Coming towards the end of a war which has consumed an entire decade and laid waste the lives of many, the Greek warriors in Troy choose to take the time and energy to hold funeral games.  This sequence of events leaves the reader feeling confused because it's not something one would expect and seems highly out of place.  Throughout the epic Homer tries to describe what it is to be mortal and often contrasts it with what it means to be immortal.  Homer uses the funeral games of Patroklos to show crucial differences about the lives of mortals and the lives of gods.  These games come towards the end of a war that has cost thousands of men their lives and all these men should logically want to do is go home.  The games and the war are very similar to each other...