The Iliad of Homer, Books XIII-XXIV (Volume 2)

“The people took the bones, enwrapped them withSoft purple robes, and laid them down withinA golden urn, to place it in a hollowKist of stone, and cover it aboveWith close-set rocks and earth to make a mound....When they had raised the moundOf earth above the grave, they went back toThe city and assembled for a splendid Banquet in the hall of Príamos.Thus were the funeral rites completed forIllustrious Héktōr, the horsetamer.”When the humiliated Akhilleús withdrew from battle, the Akhaians were on the verge of being defeated by the Trojans. However, in this second volume, when Pátroklos, Akhilleús’ beloved comrade, dies in battle, Akhilleús is enraged. Dressed in a divine panoply, he returns to the fray, defeats the Trojans, and slays their champion Héktōr, desecrating the corpse of his opponent so outrageously that the Gods are outraged. They arrange for King Príamos to be escorted across the battle lines to Akhilleús’ abode. There, touched by the old man’s grief and courage, Akhilleús breaks down and achieves redemption by returning Héktōr’s corpse to Troy for honorable burial. The Iliad ends with Héktōr’s funeral rites.This volume ends with Notes for Books XIII-XXIV, and Glossaries describing the characters and the gods.