Diomedes is a conventional or prototype Greek hero. The First Third : Diomedes, whose aristeia in Books 5 and 6 is the perfect embodiment of the tradition of heroic values-courage while fighting in the front ranks for honor and glory, respect for his commander Agamemnon and the gods, and even though he wounds both Ares and Aphrodite, he retreats before Ares and gives way to Apollo, thus remaining within mortal limits. The movement also exemplifies the caustic underbelly of a war gone awry, a landscape where the heroic code is lost. On the one hand, the Iliad is linear the narrative movement is towards death and destruction. The making of Achilles new armor by Hephaestus and the reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon in Book 19.

The scene between Patroclus and Achilles at the beginning of Book 16.The fighting is the thickest in Books 11-21.Hector's return to Troy and his encounters with Andromache, Helen, and Paris, Book 6.The breaking of the truce and Agamemnon's inspection of the troops, Book 4.How far can a hero go in pursuing his own desires without offending the gods or alienating himself from his community?Ĭhryses, quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, Achilles' wrath, Zeus promises Thetis that he will help the Trojan cause, ' how mad to disgrace Achilles, the best of the Achaeans' ( Book I 489-490), catalogue of the armies, Paris and Menelaus duel, the truce erupts in war and indefinite encounters, Diomedes shows his prowess, Hector returns to Troy, Ajax and Hector duel, embassy to Achilles, wounding of Achaean chieftains, Trojan irruption into the Greek camp, Patroclus's intervention and death, Achilles' renunciation of his wrath against Agamemnon, Achilles seeks vengeance and slays thousands, battles the river Skamandros, Achilles and Hector fight, funeral of Patroclus, the ransoming of Hector's body, Trojans hold burial feast and mourn Hector.Ī series of delays to the expected Achaean defeat (Zeus' promise to Thetis), makes Book 2 and Book 7, the delay creates the dramatic tension in the first third of the epic.

The iliad hero