The Iliad

The Iliad Summary | Book 1 Summary

Homer's Iliad begins during the tenth year of the Trojan War and opens, like most epic poems, with a request for inspiration from the appropriate muse. We are told from the beginning that the story is going to be about the "rage" or "anger" of Achilles, the greatest warrior in Achaia (Greece). Homer then relates the origin of this anger.

In an earlier raid against the Trojans, two beautiful women were captured and kept as war prizes. Chryseis is awarded to Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army, and Briseis is given to Achilles. Unfortunately, Chryseis happens to be the daughter of a priest of Apollo, and when her father, Chryses, learns she has been taken, he comes to the Achaians to offer a ransom for her return. Agamemnon drives him away harshly and refuses to return Chryseis, so Chryses appeals to Apollo, who strikes the Greeks with a plague. After the army has suffered for nine days, the goddess Hera takes pity on them, and puts the thought in the mind of Achilles to convene an assembly to discuss the matter. When the men were gathered together, Achilles convinces them to consult their own priest, Kalchas, to see what must be done to appease Apollo.

Kalchas knows Agamemnon is not going to like the answer, so before he replies he extracts a promise from Achilles to protect him. As expected, Agamemnon is furious at being named as the reason for the plague. He says he didn't return the girl when he was offered the ransom because he likes Chryseis better than he likes his own wife, but if he returns her now (without a ransom) he will not have any prize at all from the battle. Achilles reminds Agamemnon that he has had all the best prizes of battle up to the present, and that if he gives the girl back, the rest of the Greeks will see to it that he will be greatly rewarded after the next one as well. This fails to persuade Agamemnon. He warns that if he has to give up his prize, he'll take that of Achilles, or of Aias or Odysseus.

Angered, Achilles calls him shameless and greedy for profit, and threatens to take his men and his ships and go home, leaving Agamemnon to fight without his help. Agamemnon counters that he doesn't need Achilles, but he has now decided he will take Briseis, and return Chryseis to her father. This announcement makes Achilles even angrier and he is on the point of drawing his sword to kill Agamemnon. The goddess Hera sends Athena at this point to stop him, promising that someday he will receive three times the prize he is now giving up if he will put away his sword. Achilles obeys, but the heated argument continues between the two men. At this point, a wise old leader from Pylos named Nestor appeals to both of them, advising them not to dishonor each other. He suggests Agamemnon should not take Achilles' prize, and that Achilles should not be disrespectful of the sceptered king (Agamemnon) whose power was given by Zeus.

Nestor's advice is not taken by either party; after a few more words that are contentious, the two men part ways. Agamemnon makes arrangements to send Chryseis home accompanied by Odysseus, and Achilles returns to his ships. He is followed by Talthybios and Eurybates, henchmen sent by Agamemnon to bring Briseis back with them. They find Achilles brooding by the sea, and are afraid to tell him their errand. Achilles knows why they have been sent, however, and tells them he bears them no ill will, he holds only Agamemnon to blame. He tells his comrade, Patroklos to release Briseis to them, and she goes unwillingly while Achilles sits sorrowfully by the sea and calls out to his mother, who is Thetis, the sea nymph. She emerges to sit beside him as he tells her his sorrows, and when she has heard them, she promises she will speak to Zeus on behalf of Achilles as soon as the god returns from a feast in Ethiopia in twelve days.

As soon as the twelfth day comes, Thetis leaves early in the morning for Olympus to entreat Zeus. She convinces him to take the side of the Trojans against the Greeks in the war, until the Greeks return honor to Achilles, giving him back his rights. Zeus knows this course of action will not sit well with his wife, Hera, who dislikes it when he helps the Trojans. Nevertheless, he agrees to do this for Thetis, and silences Hera later when she questions him about his pact with the sea nymph.