OUTLINE OF THE ILIAD
Book 1
Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks because Agamemnon insulted his priest Chryses when he tried to ransom his captive daughter. Achilles calls an assembly and the prophet Kalchas reveals the reason for Apollo’s anger. Agamemnon agrees to give up the girl but demands compensation from Achilles, provoking a quarrel. Agamemnon's men take Briseis from Achilles, and Achilles prays to his divine mother Thetis for help. He withdraws from the fight, and asks her to persuade Zeus to make the battle go badly for the Greeks so they will see that they should not have dishonored him. Odysseus leads a group of Greeks to return Chryseis. Hera bickers with Zeus over his plan to hurt the Greeks.
Book 2
Zeus begins to fulfill his promise to Thetis to bring honor to Achilles. First, he deceives Agamemnon with a dream that promises victory. In assembly, Agamemnon tests the soldiers by saying that they are going home. The soldiers run for the ships; only Odysseus is able to rally them and shame them into staying. The soldier Thersites resists, but Odysseus rebukes him. The troops assemble and Homer lists all of the contingents in the Catalog of Ships. The Trojans are listed next.
Book 3
Paris challenges Menelaos to a duel for possession of Helen, who joins Priam on the walls of Troy and names the Greek warriors for him. Priam enters the battlefield to swear an oath with Agamemnon to respect the results of the duel. Menelaos and Paris fight, but Aphrodite snatches Paris away, deposits him in his bedroom, and brings Helen to him.
Book 4
In the council of the gods, Zeus considers bringing the Trojan War to an end and sparing the city of Troy. Hera angrily objects, and Zeus sends Athena to break the truce. Athena persuades the Trojan Pandaros to shoot an arrow at Menelaos. Menelaos is wounded and fighting breaks out.
Book 5
Diomedes’ exploits on the battlefield are described. After he wounds Aphrodite, she goes crying to Olympos. Ares, the god of war, intervenes to help the Trojans. Hera and Athena, join in on the Greek side and Athena helps Diomedes to wound Ares.
Book 6
Diomedes meets a Trojan ally Glaukos, and discovers that he is a guest friend, so they exchange armor. Hektor asks the Trojan women to make a sacrifice to Athena to win her pity. He visits Helen and scolds his brother, Paris, for abandoning the battlefield. Hektor spends some precious time with his wife Andromache and baby Astyanax before returning to battle.
Book 7
Hektor proposes a duel with one of the Greeks. Ajax is chosen by lot, but the duel ends in a draw as night falls. Both sides agree to a truce to bury the dead, and the Greeks fortify their camp.
Book 8
The battle resumes. Zeus orders the gods not to get involved, and the Trojans gain the advantage. Zeus prevents Hera and Athena from assisting the Greeks and foretells Patroklos’ death. At nightfall, Hektor persuades the Trojans to camp outside of the city in the hope of defeating the Greeks the next day.
Book 9
In assembly, Agamemnon proposes to go home but Diomedes and Nestor dissuade him. Old Nestor convinces him to return Briseis to Achilles. In the “embassy scene,” Odysseus , Ajax and Phoinix offer Achilles many gifts from Agamemnon, if he will return to battle. Achilles rejects their appeals and recalls his mother’s prophecy that he had a choice between an early death with glory, or a long life at home in obscurity.
Book 10
Diomedes and Odysseus volunteer to spy on the Trojan camp. They meet and kill a Trojan spy Dolon. Sneaking into the Trojan camp, they murder a Trojan ally Rhesos and twelve of his men, taking their horses as plunder.
Book 11
Agamemnon, Odysseus and Diomedes are wounded. Achilles sends Patroklos to learn news of the battle. Hektor surges forward in triumph. Nestor urges Patroklos to persuade Achilles to return to battle or at least let Patroklos and his men fight for the Greeks.
Books 12-15
Hektor and the Trojans storm the fortifications surrounding the Greek camp. Poseidon rallies the Greeks, and the two Ajaxes defend the Greek ships. Hera distracts Zeus with sex so he misses what is happening. As the Greeks rally, Hektor is wounded. Zeus puts a stop to the gods’ meddling and sends Apollo to revive Hektor. Hektor returns to the battle and drives the Greeks back to their ships.
Book 16
Patroklos persuades Achilles to let him wear his armor and lead their troops, the Myrmidons, into battle. Achilles warns him to return once he has driven the Trojans from the ships. Patroklos is successful and kills Sarpedon, a mortal son of Zeus. Patroklos ignores Achilles’ warning and is killed by Hektor with Apollo's help.
Book 17
The two sides battle over Patroklos’ corpse, after Hektor strips it of Achilles’ armor.
Book 18
Thetis consoles the grieving Achilles and makes him promise not to join the battle till she returns with new armor forged by Hephaistos. Instead he merely lets the Trojans hear his warcry, and they fall back enough to allow the Greeks to recover Patroklos’ body. Hektor rejects Polydamas’ advice that the Trojans withdraw. Thetis obtains new armor including an elaborate shield.
Book 19
In the assembly, Achilles announces his return to battle. Agamemnon and Achilles reconcile. They mourn for Patroklos, and Achilles, who refuses to eat, is fed by the gods. Before he enters the battle, Achilles’ horses prophesy his death.
Book 20
Zeus unleashes the gods to join in the day's fighting to prevent Achilles from storming Troy. The gods face off against each other. Achilles goes on a rampage and fights Aeneas, who is saved by Poseidon, then kills Hektor’s brother.
Book 21
Achilles brutally slaughters the Trojans, refusing any mercy. The Xanthos river tries to drown Achilles, but the other gods rescue him, and battle one another, while Zeus looks on. The Trojans are routed and flee to the city.
Book 22
Priam and Hektor’s mother beg him to return to the city, but he prepares to fight Achilles. Achilles chases Hektor around the walls of Troy. Athena tricks him into thinking that one of his brothers is with him, and he makes a stand. Achilles defeats him and abuses his body by dragging it around the walls of Troy. Hektor's parents and wife look on and mourn his death.
Book 23
Patroklos appears to Achilles in a dream and urges him to hold a funeral for him so that his shade can enter Hades. Achilles hosts splendid funeral games in Patroklos’ honor and distributes prizes to the competitors.
Book 24
The gods are outraged that Achilles continues to mistreat the body of Hektor by dragging it around the Greek camp every day. The gods inspire Priam to visit Achilles' tent and beg him to accept a splendid ransom for the body. Priam and Achilles grieve together, the body is returned to Troy, and the Trojans mourn Hektor's death.