SynopsisAs the poem begins, the Greeks have captured Chryséis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and given her as a prize to Agamemnon. When Agamemnon threatens Chryses as he attempted to ransom his daughter, Apollo sends a plague against the Greeks. At an assembly called by Achilles, the Greeks compel Agamemnon to restore Chryséis to her father to stop the sickness. Agamemnon agrees reluctantly but also takes for himself Briséis, whom the Achaeans had given to Achilles as a spoil of war. This causes Achilles, widely seen as the best warrior of the war, to withdraw from the fighting.In counterpoint to Achilles' pride stands the Trojan prince Hector, son of King Priam, a husband and father who fights to defend his city and his family. With Achilles on the sidelines, Hector leads successful counterattacks against the Greeks, who have built a fortified camp around their ships pulled up on the Trojan beach. The best remaining Greek fighters, including Odysseus and Diomedes, are wounded, and the gods favor the Trojans. When the Trojans finally threatened the Greek ships with fire, Achilles allows Patroclus, impersonating him by wearing his armor, to lead the Myrmidons back into battle. The death of Patroclus at the hands of Hector brings Achilles back to the war for revenge, and he slays Hector in single combat. Hector's body is abused for days until his father, King Priam, comes to Achilles alone (but aided by Hermes) to ransom his son's body, and Achilles is moved to pity. The funeral of Hector ends the poem.Book summariesHomer himself didn't name the 24 books of the Iliad, however, many translators have provided their own book titles. The number of books is identical to that of Homer's other epic, the Odyssey.· Book 1: Nine years into the war, Agamemnon seizes Briseis, the concubine (prize) of Achilles, since he has had to give away his own; Achilles withdraws from the fighting in anger; in Olympus, the gods argue about the outcome of the war · Book 2: Agamemnon pretends to order the Greeks home to test their resolve; Odysseus encourages the Greeks to keep fighting; Catalogue of Ships, Catalogue of Trojans and Allies · Book 3: A truce is observed as Paris challenges Menelaus to single combat over Helen while she watches from the walls of Troy with Priam; Paris is quickly overmatched by Menelaus, but is rescued from death by Aphrodite, and Menelaus is seen as the winner. · Book 4: The truce is broken and battle begins · Book 5: Diomedes has an aristeia (a period of supremacy in battle) and wounds Aphrodite and Ares with the assistance of Athena · Book 6: Glaucus and Diomedes greet each other during the fighting; Hector returns to Troy and speaks to his wife Andromache Iliad, Book 8, lines 245-253, in a Greek manuscript of the late fifth or early sixth century AD· Book 7: Hector battles Ajax · Book 8: The gods withdraw from the battle · Book 9: The Embassy to Achilles. Agamemnon sends Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix to Achilles to obtain his help; his promises of honour and riches are spurned · Book 10: The Doloneia. Diomedes and Odysseus go on a night mission, kill the Trojan Dolon, and ambush a camp of Thracians. · Book 11: Paris wounds Diomedes; Achilles sends Patroclus on a mission · Book 12: The Greeks retreat to their camp and are besieged by the Trojans · Book 13: Fighting before the ships; Poseidon encourages the Greeks · Book 14: Hera helps Poseidon assist the Greeks; Deception of Zeus · Book 15: Zeus stops Poseidon from interfering; Hector brings fire to the ships · Book 16: Patroclus borrows Achilles' armour, enters battle, kills Sarpedon and then is killed by Hector · Book 17: The armies fight over the body and armour of Patroclus. Books 16 and 17 are collectively called the Patrocleia. · Book 18: Achilles learns of the death of Patroclus and receives a new suit of armour. The Shield of Achilles is described at length · Book 19: Achilles is reconciled in form with Agamemnon and enters battle · Book 20: The gods join the battle; Achilles drives all the Trojans before him · Book 21: Achilles does battle with the river Scamander but is led astray by Ares · Book 22: Achilles kills Hector outside the walls of Troy and drags his body back to the Greek camp · Book 23: Funeral games for Patroclus · Book 24: Priam, the King of the Trojans, secretly enters the Greek camp. He begs Achilles for Hector's body. Achilles is moved to pity and grants it to him, and it is taken away and given a funeral, at which Helen and Andromache both make comments, and then his body is burned on a pyre. Famous passages· Catalogue of Ships (Book 2, lines 494-759) · Teichoscopia (Book 3, lines 121-244) · Deception of Zeus (Book 14, lines 153-353) · Shield of Achilles (Book 18, lines 430-617) After the IliadAlthough the Iliad scatters foreshadowings of certain events subsequent to the funeral of Hector, and there is a general sense that the Trojans are doom。