Six books left! Here's my mantra again: clear and concise.
Book XIX, "The Reconciliation," starts with Thetis bringing Achilles the armor Hephaestus made. She finds him crying over Patroclus's body. He asks her about Patroclus's body because it should start to disintegrate. She tells him not to worry and she proceeds to put stuff into him that will prevent his body from decaying. Achilles then goes out and says that he's done being mad at Agamemnon and he apologizes. Agamemnon apologizes too, and says he shouldn't have take Briseis. He promises to give Achilles that gifts he promised, but Achilles isn't worried about those, he just wants to fight. Odysseus says that they need to eat before they can go fight. He makes Agamemnon promise he hasn't slept with Briseis, get the treasure, and promise to be more fair in the future. Agamemnon complies, but Achilles doesn't want to hear any of it. He wants to go out and fight. Odysseus tells him they need a good meal so they can fight well. Everyone is eating except Achilles, who still refuses to eat. Zeus tells Athena to go give him divine food without him noticing. Achilles and everyone else gets ready for battle and he chastises his horses for leaving Patroclus in battle and says they must do better today. In that moment, Hera allows the horses to talk, and they tell him that no matter how fast they run, he will still die by the hands of a man and a god. The horses are then silent and Achilles heads to battle.
Book XX is titled "The Gods at War." Zeus calls the gods together and says that now that Achilles is fired up and ready to fight, the Trojans might fall before they're supposed to. He tells that gods that they can go and fight, but make sure things don't get out of hand. Hera, Athena, Poseidon, and Hermes are on the side of the Achaeans, while Ares, Apollo, and Artemis are on the Trojans' side. Apollo goes down and chides Aeneas. He eventually goads him into fighting Achilles. Hera is watching the whole thing and asks Poseidon if they should intervene. Poseidon says they should see how it plays out. The two soldiers confront each other and begin to fight. Achilles has the upper hand, and Poseidon tells Athena they should save Aeneas; it wasn't his fault Apollo talked him into believing that he could kill Achilles. Aeneas's story is told by Virgil in the Aeneid (which I'll discuss the last week of June). So, the gods save Aeneas and take him to the back end of the battle, telling him to stay there until Achilles is dead. Achilles isn't happy Aeneas was saved, but accepts it as an act of the gods. Apollo then tells Hector not to fight Achilles one-on-one because he'll die. Achilles is going on a rampage and eventually kills Hector's brother. Hector can't stay back after that. They fight each other, but the gods save Hector (for now). Achilles realizes this and goes on to kill more Trojans.
Book XXI is "The Struggle of Achilles and the River." Achilles pushes the Trojans to the River Xanthos. He drives half to the city and half into the actual river. He then dives in and starts slaughtering men, making the river red. Achilles kills one of the sons of King Priam and he laughs that the river will carry the body to the sea and he won't have a proper burial. This angers the river (yes, nature can be vengeful). Right now though, Achilles goes on killing people in the river. Finally, the river tells Achilles to stop filling it up with dead Trojans. Achilles says he'll stop filling the river up, but he won't stop killing Trojans. The river complains to Apollo, which Achilles overhears. Achilles gets angry then starts attacking the river. Not a good idea. The river then tries to essentially drown him. It looks pretty bad until Hera steps in. She asks Hephaestus (who is the god of fire) to help. Hephaestus then sets the corpses and field on fire to contain the river. The river says he's done trying to help the Trojans. The gods then all fight each other and complain. Eventually, they all withdraw from the battle. The Trojans are now on the defensive and must run into the city to save it from being sacked.
Book XXII is titled "The Death of Hector." Hector is on the outside of the city walls while his mom and dad (Priam) beg him to come inside. Hector doesn't listen and faces Achilles. For a moment, he considers offering Helen and treasure, but he realizes Achilles would just kill him anyway. When Achilles comes close though, Hector starts running away. He runs around the walls of Troy three times with Achilles chasing him. All the while, Zeus is wondering if he should let Hector live. Hera gets mad (surprise, surprise) and tells him that this is Hector's fate. Zeus says he realizes that and doesn't interfere. Zeus does weigh each guys' fate though, and Hector's is heavier. Athena then goes down to Achilles and tells him that he's about to win. She then goes to Hector in the form of his brother and says they should fight Achilles together. Hector think that's a good sign so he stops running. Hector stops and says they should promise that whoever kills the other won't mutilate the other's body and will give him back to his city to have a proper burial. Achilles says he's not going to promise that. After some gruesome details, Achilles kills Hector, but not before Hector predicts that Paris and Apollo will kill him. Achilles then taunts Hector as he's dying. He then lets the Achaeans defile Hector's body. Achilles does thank the gods for his victory though, so I suppose that's a somewhat redeeming quality. Hector's wife then gets news of his death and sees Achilles taking his body back to the Achaeans' ships. She predicts a grim future for her son since he has no father.
Book XXIII is "The Funeral Games for Patroclus." As they get back, Achilles commands his men to say their goodbyes to Patroclus. He then throws Hector's body by Patroclus's. He lies on the beach and falls asleep. Patroclus's ghost comes to him and says he needs to burn his body quickly because he can't be accepted into the underworld right now. He also says that he knows that Achilles is about to die and that their bones should be mixed together so they can be together in death as they were in life. The next morning, Achilles sets up the funeral for Patroclus. He leaves a lock of his hair in his dead friend's hand. He promises that he will feed Hector's body to wild dogs. Little does he know, Apollo and Aphrodite are keeping Hector's body protected. Meanwhile, Achilles burns Patroclus's body. The next day, he instructs his men to get his friend's bones and put them in an urn to bury, but not to bury them deeply because they will soon need to be taken out so to mix them with Achilles's bones. They aren't done though. The men are commanded to compete in funeral games to honor the dead. Achilles has prizes such as women, treasure, etc. The first competition is chariot racing. Diomedes wins and the rest complain about it being unfair. He divvies up the prizes and the next game is boxing. Epeios wins that. Then there is wrestling. Ajax and Odysseus end in a draw, so they both win. The next game is a race. Odysseus wins this. Then there is spear fighting, and Diomedes wins. Archery is next and Meriones wins that. Finally, there is spear throwing and a lot of guys compete but Achilles says that Agamemnon wins because he is the best. What fun games, right?
Book XXIV is titled "Priam and Achilles." Achilles can't get over his grief for Patroclus. He tries to defile Hector's body, but Apollo is protecting it. The gods want to send Hector back to Troy to get a proper burial. Athena, Hera, and Poseidon say no. The gods argue until Zeus steps in. He says that they'll have Thetis tell Achilles to give Hector back to Priam for a ransom. She goes and tells him and Iris sends a message to Priam and says that he must bring treasures to the Achaean ships. Priam gathers the treasure and Hermes leads them to Achilles. Achilles and Priam hang out while women fix up Hector's body. Achilles promises to hold a truce while the Trojans are mourning Hector's death. Priam says it should be 11 days and on day 12 they can resume fighting. Priam is then lead safely out of the Achaean camp by Hermes. The final lines of the book discuss Hector's funeral.
That's it. I know you're wondering about Achilles and the rest of the Trojan War. I'll talk about this on Sunday.
Until the next post,
Cassy
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