Iliad- Book 1

• Proem: Homer invokes the Muse, the goddess of memory, to ‘sing’ through him; he announces his theme as the anger of Achilles
• Chryses, a priest of Apollo, offers a ransom in return for his daughter Chryseis
• Agamemnon rejects this; Apollo is angered and sends a plague on the Greeks
• 9 days later, Hera prompts Achilles to call an assembly; he asks Calchas, the augur, to explain the plague; Achilles promises to protect Calchas if anyone is angry
• Calchas explains that Apollo is angry at Agamemnon for his insult
• Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis but demands an alternative prize in return
• Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being a poor leader, as he gets the best prizes but stays in camp and doesn’t do most of the fighting
• Agamemnon says that Achilles is only a great warrior because a god made him one; he declares he will take Achilles’ own prize, a girl called Briseis
• Achilles is about to attack/kill Agamemnon but Athene, sent by Hera, prevents him
• Achilles threatens to abandon the fighting, along with all his men, he says that the Greeks will soon miss him when they’re all dying
• Nestor attempts to reconcile the men, hoping they will listen to him because he is older and a lot more experienced than them; but he fails
• Achilles leaves with Patroclus and his army, the Myrmidons
• The army purify themselves and offer sacrifices
• Agamemnon’s heralds come and take Briseis away from Achilles
• Achilles weeps and calls on his mother Thetis to ask Zeus to help the Trojans defeat the Greeks in battle and kill them
• Thetis weeps and mourns the fact the Achilles is destined to an early death
• Odysseus return Chryseis along with an offering of cattle/oxen for sacrifice; they make sacrifices to Apollo and feast
• The Olympians are away in Ethiopia for 12 days but when they return, Thetis goes to Zeus and supplicates him
• She requests that Zeus allow the Trojans to win the battles for a while so that the Greeks will realise how valuable Achilles is to them
• Zeus is reluctant to help but agrees; he and Hera argue as she supports the Greeks
• Zeus threatens to physically hurt Hera so that she stops arguing with him
• Hephaestus restores the peace by encouraging Hera to make peace with Zeus again; he reminds them of the time Zeus thew him off Mount Olympus
• Hephaestus serves wine to the gods and they all laugh at him bustling about; they enjoy drinking, feasting and music until night time when they retire to bed.