³¹After the death of Protesilaos, Achilles disembarked with the Myrmidons, and killed Cycnos by hurling a stone at his head.* When the barbarians saw that Cycnos was dead, they fled to the city, and the Greeks, leaping ashore from their ships, filled the plain with dead bodies; and when they had penned the Trojans in, they put them under siege, and hauled their ships from the water. ³²Since the courage of the barbarians had failed, Achilles laid an ambush for Troilos* in the sanctuary of Thymbrian Apollo and slew him, and raided the city by night and captured Lycaon.* And then, taking some of the foremost warriors with him, he laid waste to the land, and went to Mount Ida to rustle the cattle of Aeneas* [and] Priam. When Aeneas fled, Achilles killed the herdsmen and Mestor, son of Priam, and drove away the cattle. ³³He also captured Lesbos and Phocaia, then Colophon and Smyrna, and Clazomenai, and Cyme, and after these, Aigialos and Tenos [, the so-called Hundred Cities]; and then, successively, Adramytion and Side, and then Endion, Linaion, and Colone. He also captured Hypoplacian Thebes and Lyrnessos, and furthermore, [Ant]andros, and many other cities.

³⁴After nine years had passed, the following allies* arrived to help the Trojans. From the neighbouring cities came Aeneas, son of Anchises, and with him Archelochos and Acamas, sons of Antenor and Theano, leading the Dardanians. Of the Thracians, Acamas, son of Eusoros; of the Ciconians, Euphemos, son of Troizenos; of the Paeonians, Pyraichmes; of the Paphlagonians, Pylaimenes, son of Bilsates; ³⁵from Zelia, Pandaros, son of Lycaon; from Adrasteia, Adrastos and Amphios, sons of Merops; from Arisbe, Asios, son of Hyrtacos; from Larissa, Hippothoos, son of [Lethos] the Pelasgian; from Mysia, Chromios and Ennomos, sons of Arsinoos; of the Alizones, Odios and Epistrophos, sons of Mecisteus; of the Phrygians, Phorcys and Ascanios, sons of Aretaon; of the Maeonians, Mesthles and Antiphos, sons of Talaimenes; of the Carians, Nastes and Amphimachos, sons of Nomion; of the Lycians, Sarpedon, son of Zeus, and Glaucos, son of Hippolochos.

The wrath of Achilles (a summary of theIliad,)

¹In his anger over Briseis, the daughter of Chryses the priest,

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Achilles would no longer go out to fight. As a result, the barbarians recovered their confidence and advanced outside the city. Alexander fought in single combat against Menelaos, but when Alexander faced defeat, Aphrodite snatched him away; and Pandaros broke the truce by shooting an arrow at Menelaos.

²Diomedes performed deeds of valour* and wounded Aphrodite when she came to the aid of Aeneas; and when he encountered Glaucos, he remembered the friendship between their fathers and exchanged armour* with him. Hector challenged the bravest man present to single combat. Although many stepped forward, Aias was chosen by lot and engaged in combat; but the pair were separated at nightfall by the heralds.

³To protect the anchorage, the Greeks constructed a wall and a ditch; and after a battle on the plain, the Trojans chased the Greeks to the safety of their wall. The Greeks dispatched Odysseus, Phoenix, and Aias as envoys to Achilles, to ask him to assist them in the fighting and promise him Briseis and other gifts. ⁴At nightfall, they sent Odysseus and Diomedes on reconnaissance; and they killed Dolon, son of Eumelos, and Rhesos the Thracian (who had arrived the previous day as anally of the Trojans, and because he had yet to enter battle, had set up camp at some distance from the Trojan force, and separately from Hector). They also killed the twelve men who were sleeping around Rhesos and took their horses to the ships. ^sThe next day, a fierce battle developed. Agamemnon, Diomedes, Odysseus, Eurypylos, and Machaon were wounded, and the Greeks were put to flight; Hector breached the wall and passed inside, and after Aias had retreated, set fire to the ships.

⁶When he saw the ship of Protesilaos in flames, Achilles sent out Patroclos with the Myrmidons, equipping him with his own arms and lending him his horses. When the Trojans saw Patroclos, they took him for Achilles, and turned to flee. Patroclos pursued them up to the city wall, killing many of them, including Sarpedon, son of Zeus, but met his own death at the hand of Hector after first being wounded by Euphorbos. ⁷In the fierce battle that developed for his corpse, Aias performed deeds of valour and, with difficulty, rescued the body. Achilles now put his anger aside, and recovered Briseis; and when a full set of arms was brought to him from Hephaistos, he put on the armour and went out to fight. He chased the Trojans in a mass as far as the Scamander, killing many of them including Asteropaios, son of Pelagon, son of the River Axios. The river rushed out at him in fury, ⁸but Hephaistos turned its flooding waters dry, and pursued it [back to its bed] with a massive flame.* And Achilles killed Hector in single combat, and tying him by the ankles to his chariot, dragged him back to the ships. When he had buried Patroclos, he celebrated games in his honour, in the course of which Diomedes won the chariot race, Epeios the boxing, and Aias and Odysseus the wrestling. After the games, Priam visited Achilles, and ransomed Hector’s body and buried it.

Penthesileia the Amazon; Memnon and the death of Achilles; the suicide of Aias

^lPenthesileia, daughter of Otrere and Ares, had accidentally

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killed Hippolyte* and had been purified by Priam. She killed many Greeks in battle, including Machaon, but later died at the hand of Achilles, who fell in love with the Amazon after her death, and killed Thersites* for abusing him. [ ²]†

³Memnon,* the son of Tithonos and Dawn, arrived at Troy to fight the Greeks, accompanied by a large force of Ethiopians, and after killing many of the Greeks, including Antilochos, he met his own death at the hand of Achilles. When Achilles went in pursuit of the Trojans also, he was shot down in front of the Scaean Gates* by Alexander and Apollo, with an arrow in the ankle.* ⁴In the fight for his body, Aias killed Glaucos, and asking someone else to carry Achilles’ arms to the ships, he picked up the body, and surrounded by the enemy, carried it away through a hail of missiles while Odysseus fought off the attackers.

⁵At the death of Achilles, the army was filled with gloom. They buried him with Patroclos [on the White Island*], mixing the bones of the pair together. It is said that Achilles lives on after his death as the husband of Medea on the Isles of the Blessed.* The Greeks held games in his honour, in the course of which Eumelos won the chariot race and Diomedes the footrace, Aias the discus-throwing, and Teucros the archery. ⁶When Achilles’ armour was offered as a prize to the bravest, Aias and Odysseus entered the lists. With the Trojans acting as judges,* or according to some, the allies,* Odysseus was picked as the winner. Aias was so overcome by resentment that he planned a night attack on the army; but Athene drove him out of his wits and turned him against the cattle, sword in hand, and in his delusion, he slaughtered the cattle along with their herdsmen, supposing them to be the Achaeans.* ⁷Afterwards, however, when he had recovered his wits, Aias killed himself.* Agamemnon ordered that his body should not be burned, so Aias alone of the men who fell at Ilion lies in a coffin. His grave is at Rhoiteion.

Philoctetes and the death of Paris; conditions for the fall of Troy

⁸When the war had already lasted for ten years and the Greeks were losing heart, Calchas prophesied that Troy could not be taken unless they had the bow of Heracles* to help them. On hearing this prophecy, Odysseus made his way to Lemnos with Diomedes to see Philoctetes,* and gaining possession of his bow by a trick, he persuaded him to sail to Troy. So Philoctetes arrived there, and after he had been cured by Podaleirios,* killed Alexander with an arrow.