The Iliad
The events in the order the book tells them.
Books I to IV
- Book I1
The Expelled Priest
Chryses, priest of Apollo, comes to the Greek camp to ransom his daughter, Chryseis, Agamemnon's prize. The king drives him off with threats, and the old man prays to Apollo for vengeance, and the god spreads plague among the Greeks for nine days.
- Book I2
The Quarrel Between Achilles and Agamemnon
To end the plague, Agamemnon returns Chryseis, but takes Briseis, Achilles' prize. Achilles draws his sword, the goddess Athena seizes him by the hair, and he withdraws from the war, enraged.
- Book I3
Zeus's Nod
Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to obtain from Zeus a Trojan victory, so that the Greeks will feel his absence. Zeus assents with a nod of his head, and Olympus trembles.
- Book II4
Agamemnon's Dream
Zeus sends Agamemnon a Dream that convinces him he will take Troy that very day. The king tests the army by proposing flight, the men run for the ships, and Odysseus, with Athena's help, holds them back.
- Book III5
The Duel of Paris and Menelaus
Paris proposes to settle the war in a duel with Menelaus, Helen's husband. Menelaus almost wins, but the goddess Aphrodite snatches Paris from the fight and places him in his own bedchamber. Agamemnon declares Menelaus the victor and demands Helen.
- Book IV6
Pandarus's Arrow
Athena persuades the Trojan archer Pandarus to wound Menelaus. The arrow wounds him only lightly, but it breaks the truce, and Agamemnon goes along the Greek ranks before the battle begins.
Books V to VIII
- Book V7
Diomedes Wounds the Gods
Athena gives strength to Diomedes, who kills the archer Pandarus, wounds the Trojan Aeneas and, on the goddess's orders, Aphrodite. With Athena's help, he also wounds Ares, the god of war, who returns to Olympus.
- Book VI8
Hector's Farewell
At the Scaean Gates of Troy, Hector takes leave of Andromache and of their little son, Astyanax, who is frightened by the helmet. Hector knows the city will fall, but he returns to the war.
- Book VII9
The Duel of Hector and Ajax
Hector challenges the Greeks and fights Ajax until nightfall. The two part, exchanging gifts, and in the truce that follows the Greeks raise a wall and a trench before the ships.
- Book VIII10
Zeus's Scales
Zeus forbids the gods to intervene and weighs the death lots of the two armies on a golden scale. The day tips against the Greeks, who flee, and Hector spends the night on the plain, surrounded by campfires.
Books IX to XII
- Book IX11
The Embassy to Achilles
Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix carry to Achilles Agamemnon's offer: gifts and Briseis back. He refuses: he will fight only when Hector reaches the ships of the Myrmidons, his men.
- Book X12
The Night of the Doloneia
Diomedes and Odysseus go out at night to spy on the Trojans. They kill the spy Dolon, who was pleading, and the sleeping Thracians, and return to the ships with the horses of King Rhesus.
- Book XII13
The Breached Gate
Against the counsel of the Trojan Polydamas, the Trojans attack the Greek wall. Hector lifts an enormous stone, breaks the gate, and leaps into the Greek camp.
Books XIII to XVII
- Book XIV14
Hera Deceives Zeus
Hera asks for Aphrodite's girdle and seduces Zeus, who falls asleep. Poseidon then helps the Greeks, and Ajax knocks Hector down with a stone.
- Book XV15
Zeus Wakes and Announces the End
Zeus wakes, makes Poseidon leave the fight, and announces what is still to come: the death of Patroclus and then that of Hector, at the hand of Achilles. Apollo undoes the Greek wall, and Hector reaches the ships.
- Book XVI16
Patroclus Puts On Achilles' Armor
Patroclus asks for Achilles' armor to frighten the Trojans. Achilles agrees, on the condition that he return once the ships are saved. Patroclus pushes back the fire, kills Sarpedon, and chases the Trojans to the wall.
- Book XVI17
The Death of Patroclus
Apollo pushes him from the wall and disarms him from behind, Euphorbus wounds him, and Hector kills him. Patroclus, dying, prophesies that Hector will soon fall at the hands of Achilles.
- Book XVII18
The Fight over Patroclus's Body
Menelaus and the two Ajaxes defend the body of Patroclus, while Hector puts on Achilles' armor. Antilochus, son of Nestor, runs to bring the news to Achilles.
Books XVIII to XXII
- Book XVIII19
Achilles' Grief
Achilles receives the news, covers himself with ash, and longs to die. His mother, Thetis, tells him that his own end will come right after Hector's, but he chooses to avenge Patroclus.
- Book XVIII20
Hephaestus's Shield
At Thetis's request, the god Hephaestus forges new armor for Achilles. On the shield he engraves earth, sky, and sea, a city at peace and another at war, the labor of the fields, and a dance.
- Book XIX21
The End of Wrath
Before the army, Achilles ends his wrath against Agamemnon, who makes amends for the offense with gifts and swears he never touched Briseis. The horse Xanthus warns Achilles that his day is near.
- Book XX22
The Battle of the Gods
The gods come down to the field but sit apart. Achilles faces Aeneas, and Poseidon saves him, so that the line of Dardanus does not come to an end. Apollo hides Hector in a mist.
- Book XXI23
Achilles and the River
Achilles kills Lycaon, who was pleading, and fills the river Xanthus with corpses, and the river nearly carries him off. Hephaestus subdues the river with fire, and Apollo draws Achilles away so that the Trojans can enter the city.
- Book XXII24
The Death of Hector
Alone before the Scaean Gates, Hector runs from Achilles three times around the walls. Zeus weighs the Keres, Athena deceives him in the form of Deiphobus, and Achilles kills him and drags the body behind his chariot.
Books XXIII and XXIV
- Book XXIII25
Patroclus's Pyre
Patroclus's soul appears to Achilles in a dream and asks for funeral rites. Achilles burns his friend on a pyre, with horses, dogs, and twelve Trojans, and vows to give Hector to the dogs.
- Book XXIII26
The Funeral Games
In honor of Patroclus, Achilles offers prizes for the chariot race, boxing, wrestling, the foot race, armed combat, the discus, the bow, and the spear. Menelaus and Antilochus quarrel and are reconciled.
- Book XXIV27
Priam in Achilles' Tent
Guided by Hermes, King Priam comes at night to Achilles' tent and kisses the hand that killed his sons. Achilles thinks of his father, the two weep, and Hector's body is returned.
- Book XXIV28
Hector's Funeral
Achilles grants eleven days of truce, and the war resumes on the twelfth. In Troy, Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen mourn Hector, the body is burned, the bones are placed in a golden urn, and the poem ends with the feast in Priam's palace.