Exposition (Books 1–4)
(1) The story begins with an invocation to the Muse. The events begin in medias res towards the end of the Trojan War, fought between the Trojans and the besieging Achaeans. The Achaean forces consist of armies from many different Greek kingdoms, led by their respective kings or princes. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, acts as commander for these united armies.
Chryses, a priest of Apollo, offers the Achaeans wealth for the return of his daughter Chryseis, held captive by Agamemnon. Although most of the Achaean kings are in favor of the offer, Agamemnon refuses. Chryses prays for Apollo's help, and Apollo sends a plague to afflict the Achaean army. After nine days of plague, Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidon
forces and aristos achaion ("best of the Greeks"), calls an assembly to
deal with the problem. Under pressure, Agamemnon agrees to return
Chryseis to her father, but decides to take Achilles' captive, Briseis,
as compensation. Because war prizes were correlated with honor,
Agamemnon's decision dishonors Achilles in front of the assembled
Achaean forces. Achilles furiously declares that he and his men will no
longer fight for Agamemnon. Odysseus returns Chryseis to her father, causing Apollo to end the plague.
In the meantime, Agamemnon's messengers take Briseis away. Achilles becomes very upset and prays to his mother, Thetis, a minor goddess and sea nymph.[2] Achilles asks his mother to ask Zeus
to allow the Achaeans to be beaten back by the Trojans, until their
ships are at risk of burning. Only then will Agamemnon realize how much
the Achaeans need Achilles, and restore his honor. Thetis does so, and
Zeus agrees.(2)
Zeus then sends a dream to Agamemnon, urging him to attack Troy.
Agamemnon heeds the dream, but first decides to test the Achaean army's
morale by telling them to go home. But nine years into the war, the
soldiers' morale has worn thin. The plan backfires, and only the
intervention of Odysseus, inspired by Athena, stops a rout. Odysseus confronts and beats Thersites, a common soldier who voices discontent about fighting Agamemnon's war.
The Achaeans deploy in companies upon the Trojan plain. When news of the Achaean deployment reaches King Priam, the Trojans respond in a sortie upon the plain. (3) The armies approach each other, but before they meet, Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel with Menelaus, urged by Hector, his brother and hero of Troy. Here, the initial cause of the entire war is explained: Helen,
wife of Menelaus, and the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris,
either through seduction or by force, stole Helen away from Menelaus'
home in Sparta. Menelaus and Paris agree to duel; Helen will marry the victor. However, when Paris is beaten, Aphrodite rescues him and leads him to bed with Helen before Menelaus can kill him.
(4) The gods deliberate over whether the war should end here, but Hera convinces Zeus to wait for the utter destruction of Troy. Athena prompts the Trojan archer Pandarus to shoot Menelaus. Menelaus is wounded, and the truce is broken. Fighting breaks out, and many minor Trojans are killed.
Duels of Greek and Trojan Heroes (Books 5–7)
(5) In the fighting, Diomedes kills many Trojans, including Pandaros, and defeats Aeneas.
Aphrodite rescues him before he can be killed, but Diomedes attacks her
and wounds the goddess's wrist. Apollo faces Diomedes and warns him
against warring with gods, which Diomedes ignores. Apollo sends Ares to defeat Diomedes. Many heroes and commanders join in, including Hector,
and the gods supporting each side try to influence the battle.
Emboldened by Athena, Diomedes wounds Ares and puts him out of action.
(6) Hector rallies the Trojans and prevents a rout. Diomedes and the Trojan Glaucus find common ground after a duel and exchange unequal gifts, while Glaucus tells Diomedes the story of Bellerophon. Hector enters the city, urges prayers and sacrifices, incites Paris to battle, and bids his wife Andromache and son Astyanax farewell on the city walls. He then rejoins the battle. (7) Hector duels with Ajax,
but nightfall interrupts the fight, and both sides retire. The Trojans
quarrel about returning Helen. Paris offers to return the treasure he
took and give further wealth as compensation, but not Helen, and the
offer is refused. Both sides agree to a day's truce to burn the dead.
The Achaeans also build a wall and trench to protect their camp and
ships.
The Rout of the Greeks (Books 8–15)
(8)
The next morning, Zeus prohibits the gods from interfering, and
fighting begins anew. The Trojans prevail and force the Achaeans back to
their wall. Hera and Athena are forbidden to help. Night falls before
the Trojans can assail the Achaean wall. They camp in the field to
attack at first light, and their watchfires light the plain like stars. 
Iliad, Book VIII, lines 245–53, Greek manuscript, late 5th, early 6th centuries AD.
(9) Meanwhile, the Achaeans are desperate. Agamemnon admits his error, and sends an embassy composed of Odysseus, Ajax, Phoenix,
and two heralds to offer Briseis and extensive gifts to Achilles, if
only he will return to the fighting. Achilles and his companion Patroclus
receive the embassy well. However, considering the slight to his honor
too great, Achilles angrily refuses Agamemnon's offer and declares that
he will only return to battle if the Trojans reach his ships and
threaten them with fire. The embassy returns empty-handed.
(10) Later that night, Odysseus and Diomedes venture out to the Trojan lines, kill the Trojan Dolon, and wreak havoc in the camps of some Thracian allies of Troy's.(11)
In the morning, the fighting is fierce, and Agamemnon, Diomedes, and
Odysseus are all wounded. Achilles sends Patroclus from his camp to
inquire about the Achaean casualties, and while there, Patroclus is
moved to pity by a speech of Nestor's. Nestor asks Patroclus to beg Achilles to rejoin the fighting, or if he will not, to lead the army wearing Achilles' armor.
(12)
The Trojans attack the Achaean wall on foot. Hector leads the terrible
fighting, despite an omen that their charge will fail. The Achaeans are
overwhelmed and routed, the wall's gate is broken, and Hector charges
in. The Achaeans fall back to their ships.
(13)
Poseidon pities the Achaeans, and decides to disobey Zeus and help
them. He rallies the Achaean's spirits, and they begin to push the
Trojans back. Poseidon's nephew Amphimachus is killed in the battle;
Poseidon imbues Idomeneus with godly power. Many fall on both sides. The Trojan seer Polydamas urges Hector to fall back because of a bad omen, but is ignored.
(14) Hera seduces Zeus and lulls him to sleep, allowing Poseidon to help the Greeks. The Trojans are driven back onto the plain. Ajax wounds Hector, who is then carried back to Troy. (15)
Zeus awakes and is enraged by Poseidon's intervention. However, he
reassures Hera that Troy is still fated to fall once Hector kills
Patroclus. Poseidon is recalled from the battlefield, and Zeus sends
Apollo to aid the Trojans. The Trojans once again breach the wall, and
the battle reaches the ships.
The Death of Patroclus (Books 16–18)
(16)
Patroclus cannot stand to watch any longer, and goes to Achilles,
weeping. He briefly admonishes him for his stubbornness, then asks
Achilles to allow him to fight in his place, wearing his armor so that
he will be mistaken for Achilles. Achilles relents and lends Patroclus
his armor, but sends him off with a stern admonition to come back to
him, and not to pursue the Trojans. Achilles says that after all has
been made right, he and Patroclus will take Troy together.
Patroclus leads the Myrmidons
into battle and arrives as the Trojans set fire to the first ships. The
Trojans are routed by the sudden onslaught, and Patroclus begins his
assault by killing Zeus's son Sarpedon,
a leading ally of the Trojans. Patroclus, ignoring Achilles' command,
pursues and reaches the gates of Troy, where Apollo himself stops him.
Patroclus kills Hector's brother Cebriones, is set upon by Apollo and Euphorbos, and is finally killed by Hector.
(17)
Hector takes Achilles' armor from the fallen Patroclus. The Achaeans
fight to retrieve Patroclus' body from the Trojans, who attempt to carry
it back to Troy at Hector's command. Antilochus is sent to tell Achilles the news, and ask him to help retrieve the body.
(18)
When Achilles hears of Patroclus' death, he screams so loudly in his
grief that his mother, Thetis, hears him from the bottom of the ocean.
Thetis grieves, too, knowing that Achilles is fated to die young if he
kills Hector. Though he knows it will seal his own fate, Achilles vows
to kill Hector in order to avenge Patroclus.
Achilles is urged
to help retrieve Patroclus' body, but has no armor to wear. Bathed in a
brilliant radiance by Athena, Achilles stands next to the Achaean wall
and roars in rage. The Trojans are terrified by his appearance, and the
Achaeans manage to bear Patroclus' body away. Polydamas urges Hector
again to withdraw into the city; again Hector refuses, and the Trojans
camp on the plain at nightfall.
Achilles mourns Patroclus, brokenhearted. Meanwhile, at Thetis' request, Hephaestus fashions a new set of armor for Achilles, including a magnificently wrought shield.
The Rage of Achilles (Books 19–24)
(19)
In the morning, Thetis brings Achilles his new set of armor, only to
find him weeping over Patroclus' body. Achilles arms for battle and
rallies the Achaean warriors. Agamemnon gives Achilles all the promised
gifts, including Briseis, but Achilles is indifferent to them. The Achaeans take their meal; Achilles refuses to eat. His horse, Xanthos, prophesies Achilles' death; Achilles is indifferent. Achilles goes into battle, Automedon drives his chariot.
(20) Zeus
lifts the ban on the gods' interference, and the gods freely help both
sides. Achilles, burning with rage and grief, slays many. (21) Achilles cuts off half the Trojans' number in the river and slaughters them, clogging the river with bodies. The river god, Scamander,
confronts Achilles and commands him to stop killing Trojans, but
Achilles refuses. They fight, until Scamander is beaten back by
Hephaestus' firestorm. The gods fight amongst themselves. The great
gates of the city are opened to receive the fleeing Trojans, and Apollo
leads Achilles away from the city by pretending to be a Trojan. (22) When Apollo reveals himself to Achilles, the Trojans have retreated into the city, all except for Hector.
Despite the counsel of Polydamas and the pleas of his parents, Priam and Hecuba,
Hector resolves to face Achilles. When Achilles approaches, however,
Hector's will fails him. He flees, and is chased by Achilles around the
city. Finally, Athena tricks him into stopping, and he turns to face his
opponent. After a brief duel, Achilles stabs Hector through the neck.
Before dying, Hector reminds Achilles that he, too, is fated to die.
Achilles strips Hector of his own armor, gloating over his death.
Achilles then dishonors Hector's body by lashing it to the back of his
chariot and dragging it around the city. The Trojans grieve.
(23)
The ghost of Patroclus comes to Achilles in a dream, urging him to
carry out the burial rites so that Patroclus' spirit can move on to the
underworld. Patroclus asks Achilles to arrange for their bones to be
entombed together in a single urn; Achilles agrees. Patroclus' body is
burned. The Achaeans hold a day of funeral games, and Achilles gives out
the prizes.
(24)
Achilles is lost in his grief, and spends his days mourning Patroclus
and dragging Hector's body behind his chariot. Dismayed by Achilles'
continued abuse of Hector's body, Zeus decides that it must be returned
to Priam. Led by Hermes,
Priam takes a wagon filled with gifts out of Troy, across the plains,
and into the Achaean camp unnoticed. He clasps Achilles by the knees and
begs for his son's body. Achilles is moved to tears, and finally
relents in his anger. The two lament their losses in the war. Achilles
agrees to give Hector's body back, and to give the Trojans twelve days
to properly mourn and bury Hector. Achilles apologizes to Patroclus,
fearing he has dishonored him by returning Hector's body. After a meal,
Priam carries Hector's body back into Troy. Hector is buried, and the
city mourns.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad
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