Rodney Merrill speaks about his translation of the Iliad.
Achilles keeps dragging Hektor; angered, Zeus says he must give up the body; with Hermes’ aid Priam goes to ransom it; they meet, Achilles restrains the battle, and Hektor is buried.
In sleep, Achilles sees Patróklos; he mourns; the winds light the pyre. He holds funeral games: chariot-race, boxing, wrestling, foot-race, spear-fight, hurling a lump, archery, and spear-throw.
His parents beg Hektor to come into the city; Hektor refuses and Achilles chases him; Athena deceives Hektor into stopping; Achilles strikes him, rejects his dying plea, and drags him by his ankles; the women wail.
Achilles kills many men in the river, who begs him to stop; refused, he attacks and chases him; Hera sends Hephaistos to quell the river; the gods oppose each other; the Trojans go into the city.
Zeus sends the gods to aid both sides; Achilles speaks and fights with Aineías, whom Poseidon saves, then faces Hektor, whom Apollo saves, but Achilles keeps on rampaging and killing.
Receiving the arms, Achilles renounces his wrath; Agamemnon blames Delusion, which harms even Zeus, and gives both gifts and girl to Achilles, who arms; the horse Xanthos foretells his death.
Achilles, Thetis, and sea-nymphs lament the heroes’ death; Achilles rescues Patróklos’ body; at Thetis’ request, Hephaistos makes arms for her son, including an elaborate shield.
Achaians and Trojans battle over Patroklos’ body; Hektor dons Achilles’ armor; with gods aiding, both sides rally; Achilles’ horses weep; Meneláos sends Antílochos to tell Achilles.
Yielding to Patroklos’ plea, Achilles sends him out with the Mÿrmidons; he kills Sarpédon and routs the Trojans; Apollo takes the body, rouses Hektor, and helps him kill Patróklos.
Awakening, Zeus sends Iris to stop Poseidon and orders Apollo to aid the Trojans; Hektor fights Ajax, then leads his army against the ships with fire; Ajax, ranging the decks, repels them.
Poseidon encourages the Achaian lords to keep fighting; Hera plots to make Zeus sleep, aiding Poseidon, who marshals the Achaians; struck down, Hektor revives; the Achaians prevail.
Poseidon aids the Achaians; leaders of both sides battle; at the ships the Ajaxes hold off Hektor, who decides to retreat, but, emboldened by Paris, answers Ajax’s jeers and leads on.
Battle rages at the wall, which gods later will destroy; the Trojans keep attacking, despite an omen; Sarpedon speaks to Glaukos; Ajax and Teukros fight, and Hektor breaks the gate.
Agamemnon rampages and is wounded; Paris and Sokos wound Diomédes, Odysseus, Macháon, and Eurÿpylos; Achilles sends Patróklos to question Nestor, who urges him to enter the battle.
At a night council the Achaians dispatch spies, Diomédes and Odysseus, who capture and kill the Trojan spy Dolon, then slaughter Rhesos and his Thracian troops and report back.
Heeding Nestor’s rebuke, Agamemnon offers gifts to Achilles if he will yield; Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoinix bear the message and plead with him; he relents—he will stay but not fight.
Zeus keeps the gods away; the Achaians flee the Trojans’ attack but defend the wall; Hera and Athena plan to aid them, but Zeus forbids it; at night the Trojans build watchfires.
Hektor challenges the Achaian lords; Agamemnon restrains Meneláos, Ajax is chosen, the fight is halted; Paris will not return Helen; the dead are buried, the Achaians build defenses.
Without any gods the battle continues; Agamemnon kills Adréstos; Diomédes and Glaukos talk and exchange armor; in Troy Hektor encounters Hékabè, Helen, Paris, and Andrómachè.
