Essay/Term paper: The iliad

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Essays

The Iliad

Stephen Wong

Important Characters:
Agamemnon king of Mycenae; brother of Menelaos
Hektor Prince of Troy; son of Priam and Hekuba
Achilles greatest warrior of the Achaian army
Aias song of Telamon; he has brute strength and
courage
Menelaos husband of Helen; brother of Agamemnon
Paris a prince of Troy; also son of Priam and
Hekuba
Priam King of Troy; very old man
Helen wife of Menelaos; most beautiful woman In
the world
Diomedes one of the best Achaian warriors
Hekuba wife of Priam
Aeneas son of Aphrodite; Trojan
Aphrodite Daughter of Zeus; goddess of love; mother
of Aeneas; patron of Paris; on the Trojans'
side
Athena daughter of Zeus; goddess of wisdom; on
the Achaian side
Ares son of Zeus; god of prophecy, light, poetry,
and music; on the Trojans' side
Zeus supreme god and king of Olympos
Poseidon younger brother of Zeus; god of sea


Chryseis and Briseis who were captured during a raid in Troy are awarded
as "war prizes' to Agamemnon and Achilles. Chryseis for Agamemnon and Briseis
for Achilles. Chryseis is the daughter of Chryses which prays Apollo to help
get back his daughter. Apollo causes a deadly plague in the Achaian camp.
Achilles asked Kalchas to explain the cause of Apollo's anger. Apollo plagued
the Achaians because Agamemnon refused to return Chryseis to her father.
Agamemnon demands Achilles' war prize in place of Chryseis. Achilles because
angry at Agamemnon's demand and withdraws his troops from the Achaian army.
Agamemnon returns Chryseis to her father then collects Briseis from Achilles.
Strangely, Achilles gives him the girl. Then, Achilles decides to tell his
mother about the problem. Achilles asks his mother to ask Zeus to make sure
that the Trojans win. Thetis goes to Zeus and asks and he agrees to help the
Trojans.
Agamemnon has a dream that he can defeat the Trojans so, full of false
hope, he planned a mass assault on Troy. Agamemnon orders his army to prepare
themselves to attack. When the news of the Achaian plan arrived in Troy, Hektor
ordered his troops to meet the Achaians on the plain in front of Troy.
Paris dares any of the Achaian warriors to fight him personally. Then,
Menelaos accepted the challenge. But, Paris is suddenly scared and backs out.
Hektor then fines Paris and scolds him. The agreement was whoever won gets
Helen, then the war would be over. They fight on a large open area between the
armies. Menelaos hurts Paris then Aphrodite saves Paris and brings him to his
bedroom in Troy, where she also brings Helen. Then Agamemnon announces that
Menelaos has won.
Hera wants the complete destruction of Troy so Zeus sends Athena to get
them fighting again. Athena then tempts Pandaros to kill Menelaos, then he
would get great glory. Then, Pandaros stupidly shoots Menelaos with an arrow
and wounds Menelaos. Agamemnon and the Achaians were shocked by this violation
of the truce. The wound is not fatal, but when the surgeon is treating it,
several Trojan regiments begin to attack. Agamemnon immediately orders is army
to fight and the army is cheerfully responding to Agamemnon's praises.
The battle then continues and has an outstanding warrior, Diomedes.
Pandaros then wounds Diomedes and Diomedes asks for Athena's aid. She gives him
more courage, and the advantage of being able to tell between gods and mortals.
She tells him not to fight with any of the gods but Aphrodite. Diomedes kills
many Trojans including Pandaros. Then, he wounds Aeneas and takes his horses as
a war prize. Diomedes is angry at Aphrodite's interference so he wounds her in
the hand. The Achaians are slowly loosing and withdrawing. Hera and Athena
helps the Achaians. Ares complains to Zeus about the bad treatment he got and
Zeus tells him he doesn't care.
No more gods are fighting in the war. The Achaians overpower the
Trojans and drive them back. Diomedes and Glaukos challenge each other to a
personal duel. Later, they discover that they are related form their
grandfathers. Then respectfully exchange their armor. Hektor then finds Paris
to come back to fight. Andromache and Astyanax beg their man not to fight .
Hektor then says it is his duty.
Hektor and Paris rejoin the Trojan army then they battle again. Athena
and Apollo wants to end the day's combat by dueling Hektor to one of the best
Achaian warriors. Telamonian Aias battles with Hektor. No one wins. A short
truce is called for burial of the dead. Zeus plans to end the Trojan War and
warns the gods not to interfere.
The Achaian army seems to be loosing and even King Agamemnon feels bad.
Then, Diomedes convinced the army to stay and fight till Troy is destroyed.
Agamemnon knows that he was wrong when he was unwise about taking Achilles' war
prize and offers to give her back if Achilles rejoins the army, but Achilles
refuses the offer.
Agamemnon is bothered by the fate of the Achaian army so he held a
conference and they send Diomedes and Odysseus to spy on the Trojans. They stop
a man named Dolon and from him they learn the location of Hektor and his staff
and also important information about the Trojan army.
The Achaians then attack but many are wounded therefore the Trojans
start winning. Patroklos dies because Achilles uses him as a substitute.
The Achaians take cover behind their wall. The Trojans can not cross
the Achaian's trench therefore, they attack on foot. An eagle with a serpent
flies over the Trojan army and Poulydamas thinks this is a bad omen and asks
Hektor to retreat, but he refuses. The Trojan army finally knocks the Achaian
wall down and the army storms inside. Zeus has brought the Trojans as far as
defeating the Achaians and he sits back and watches. As Zeus watches, Poseidon
takes this advantage and he disguises himself as Kachas and helps the Achaians.

Achilles lets Patroklos wear his armor and tells Patroklos to only save
the ships. The Trojans believe that Achilles has returned and is going to beat
them up so Hektor and his army decide to retreat back to Troy. Apollo decides
to enter the fighting and he hits Patroklos so hard that his vizored helmet
flies off and then a Trojan soldier pierces him between the shoulders with a
javelin. Hektor sees Patroklos and he stabs Patroklos at the lower part of his
belly.
Hektor takes Patroklos' armor then leaves him naked on the ground. The
Trojans wanted to take the body and mutilate it and the Achaians wanted to give
him a proper funeral ceremony. Two of the best warriors from both armies fight
and along joins Apollo and Athena. Finally, Patroklos' body is safely carried
back to the Achaian camp.
When Achilles finds out that Patroklos died, he gets mad at himself and
sobs. Thetis promises to get new armor for Achilles that was taken by Hektor.
The Trojans follow the Achaians when they take Patroklos' body away so Achilles
appears at the trench and scares the Trojans away. Achilles is very mad at the
sight of Patroklos' dead body so he promises to kill Hektor and twelve Trojan
warriors. Thetis receives new armor from Hephaistos and goes and searches for
her son.
Achilles, mad at Hektor for killing his friend, rejoins the Achaians and
ends the fight he has with Agamemnon. Agamemnon returns Briseis to Achilles
along with many other presents. Achilles knows his fate that he will die in
battle avenging for Patroklos but nothing would prevent him for fighting back.
Zeus tells the gods that they can join in on the sides they wish to help.
Achilles wanted to kill Aeneas but Poseidon rescues him. Achilles doesn't kill
Aeneas so he kills many Trojans.
The god of the river is mad at Achilles for all the bloodshed in the
river's water so he attacks Achilles with waves and currents. Poseidon, Athena,
Hera, and Hephaistos attack the river with fire.
Hektor stands outside the Trojan gates to await Achilles and to fight
with him. When Achilles gets there, Hektor is so afraid he runs away. Finally,
Achilles and Hektor started fighting. Achilles kills Hektor. Then, Achilles
attaches Hektor's naked body to his chariot by the heels and drags the corpse as
he goes. Priam and Hekuba see what Achilles is doing and the moan and groan.
Andromache collapses when she hears the news.
Achilles dreams that Patroklos asks that his funeral be held so that he
can enter the realm of the dead in peace. The next morning, the soldiers got
wood and built a large funeral mound. They place Patroklos's body on the top of
the mound and they sacrifice the twelve Trojan captives. Achilles holds
funeral games in which valuable prizes are awarded. Hektor's body has been
lying on the ground untouched.
For nine days, Achilles drags Hektor's corpse around the dead body of
Patroklos. Zeus then orders that Hektor have a suitable burial. Priam talks to
Achilles and moved him with memories of home and parents so Achilles agrees to
give Priam Hektor's body. Hektor's body is placed on a mound and burned. They
placed his bones in a golden chest, then buried it in a shallow grave.