Okay, I promise to be shorter today. Clear and concise is my goal.
Book VII is "The Duel of Hector and Ajax." You can pretty much guess what happens in this book. Paris and Hector come back to the battleground rejuvenated and give life into the Trojan troops. The Trojans are killing so many Achaeans that Athena is worried and comes down from Mt. Olympus to help. On her way down, Apollo (who is helping the Trojans) tells Athena that instead of going down and helping the Achaeans that they should stop the fighting for the day and let the mortals duke it out tomorrow. Athena agrees but asks how they're going to accomplish that. Apollo says they'll get Hector to challenge one of the Achaeans in a duel (like Paris and Menelaus, except the winner only gets the dead man's armor). Athena sends Helenus a telepathic message who tells Hector what the goddess said. Hector then challenges the Achaeans. At first, they're all a little timid because Hector is a beast on the battlefield. After some awkward silence, Menelaus takes up the challenge but Agamemnon talks him out of because he's no match for Hector. Nestor speaks up and puts the Achaeans to shame and says their forefathers would have gladly stood up and challenged Hector. His tactics works and multiple Achaeans stand up to volunteer, including Agamemnon, big Ajax and little Ajax, and Odysseus. They all cast their lot and big Ajax is picked to fight Hector. Essentially, Ajax is about to kill Hector when one guy from the Trojans and one from the Achaeans run in and say that Zeus loves both men equally and wouldn't want them to die. They agree, swap some armor, and the fighting is done for the day. That night in the Trojan camp, they all tell Paris he needs to give up Helen and his treasure because he lost to Menelaus. Paris says no to giving Helen back but will give all the treasure back. The Achaeans don't accept the deal. The next day, both camps burn their dead and the Achaeans build a wall. Up with the gods, Poseidon, Zeus's brother and god of the sea, doesn't like what he sees. They built the wall without sending him an offering. Zeus tells him to calm down and that he can destroy the wall with his waves when the war is over. After that, Zeus ponders how he can hurt both armies.
Book VIII is titled "The Weakening Achaeans." Zeus calls the gods to tell them they are forbidden to help in the war anymore. They are pretty evenly matched as they begin fighting until Zeus goes and weighs their fates. The Achaeans fate is heavier than the Trojans and that is not a good thing. Zeus goes down and throws lightning bolts at them and they run away. The only person who stands his ground his Nestor, but that's only because Paris killed his horse. Diomedes decides to go back and help Nestor. He helps him then heads out to kill Hector. He keeps throwing spears but they keep missing because Zeus doesn't want Diomedes to kill Hector (yeah, Zeus is helping, even though he said no one can help either side). You can imagine who is made about Zeus helping: Hera. Hector calls for a fire to burn up the Achaeans' ships, and Hera begs Poseidon to help. Poseidon, wisely, says he isn't going to go against what Zeus said. Zeus sees that he's being a little unfair so he sends an omen to the Achaeans in form of an eagle. They see this and begin fighting back. However, the Trojans push the Achaeans back against their wall. Hera is ticked off and asks Athena for help. She hesitates, but then decides to help because Zeus can't be mad at his precious daughter for long. Zeus sees this and Athena was wrong. He sends Iris down to tell the two goddesses to turn back or else, and they figure he's not bluffing, so they do what he says. They all get back together on Mt. Olympus and Hera complains that she's the only reason the Achaeans are even alive. Zeus essentially says he doesn't care and he's going to keep it up until Achilles comes back to the fight. At the end of the book, night has fallen and made the battle stop: good for Achaeans, bad for Trojans since they were winning. Hector says to light fires so the Achaeans can't sneak up on them.
Book IX is called "Agamemnon's offer to Achilles." This is an appropriate title because the Achaeans really need Achilles's help. In the Achaean camp, everyone is pretty defeated. Agamemnon says that they're going to have to go home defeated, which makes Diomedes mad. Diomedes says that Agamemnon can go home but Zeus had promised that they would win the war and so he's sticking there with his men until they do. Everyone rallies behind that and have dinner. While eating, Agamemnon has a private meeting where Nestor tells them that they should really consider asking Achilles for his help. Agamemnon actually agrees and then goes into a long list of spectacular gifts he'll give to Achilles if he comes back. Three Achaeans go to Achilles's camp to talk to him: Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix. They dine with Achilles then Odysseus tells Achilles that they really need him and recites the list of gifts Agamemnon will give him. He also tells him that he'll be the one to kill Hector, which will give him glory and fame. Phoenix then tells two really long stories that essentially tell Achilles to accept the gifts and come back and fight. Achilles refuses and says he won't help the Achaeans until Hector and the Trojans start burning his own ships. When the three get back, Diomedes says they should forget Achilles and they can win without them. He ends by saying he expects Agamemnon to be at the front lines tomorrow.
Book X is titled "The Night Adventure." Sounds fun, doesn't it? Agamemnon can't sleep and neither can Menelaus. They rouse the most important Achaeans and agree that something must be done to give them an edge in the war. Nestor suggests that they break enemy lines, spy on the Trojans, and see what they're up to. Of course Diomedes offers and picks Odysseus to back him up. Athena sees what they're up to and sends a heron to say she's watching out for them. They both pray to her, then they head out. At the Trojan camp, Hector has the same idea: spy on the other army. A Trojan named Dolon volunteers to go if he gets Achilles's chariot once they win the war. Hector agrees and off goes Dolon. Unfortunately for Dolon, Diomedes and Odysseus see him coming so they play dead, literally, amongst the corpses on the battlefield. They capture Dolon and interrogate him about the Trojan camp layout. Dolon tells them about King Rhesos who is an ally of the Trojans, where he's sleeping, and about his elaborate chariot and horses. Dolon tries to talk about ransom terms, but then Diomedes decapitates him before anything can be negotiated. The two make it to the camp and find King Rhesos exactly where Dolon said he was. They kill him and his camp, take his stuff, then go back to their camp unnoticed. They get back then offer thanks to Athena.
Book XI is aptly titled "The Valiant Deeds of Agamemnon." Zeus sends down the god Hate to the battlefield. Agamemnon starts off the battle and he does really well. Zeus starts to get a little worried, so he sends panic to the troops and makes it rain blood. Yes, I said RAIN BLOOD. Meanwhile, Agamemnon is killing Trojans left and right. Zeus sends this so he has Iris send a message to Hector saying that while Agamemnon is killing like this, that they should be on the defensive. Once Agamemnon is wounded, they can go on the attack. Hector tells the Trojans this and they get in defensive positions. While the Achaeans are attacking, Agamemnon is still killing many people that the poet has to ask the Muse to help him recall who all he's killed. While he's going on this rampage, he gets stabbed in the arm. Although he's okay, he has to go back to the ships. Hector sees this and realizes that this is the Trojan's moment to attack. Hector then goes on to kill a lot of Achaeans. Diomedes and Odysseus, who are now best friends after pulling of their night adventure, go on the counterattack and they kill more Trojans. Hector goes to attack the two and a spear is thrown at him, but deflects off his helmet. He backs off, blacks out, then comes back to fight. As the battle goes on, Paris hits Diomedes in the foot with an arrow. They throw insults back and forth. Diomedes pulls out the arrow then has to go back to the ships, as well. Odysseus is left all alone and is quickly surrounded by Trojans. Like in any action movie, Odysseus kills all the men that attack him, but he is wounded. Problem is, another circle comes and surrounds Odysseus. He calls for help and Menelaus and Ajax come to help. They defeat the group of Trojans. What teamwork! Achilles is watching from his ship and sends Patroclus to check on Nestor, who is wounded. Nestor says that the Achaeans are in trouble. He suggests that Patroclus wears Achilles's armor to scare the Trojans. Patroclus likes this idea and runs to find Achilles.
Book XII (finally) is called "The Storming of the Wall." Well, we know who has a wall. The Achaeans have retreated to their wall. The Trojans are now wondering how to cross the ditch and the wall. One suggests they go on foot, and Hector agrees. The Trojans fight hard until an omen comes. An eagle is coming from the left (which is apparently unlucky) and has a live snake in its talons. The snake keeps biting the eagle until the eagle lets it go. The Trojans are leery to attack, but Hector leads them on. The Trojans end up tearing a hole in the wall, but there's a stalemate. Hector breaks it by throwing a rock at the gates of the wall and shatters it. Then he rushes in. Trojans follow suit. The book ends with the Achaeans looking like they're in major trouble.
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