1. Homer’s Iliad

3. Homer’s poem covers a few weeks late in
the 9th year of the war

4. Book I
The argument between Agamemnon and
Achilles

5. Homer states his theme to be “the wrath
of Achilles,” and begins his story
in media res

6. Apollo had caused a plague to strike the
Greek forces

7. Alarmed for the safety of the troops,
Achilles asked Agamemnon to consult the
seer Calchas
Calchas is afraid to tell Agamemnon the reason
for the plague until Achilles personally
guarantees his safety.

8. Calchas reveals that the problem is due to
Agamemnon’s captured girl

9. Agamemnon’s words to Calchas

11. Chryseis, a girl
awarded to
Agamemnon as a
prize taken when
Achilles sacked her
homeland, is the
daughter of
Chryse, a priest of
Apollo

12. Chryse had
offered to
ransom his
daughter. When
Agamemnon
refused, Chryse
asked Apollo for
justice.

14. Thus, the plague.

16. Agamemnon agrees to give up Chryseis, who is
his concubine, but demands some other
"prize" to replace her. Achilles answers that
another prize will come later, when Troy is
sacked. Agamemnon angrily threatens to take
the captive woman of Achilles or of another of
the Achaian chiefs, and Achilles responds to
this slight by denouncing Agamemnon and
threatening to go home to Phthia.

18. Odysseus returns Chryseis to her father

20. Agamemnon repeats his threat to take Achilles'
prize, and Achilles is about to draw his sword
when Athene appears to him and stops him.

24. Instead of attacking Agamemnon, Achilles
berates him some more, and swears an oath
to stay out of the battle so that the Achaians
can see how important he is. Nestor tries to
reconcile the two chiefs, but without much
success. Achilles agrees to surrender his
captive woman, Briseis, without a fight. When
the messengers from Agamemnon arrive,
Achilles hands her over.

25. Briseis leaves Achilles’ tent

26. Achilles grieving for Briseis

27. Briseis

28. Briseis brought to Agamemnon

29. He then meets with his
mother, Thetis the sea-
nymph, and tells her the
whole story of how he
has been dishonored. He
asks her to convince Zeus
to make the Trojans win
for a while, so the Greeks
will realize how much
they need Achilles.

30. Thetis
supplicates
Zeus, who
agrees with her
request

32. Achilles sulks in his
tent

33. Hera, who favors the
Greeks, expresses her
displeasure over this plan,
but Zeus asserts his
authority and she is
silenced. Hephaestus
comforts his mother Hera,
and soon all the gods are
again at peace, and the
day ends.

34. Book II
Zeus sends Agamemnon a deceitful dream indicating that this is
a good time for the Achaians to attack. Next
morning, Agamemnon summons the chiefs to an assembly and
tells them about the dream. Nestor approves, and the chiefs call
an assembly of the whole army. Agamemnon takes the scepter
and addresses the multitude, telling them that the time has
come to give up the struggle (now in its ninth year) and go
home. The Achaians are delighted by this and rush for the
ships, but Hera sends Athene to intervene. On Athene's
orders, Odysseus goes around stopping the flight. To noble men
he recalls their duty as leaders, and to common soldiers he
asserts the authority of the kings, backed by a blow from the
staff.

35. The Greeks decide to stay. They assemble
for battle.

36. Agamemnon

39. The Greeks decide to stay. They assemble
for battle.

41. Zeus sends Iris to Priam to get the Trojans
stirred up

42. Iris

46. Book II ends with a catalog of Greek and Trojan
troops

49. Book III

50. As the battle begins, Paris sees Menelaus and
shrinks back into the ranks in fear, earning a
bitter reproach from Hektor. Chastised, Paris
proposes a single combat between himself and
Menelaus. Hektor is pleased and conveys this
proposal to the Greeks, whereupon Menelaus
quickly accepts the challenge
Helen’s guys

53. When Paris sees Menelaus, he hides

54. Hector scolds him, and Paris then offers to
fight Menelaus one-on-one

55. A truce is prepared, with both armies
swearing a great oath

56. Inside Troy, Iris
summons Helen
to the
battlements

58. Helen describes Greek leaders to Priam

59. Paris fights Menelaus

61. When Paris is grazed by Menelaus’ javelin,
Aphrodite rescues him

62. She takes Paris back to his bedroom

63. She brings the unwilling Helen to him

66. Book IV
Zeus would like the
war to end right
here, but Hera
argues and sends
Athene down to
break the truce

67. Athene caused the Trojan Pandarus to break the
truce. She convinced him to shoot an arrow at
Menelaus.

68. PANDARUS, in Greek legend, son of Lycaon, a
Lycian, one of the heroes of the Trojan war. He is
not an important figure in Homer. He breaks the
truce between the Trojans and the Greeks by
treacherously wounding Menelaus with an arrow,
and finally he is slain by Diomedes (Homer, Iliad, ii.
827, iv. 88, V. 290). In medieval romance he became
a prominent figure in the tale of Troilus and
Cressida. He encouraged the amour between the
Trojan prince and his niece Cressida; and the word "
pander " has passed into modern language as the
common title of a lovers' go-between in the worst
sense.

69. Battle resumes after Agamemnon gives
pep talks to various groups of Greek
warriors

70. Odysseus and Agamemnon plan
strategy