Resumo de The Iliad

The Iliad starts In Medias Res, i.e. in the middle of the action. The Trojan War has been going on for ten years, and the Iliad starts in a pause in the fighting in the tenth year of war, and ends before the war concludes. Its subject, as it tells you in the opening, is the wrath of Achilles. The book opens with the god Apollo sending a plague on the Greek armies, because his high priest?s request to Agamemnon to be given his daughter back was refused. The Greeks advise Agamemnon to return the girl to her father and he does so. But in return for the girl he is losing he takes away the girl Achilles got as prize. Achilles, the best warrior on the Greek side, just as Hector is on the Trojan, decides at this insult to his honour to withdraw from the fighting indefinitely. In his anger he sits weeping by the sea, and his mother Thetis, a sea nymph, appears. In their discussion we learn of the choice open to Achilles ? to fight and live a short life of glory, or stay at home and have a long, quiet life. He chooses an early death, but to be remembered by future generations as a great hero. Thetis promises to ask Zeus to show honour to Achilles by making the Greeks lose in war until they come and plead with him to fight again. Zeus agrees: he sends a false dream to Agamemnon promising early victory. The armies prepare for battle but Paris challenges Menelaus to single combat. The winner will get Helen and all her property. Menelaus wins but Paris is rescued by Aphrodite, who whisks him away from the field, and the promise is broken. Battle is now joined and there is a general description of the scene followed by various individual skirmishes. The deaths of young and old men from both sides are described with equal pathos, highlighting an underlying sense of the tragedy of human destiny. This is often juxtaposed with the frivolous engagement of the gods, for whom the war is just another game they play. The Greeks, led by Athene inspired Diomedes, drive the Trojans to their city walls. Hector meets his wife Andromache, who begs him not to go out and fight. He tells her that even though he knows his fate is sealed, he cannot refuse to fight. The Trojans rally and the next day the Greeks are forced to retreat. The Trojans now camp out in the plains for the first time that night, expecting victory by the next day. In the Greek camp, an appeal is made to Achilles, promising him great wealth and honour if he relents, but he stands firm in his refusal to fight. The next day is one of long and furious fighting, and the Trojans manage to chase the Greeks up to their ships, even setting fire to one. Patroklos, Achilles? closest friend, goes to him and begs him to fight, or at least let him, Patroklos, lead the Myrmidons into battle dressed in Achilles?s armour. Achilles relents, setting into motion the chain of events that will lead to his own death. Patroklos successfully manages to rout the Trojans, but when he gives chase he is challenged by Hektor and killed. Achilles knows that if he kills Hector his own death is certain, but he now sees that his fate is unavoidable, as he must kill Hector. What follows is the famous scene where Hector is chased by Achilles thrice around the city walls and eventually killed, while the Trojans look on from above and weep. Achilles now ties his dead body behind his carriage and drags it away as his anger is still not assuaged, but in the end he relents to King Priam?s request for his son?s body, so that Hector can be given the proper burial befitting a hero.

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