In his tent, nestor discusses the battle with the wounded machaon. It was after sunup now, but we went right on and didnt tie up. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles, hector, odysseus, athena, ares, paris. The king and the duke turned out by and by looking pretty rusty. This is no ordinary woman, but the daughter of a priest of apollo. She undertakes to take care of patrocluss body and prevent it. Achilles chases the man he believes to be agenor, but soon apollo reveals himself to achilles, taunting him for chasing a god. Agamemnon fears they must sail home, but diomedes argues against such cowardice.
Home english literature classic books the iliad book x navigate here note book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi book vii book viii book ix book x book xi book xii book xiii book xiv book xv book xvi book xvii book xviii book xix book xx book xxi book xxii book xxiii book. Achilles and hephaestus are two figures you will be tested on. Euphorbus, the trojan who first speared him, tries to strip him of achilles armor but is killed by menelaus. He is about to succeed on his fourth try when odysseus privately signals him to back off.
This lesson will summarize book 21 of homers the iliad, which finds achilles battling a river and many other gods joining the fight. Achilles walks along the shore, calling his men to an assembly. See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and indepth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. The wrath of achilles is finally assuaged in book xxiv. Agenor does have a soliloquy, one of four such speeches in the iliad.
In book iv, however, agamemnons reaction to menelaos flesh wound is humorous. A literary essay also isnt like the kind of book report you wrote when you were younger, where your teacher wanted you to summarize the book s action. Poseidon, eager to help the achaeans and realizing that zeus has. Penelope announces the contest and retrieves odysseus great backsprung bow from a secret storeroom deep in the palace. Find summaries for every chapter, including a the iliad chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Achilles is angered that apollo has prevented him from gaining more glory, and begins running. When the god of the river xanthus or scamander is attacking achilles in book 21, hera chooses hephaestus, the god of fire, to fight the river. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. The adventures of huckleberry finn sparknotes literature guide.
For sport, telemachus attempts to string the bow and fails three times. Heres where youll find analysis about the poem as a whole. Zeus wakes and sees the havoc that hera and poseidon have wreaked while he dozed in his enchanted sleep. Thetis presents achilles with the armor that hephaestus has forged for him. Summary and analysis of book 21 of homers iliad, with a focus on the heroism of agenor. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Based on book 21 of the iliad, why does hera choose the god of fire to fight the god of the river. As he was thus pondering, the son of nestor came up to him and. Agamemnon offers great treasurethe return of briseis, future plunder, one of his daughters, and seven citiesto achilles if he will fight again and. He still has faith in zeuss promise of their victory. Agamemnons rejection of chryses in book i leads to all of the events of the iliad. The iliad is narrated from a thirdperson omniscient point of view.
Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Achilles, sitting by ships, realizes the achaeans are routed and fears the worst. Chapter summary for homers the iliad, book 21 summary. Buy books from sparknotes study guides online at booktopia, australias local bookstore. Sparknotes are the most helpful study guides around to literature, math, science, and more. Homers epic poem the iliad tells the story of the trojan war and the epic heroes and gods, including achilles, hector, odysseus, athena, ares. By the end of book 21, the trojans are able to retreat to. Homer, iliad book 21 theoi classical texts library.
Achilles singlehandedly splits the trojan forces, driving one half towards the city and one half into the river. On the riverbank, achilles mercilessly slaughters lycaon, a son of priam. The iliad opens with an expression of rage and frustration. Achilles kindness to priam in book xxiv ends the warriors wrath and. To help the trojans, as promised, zeus sends a false dream to agamemnon in which a figure in the form of nestor persuades agamemnon that he. Book 21 achilles routs the trojans and splits their ranks, pursuing half of them into the river known to the gods as xanthus and to the mortals as scamander. This study guide and infographic for homers the iliad offer summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Humor in the iliad is most often associated with the gods but does occasionally show up among the humans, most often in connection with nestor. Agamemnon, seeing blood, thinks that his brother has been mortally wounded and begins a long speech of lament and revenge. Achilles follows the trojans into the river, hacking them to pieces with his sword. Achilleus pins the trojans against the river xanthos not to be confused with achilleuss horse of the same name. King agamemnon, who leads the achaeans, has been forced to give up a valued prize, a woman he captured. Achilles pursues the trojans to the ford of the river xanthus.
Achilles routs the trojans and splits their ranks, pursuing half of them into the river known to the gods as xanthus and to the mortals as. The iliad is an ancient greek epic poem by homer that was first published in 762 bc. Find a summary of this and each chapter of the iliad. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. Many people have noted connections between the last book and the first because both involve a father seeking the return of a child. Achilles sacrifice, including twelve trojans, is an effort to show the magnitude of his sorrow. Home english literature classic books the iliad book xvi navigate here note book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi book vii book viii book ix book x book xi book xii book xiii book xiv book xv book xvi book xvii book xviii book xix book xx book xxi book xxii book xxiii book. She promises to look after patrocluss body and keep it from rotting while achilles goes to battle. With the construction of patroclus pyre, the mourning for patroclus begins to draw to a close.
On a previous encounter, achilles captured lycaon and. After breakfast the king he took a seat on the corner of the raft, and pulled off. Iliad is greek for poem about ilium, which is an alternate name for the city of troy, the setting of the trojan war. Find sample tests, essay help, and translations of shakespeare. Alas, he cried, son of noble peleus, i bring you bad tidings, would indeed that. Zeus, happy with the wars progress, takes his leave of the battlefield. Antilochus races to achilles camp to tell him of patroclus death. She promises to look after patrocluss body and keep it from. The armor forged for him by hephaestus is presented by thetis to achilles. He meets the wounded captains agamemnon, odysseus, and diomedes.
Summary and analysis book 21 odysseus strings his bow. Murray 1 but when they were now come to the ford of the fairflowing river, even eddying xanthus that immortal zeus begat, there achilles cleft them asunder, and the one part he drave to the plain toward the city, even where the achaeans were fleeing in rout the day before, what time glorious hector was ragingthitherward poured forth some in rout, and. Iliad study guide contains a biography of homer, literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Complete the quizworksheet combo to assess your knowledge of the summary of book 21 from the iliad. This is a logical choice because fire and water are opposing forces. The trojan war has been raging for nine long years, with the achaeans greeks unable to break through the walls of troy. At moments, achilles seems nearly like a god, as when iris takes his message for him to the gods of the wind.
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