By: Gabriel Enrique Molina

ILIAD

Book One

Chryses arrives at the Greek ships begging for his daughter and upon, Agamemnon’s refusal, he prays to Apollo who shoots arrows at the ships and sends a plague for nine days straight. Agamemnon agrees to give up Chryseis, whom Odysseus takes to Chryses, and goes on to send the squires Talthybius & Eurybates to take Briseis from Achilles. Achilles gets enraged and draws his sword at Agamemnon; Athena (sent by Hera) and Nestor, together, calm Achilles who proceeds to pray to Thetis to convince Zeus (who owes her a favor) to help the Trojans defeat the Greeks while Achilles isn’t fighting. Thetis agrees to do so after 13-day feast with the Aethiopians.

Book Two

Zeus, in the guise of Nestor, sends a dream to Agamemnon telling him to ready his troops and attack Troy. Agamemnon decides to test his troops, telling them that he has quit and decided to return home; his cowardly troops run back to their ships. Hera sends Athena to tell the Greeks to remain in Troy and fight and Odysseus give a convincing speech about Calchas’ prophecy at Aulis.
Thersites gets beaten by Odysseus for railing on Agamemnon
Before departure to Troy, Athena gave the Greeks 100 tassels of pure gold, each worth 100 oxen, and courage in the heart of each soldier
Nestor’s Catalogue of Greek ships:
Telamonian Ajax – 12 ships
Oilean Ajax (linen breastplate, #1 spearman) – 40 ships
Diomedes (heralds: Sthenelus (Capaneus) & Sthenelus (Mecisteus)) – 80 ships
Agamemnon – 100 ships
Menelaus – 60 ships
Nestor – 90 ships
Odysseus – 12 ships
Idomeneus (squire: Meriones) – 80 ships
Achilles – 50 ships
Protesilaus (Iphiclus; his brother, Podarces, took command of his troops) – 40 ships
Machaon & Podalirius (Machaon killed by Eurypylus and Nestor took his bones to Gerenia; Delphic oracle told Podalirius to settle where he wouldn’t be harmed if sky fell) – 30 ships
Philoctetes (Medon (Oileus & Rhene) took command of his troops) – 7 ships
Ascalaphus & Ialmenus (Ares & Astyoche) – 30 ships
Eurypylus (Euaemon; box left by Cassandra / Aeneas … takes him Aroe) – 40 ships
Menestheus (Peteus; Athenians; best in marshaling chariots and foot soldiers) –50 ships
Elephenor (Chalcodon; Abantes) – 50 ships
Agapenor (Ancaeus; Arcadians) – 60 ships (given to him by Agamemnon)
Amphimachus & Thalpius (Cteatus & Eurytus (Moliones)) – 10 ships each
Tlepolemus (Heracles & Astyoche; killed great-uncle Licymnius) – 9 ships
Eumelus (Admetus & Alcestis; drove Pheres’ horses bred by Apollo) – 11 ships
Polypoetes (Pirithous & Hippodameia) & Leonteus (Coronus (Caeneus)) – 40 ships
Zeus sends Iris, in the guise of Polites, to tell Priam that the Greeks are coming
The Trojans:
Antenor – father of Archelous & Acamas (led the Dardanians with Aeneas)
Pandarus (Lycaon) – Apollo taught him to use the bow
Sarpedon & Glaucus (Lycians)
Nastes & Amphimachus (Nomion; Carians) – Nastes was killed by Achilles and Telamonian Ajax and Achilles stole his gold

Book Three

Ucalegon & Antenor – two of the five Trojan Sages
Paris goes out to single combat to face Menelaus but suddenly gets scared and Iris, in the guise of Laodice (Priam; wife of Helicaon (Antenor)), informs Helen of the fight. Helen goes out with servants, Aethra & Clymene, to see what’s going on (and identifies Greek warriors) and suddenly Aphrodite envelops Paris, while Menelaus was dragging him by his helmet after having broken his sword on this helmet, and takes him to his bed chamber where Helen, whom Aphrodite retrieved in the guise of an old woman, is waiting.

Book Four

In the council of the gods, Zeus argues that Menelaus won the duel and the war should be over but Hera refuses to accept anything less than the destruction of Troy. Zeus sends Athena, in the guise of Laodocus (Antenor), to break the truce and she gets Pandarus to fire an arrow at Menelaus (Athena deflects the arrow so that it hits his belt and only wounds him – Machaon cures it.)
Agamemnon begins to rally the top Greek generals
Nestor once killed a guy named Ereuthalion
Apollo aids the Trojans and Athena the Greeks
Elephenor is killed by Agenor while trying to steal Echepolus’ armor (Echepolus was killed by Antilochus – first man to kill after the truce is broken)
Ajax kills Simoeisius, who was born by the Simois River, and then Antiphus throws a spear at Ajax, missing him and hitting Leucus (friend of Odysseus) as he drags Simoeisius’ body

Book Five

Athena Alalcomene – city with a stream Triton where Athena may have been born (NOT Lake Tritonis)
Tecton (Hermon) – taught craftsmanship by Athena, built the ships for Paris. His son, Phereclus, was killed by Meriones
Athena makes Diomedes brave, fast, and shining and he, on foot, encounters Phegeus and Idaeus (Dares, priest of Hephaestus) on a chariot and in the ensuing battle Diomedes kills Phegeus and Idaeus is enveloped in a cloud and taken to safety by Hephaestus; Diomedes takes their horses.
Pandarus shoots Diomedes in the shoulder, he hops into his chariot, Sthenelus takes his arrow out, and Athena instills more strength and courage into Diomedes (enough to wound the gods,)warning him only to wound Aphrodite. Diomedes proceeds to go on a killing spree.
Aeneas tells Pandarus that Diomedes is still alive and too dangerous so they get on Aeneas’ chariot and go to kill Diomedes; Sthenelus advises to turn around and go back to camp but Diomedes refuses. He kills Pandarus by throwing a stone, which should take two men to carry, at his groin and thus Aphrodite grabs Aeneas to save him. Sthenelus takes Aeneas’ horses (offspring of horses given to Tros by Zeus) back to Deipylus and meanwhile Diomedes chases Aphrodite and slashes her wrists causing ichor to spill out – Apollo picks up Aeneas and Aphrodite takes Ares’ horses to Mt. Olympus where she complains to her mom, Dione, who tells her the stories of previous gods who have been wounded. Diomedes tries to kill Aeneas while in the hands of Apollo four times and Apollo tells him to back off, taking Aeneas to Leto and Artemis to be healed leaving a replica of Aeneas’ body in the battlefield to fire up the Trojans, and gets Ares to disguise himself as Acamas to rally the Trojans.
Sarpedon calls Hector a coward and he rallies his troops to go out and fight and, at the same time, Apollo get Aeneas back out to fight. Also, Ares gets Menelaus to the front so that Aeneas can kill him but Antilochus stands by his side and this frightens Aeneas. Hector runs at the two Greeks with Ares and Enyo by his side but settles for killing other Greeks.
Sarpedonand Tlepolemus throws spears at each other simultaneously – Sarpedon’s hits Tlepolemus in the throat and kills him while Tlepolemus’ hits Sarpedon’s thigh and Zeus saves him (Sarpedon’s friend, Pelagon, pulls the spear out and he faints)
Hera and Athena appeal to Zeus who lets them rally the Greeks – Hera tells them that they suck without Achilles and Athena encourages Diomedes to attack Ares
Diomedes, with Athena as his charioteer, throws a spear at Ares and, thanks to Athena, it strikes him in the stomach and he flees to Olympus where Apollo cures him and Hebe washes him

Book Six

Menelaus lets Adrestus live for ransom from his father Merops but then Agamemnon kills him
Theano (Cisseus) is the wife of Antenor and priestess of Athena
Astyanax – “King of the City”
Greeks begin to overwhelm the Trojans and Nestor advises them to ignore the armor of the fallen men and simply push onward while they have the upper hand. Helenus, fearing destruction, tells Hector to tell Hecuba to rally the Trojan noblewomen and go to the temple of Athena, lay a robe down, and promise to sacrifice 12 heifers if Athena keeps Diomedes away.
Epic showdown between Glaucus and Diomedes takes place –Diomedes’ grandfather, Oeneus, had entertained Glaucus’ grandfather Bellerophon and they had traded a belt for a cup, respectively thus Diomedes trades his bronze armor for Glaucus’ gold armor.
Hector goes to Paris’ house and scorns him for not fighting to the point that he arms himself and goes out to battle. Hector goes to the Scaean gates where he meets his wife, Andromache, holding their baby Astyanax and pleas with him not to leave but he goes anyways, joining his brother Paris in the battlefield.

Book Seven

Ajax’s shield was made by Tychius using 7 bull hides and an 8th layer of bronze
Apollo and Athena meet and decide to end the fighting once and for all by having Hector challenge the Greeks in single-handed combat; Helenus relays this news to Hector who agrees. Menelaus offers to fight but Agamemnon, knowing he will lose, convinces him not to. Nestor tells the story of when he killed Ereuthalion to pump up the Greeks.
Lycurgus trapped King Areithous in a narrow passage where his silver mace wouldn’t work and then killed him, stripped him of his armor, and gave it to his squire Ereuthalion.
A lot is devised to fight Hector (Ajaxes, Odysseus, Eurypylus, Thoas, Agamemnon, Diomedes, Idomeneus, and Meriones) and Telamonian Ajax gets picked. Ajax would have killed Hector but the heralds Talthybius and Idaeus, spurred by Zeus, stop the fight because it was getting too late and they exchange gifts (Hector’s silver sword for Ajax’s purple girdle).
Antenor wants to give Helen back but Paris says he will give the Greeks the riches he took with her from Sparta and more and Priam sends Idaeus to report the proposal to Agamemnon and Menelaus and tell them that, for two days, both sides will burn and bury their dead.
Diomedes says he won’t accept anything less than Troy’s destruction and Nestor decides to build a wall and trench in front of their tents. As both sides build fortifications and the Greeks drink wine from Euneus (Jason & Hypsipyle), Zeus and Poseidon look on and plan to destroy the walls once finished.

Book Eight

Hector’s horses – Xanthus, Podargus, Aethon, and Lampus
Zeus forbids any god from continuing to fight on either side. Zeus proceeds to stand on Mt. Ida and weighs the fates of the Trojans and Greeks in a scale, the Greeks’ side sink down and so he scares the Greeks with lightning and they all run away except Nestor whose horse had been injured by an arrow from Paris so he is vulnerable and Hector runs at him. Diomedes stays to help Nestor, carrying him onto his chariot drawn by Aeneas’ horses and they reach Hector; Diomedes throws a spear that hits and kills charioteer Eniopeus (Thebaeus) and thus Hector gets Archeptolemus (Iphitus) as his charioteer.
Hera instills courage in Agamemnon and Zeus sends an omen of an eagle carrying a fawn in its talons and this stirs up the Greeks. Teucer aims at Hector and fires twice, his second arrow, guided by Apollo, kills Archeptolemus and thus Hector’s new charioteer becomes Cebriones, his brother.Hector hits Teucer with a stone but Ajax’s squires Mecisteus (Echius) and Alastor rescue him. Hector pushes the Greeks all the way up to their ships.
Athena and Hera decide to fight the Trojans but Zeus sends Iris to warn them against it and they turn around.
The Trojans camp outside their city walls and Hector tells his men to light hundreds of campfires so that the Greeks can’t escape unobserved

Book Nine

Marpessa was named Alcyone before she was kidnapped by Apollo
Achilles’ concubine – Diomede (Phorbas)
Patroclus’ concubine – Iphis
Agamemnon wants to go back but Diomedes insists he will stay even if everyone else leaves. Nestor suggests that they need Achilles to win the war and Agamemnon says that he will give Achilles much for him to return to the fighting including his daughter (Chrysothemis, Laodice, or Iphianassa) and sends the embassy of Odysseus, Telamonian Ajax, and Phoenix to Achilles’ tent. They find him playing his lyre with Patroclus and he immediately rejects their offer even saying he wishes to return to Phthia and will take Phoenix with him. Phoenix tells him the story of Meleager and how he ignored the pleas of his friends, the story of his father Amyntor (Ormenus) who cursed him so that he would never have kids, and the story of the Aetolians v. Curetes.

Book Ten

Agamemnon – lion skin robe ; Menelaus – panther skin robe
Hector asks for someone to spy on the Greeks, promising him the horses of Achilles, and Dolon (Eumedes) agrees to do it.
Diomedes and Odysseus offer to go, as spies, to the council of the Trojans to negotiate and Athena sends a heron as a sign of her protection.They stop Dolon outside the walls of the Greek camps and kill and rob him after learning the whereabouts of the Thracian King Rhesus (Eiones).
Diomedes kills 12 Thracians and Rhesus in their sleep and Odysseus takes his horses. Diomedes wants to keep going but Athena tells him to go back.
Apollo wakes Hippocoon (friend of Rhesus) but is too late and Diomedes and Odysseus escape safely and are welcomed with praise

Book Eleven

Agamemnon’s breastplate was given to him by Cinyras
Hecamede – concubine of Nestor given to him by Achilles from Tenedos
Zeus sends Eris to the ships and she cries so loudly that the Greeks are filled with courage. Agamemnon goes on a killing spree and Zeus sends Iris to tell Hector to stay away as long as Agamemnon is fighting but to go out and fight hard when he is wounded. Coon (Antenor, oldest son) strikes Agamemnon right through his arm and Agamemnon cuts his head off and retreats to the camps.
Diomedes hits Hector’s visor but doesn’t pierce it and, in turn, Paris shoots Diomedes in the foot, the arrow sticks in the ground, and many Greeks run in fear. Odysseus is left alone to fight and eventually is wounded in the ribs by Socus and Telamonian Ajax carries him back.
Paris wounds Machaon with a 3-barbed arrow and Nestor comes to his aid and takes him back to the ships.Cebriones tells Hector to go to place where all the real fighting is occurring.
Zeus puts fear in Telamonian Ajax’s heart, he gets bombarded with arrows, and Eurypylus, who was with him, is shot in the thigh by Paris and he screams so other Greeks come to their aid.
Back at the camps, Achilles sends Patroclus to investigate who (Machaon) has just been wounded and Nestor tells him a war story
King Augeas and the Moliones lead the Epeans to Pylus and Nestor, on Athena’s orders, goes out and fights killing 100 people in 50 chariots and takes all of their horses. He would have killed the Moliones had Poseidon not come and taken them out of the fight.
Patroclus, under the guidance of Nestor, grabs Achilles’ armor to fight and, on his way out, heals Eurypylus

Book Twelve

Polydamas tells Hector that they should attempt to go by foot, not horse, to cross the trench and they send five companies:
Hector, Polydamas, Cebriones
Paris, Alcathous, Agenor
Helenus, Deiphobus, Asius (chooses to take his horses and gets killed by Idomeneus)
Aeneus, Archelous, Acamas
Sarpedon, Glaucus, Asteropaeus
Zeus sends an eagle which drops a serpent on the Trojans’ side of the trench and Polydamas interprets it to mean that their charge will fail but Hector insists on pushing forward.
Sarpedon is the first to break through the Greek wall and he and Glaucus advance against Menestheus, Ajaxes, and Teucer.
Teucer wounds Glaucus in the shoulder and he retreats. He and Telamonian Ajax wound Sarpedon but he gets saved by Zeus
Hector throws a heavy rock at the gates and storms through, pushing the Greeks all the way to their ships

Book Thirteen

Aegae – golden palace of Poseidon
Zeus turns away from the fighting but Poseidon comes out from the sea, lands his chariot and, disguised as Calchas, he cheers up the Greeks and gets them all to fight.
Meriones launches a spear at Deiphobus which hits his shield and breaks in half, forcing him to retreat to get another one
Teucer kills Imbrius (Mentor) and as he goes in to take his armor, Hector throws a spear at him, missing and killing Amphimachus (Cteatus & Theronice) and then he advances to steal Amphimachus’ armor but Telamonian Ajax throws a spear at him, blowing him back and allowing for Menesthius and Stichius (Athenians) to retrieve Amphimachus’ body
Poseidon is upset that his grandson, Amphimachus, has been killed so, disguised as Thoas, he urges Idomeneus to fight
Idomeneus and Meriones take the left wing and Idomeneus kills Othryoneus and Asius. Then, Poseidon petrifies Alcathous (Aesyetes) and Idomeneus slays him
Deiphobus, Paris, and Agenor make an attack against Idomeneus and the Greeks; Deiphobus kills Ascalaphus but Meriones stabs him in the arm with a spear as he runs for the armor and Polites takes him back to Troy
Menelaus runs at Helenus, who shoots an arrow at his chest which doesn’t pierce the armor and Menelaus stabs his hand, forcing him to retreat. Pisander launches a spear at Menelaus shield which doesn’t penetrate and then hits his helmet with an axe that again doesn’t pierce and finally Menelaus kills him with his sword.
Paris kills Euchenor with an arrow; Euchenor’s father Polyidus had warned him that he would die if he went to Troy or die from disease at home
Polydamas warns Hector to retreat but he refuses and finally an omen of a bird flies right next to Telamonian Ajax and this inspires the Greeks

Book Fourteen