By topic | By book

1-47 — Agamemnon’s dream

48-108 — The council by Nestor’s ship

109-154 — Agamemnon speaks to the assembled Greeks

155-187 — Athene prompts Odysseus

188-210 — Odysseus restrains the Greeks

211-277 — Odysseus chastises Thersites

278-332 — Odysseus reminds the troops of Calchas’ prophecy

333-393 — Nestor advises the Assembly

394-483 — Agamemnon sacrifices to the gods

484-580 — The Catalogue of Ships – Eastern Greece

581-644 — The Catalogue of Ships – Western Greece

645-680 — The Catalogue of Ships – Crete and the Islands

681-759 — The Catalogue of Ships – Northern Greece

760-810 — The Trojan armies gather

811-875 — The Trojan leaders and contingents

1-67 — Hera prolongs the War

68-126 — Athene stirs Pandarus to action

127-197 — Menelaus is wounded

198-249 — Agamemnon rouses the generals

250-325 — Agamemnon meets Idomeneus, the Aiantes, and Nestor

326-421 — Agamemnon meets Menestheus, Odysseus and Diomedes

422-472 — The death of Echepolus

473-544 — The thick of battle

1-71 — Agamemnon kills Adrastus

72-118 — Helenus asks Hector to urge the City to pray

119-211 — Glaucus meets Diomedes and tells his lineage

237-311 — Hecabe prays to Athene

312-368 — Hector rouses Paris

369-439 — Hector speaks with Andromache

440-493 — Hector takes leave of his wife and son

494-529 — Hector and Paris go to fight

1-52 — Zeus warns the gods not to join in the battle

53-111 — Nestor defends the Greeks

112-156 — Nestor and Diomedes fight alongside

157-211 — Hera and Poseidon debate the battle

212-272 — Hera warns the Greeks and they rally

273-334 — Hector wounds Teucer

335-396 — Hera and Athene arm for battle

397-437 — Zeus turns back the goddesses

438-488 — Zeus prophesies the course of the war

489-565 — The Trojans camp in the plain

1-71 — Agamemnon and Menelaus meet

72-130 — Agamemnon rouses Nestor

131-193 — Nestor rouses Odysseus and Diomedes

194-253 — Diomedes chooses Odysseus to make a foray

254-298 — Diomedes and Odysseus set out

299-348 — Hector sends Dolon out to spy

349-411 — Odysseus questions Dolon

412-464 — Diomedes kills Dolon

465-514 — Diomedes and Odysseus capture the horses of Rhesus

515-579 — Diomedes and Odysseus return in triumph

The epic begins with an invocation to the Muse to sing of the catastrophic rage of Achilles. In the tenth year of the Trojan War, Agamemnon (leader of the Greeks) has captured Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo’s priest, Chryses. When Chryses begs for her return and offers a ransom, Agamemnon cruelly dismisses him. In despair, Chryses prays to Apollo, who unleashes a devastating plague of arrows upon the Greek camp for nine days.

Achilles finally calls an assembly to figure out why they are being slaughtered. The prophet Calchas reveals that Agamemnon’s refusal to return the girl is the cause. A bitter argument erupts. Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to save the army but demands a replacement prize, specifically threatening to take Briseis, the war prize of Achilles. Furious, Achilles draws his sword to kill Agamemnon, but the goddess Athene appears (visible only to him) and counsels him to stay his hand. The wise elder Nestor steps in to mediate, but his advice to calm down is ignored by both stubborn kings.

Agamemnon makes good on his threat and sends his heralds to seize Briseis. Stripped of his honor, Achilles weeps and complains to his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis. He asks her to call in a favor with Zeus to help the Trojans win, so the Greeks will realize how desperately they need him. Meanwhile, Odysseus sails to return Chryseis, and her father prays to Apollo to lift the plague. Up on Mount Olympus, Thetis pleads with Zeus, grasping his knees. Zeus agrees to help the Trojans, which fiercely angers his wife, Hera, who favors the Greeks. The gods bicker until the smith-god Hephaestus calms his mother Hera by serving wine, diffusing the divine tension with laughter.

Honoring his promise to Thetis, Zeus sends a false dream to Agamemnon, convincing him that the Greeks will capture Troy that very day. Agamemnon holds a council by Nestor’s ship, but decides to test the troops' morale first by telling the assembled army that the war is lost and they should sail home. The test backfires disastrously—the exhausted Greeks immediately sprint for the ships!

Prompted by Athene, Odysseus grabs Agamemnon’s royal scepter and physically restrains the fleeing Greeks, beating the commanders into line. He particularly chastises Thersites, a hideous, loud-mouthed commoner who mocks Agamemnon, smashing him over the back with the scepter. Order restored, Odysseus reminds the troops of an old prophecy by Calchas (a snake eating eight baby sparrows and their mother), proving they are destined to win in this, the ninth year. Nestor advises the assembly to organize by tribe and clan. Agamemnon sacrifices a bull to Zeus, and the troops prepare for war.

Homer then invokes the Muses again to recite the massive "Catalogue of Ships," detailing the leaders, lineage, and geography of the Greek contingents from Eastern Greece, Western Greece, Crete, the Islands, and Northern Greece. The narrative shifts to Troy as the Trojan armies gather on the plain, and Homer concludes the book by listing the Trojan leaders and their allied contingents.

The armies march toward each other. Paris, the Trojan prince who started the war by stealing Helen, struts at the front of the Trojan lines in leopard skin. But when Menelaus (Helen’s rightful husband) steps forward, Paris cowers in fear and retreats. His brother, Hector, severely scolds him for his cowardice. Shamed, Paris proposes a single combat duel between himself and Menelaus: the winner takes Helen and all her wealth, ending the war.

Meanwhile, the goddess Iris visits Helen in her chambers and brings her to the city walls. Sitting with King Priam, Helen looks out over the battlefield and names the great Greek leaders (Agamemnon, Odysseus, Ajax) in a famous scene known as the Teichoscopia. Sacrifices are made, and Priam and Agamemnon swear solemn oaths to honor the outcome of the duel.

The duel begins. Paris throws his spear but it bends on Menelaus' shield. Menelaus strikes back, shattering his sword on Paris’s helmet, then grabs Paris by the helmet crest and begins dragging him toward the Greek lines, choking him. Before Menelaus can kill him, Aphrodite intervenes, snapping the helmet strap and magically whisking Paris away in a thick mist to his own bedroom. Aphrodite then forces a reluctant Helen into the bedroom with Paris, while a furious Menelaus stalks the battlefield looking for his vanished opponent.