned in a great pyre. In his grief over his friend, Achilles has been dishonoring the body of Hector, but the gods have kept it from mutilation. Zeus decides that Achilles must be convinced to ransom the body and Achilles readily agrees. Priam is secretly guided by the gods to Achilles to request his son¡¯s body in exchange for a great ransom. Achilles has pity on the old man, and returns the body. The Trojans then bury Hector.

Another man in this poem resembles Achilles is Agamemnon, who is the leader of the Greek army and the son of Atreus and the brother of Menelaos. He resembles Achilles in that he is prideful and prone to anger, even more so than Achilles. Agamemnon gives way to arrogance. He demands that Achilles relinquish his war prize, Briseis, causing Achilles to withdraw angrily from battle, leaving the Greek army open to attack. Both men are equally to blame for the carnage this situation causes. While Achilles¡¯s pride flares up after it is injured, Agamemnon inflicts his injured pride on those around him. He stays clear of the worst of battle, but expects the largest share of the prize, and he insists on leading the Greek ar

Some topics in this essay:
Hephaistos Achilles, Achilles Agamemnon, Aias Hector, Patroclus Hector, Greeks Apollo, Achilles Homeric, Achilles Patroclus, King Priam, Homeric Hero, Hector Trojan, greek army, achilles agamemnon, king priam, duel paris, army achilles, rage achilles, resembles achilles, companion patroclus, trojan war, agamemnon achilles,