Book 1 Summary

Homer's Iliad begins during the tenth year of the Trojan War and opens, like most epic poems, with a request for inspiration from the appropriate muse. We are told from the beginning that the story is going to be about the "rage" or "anger" of Achilles, the greatest warrior in Achaia (Greece). Homer then relates the origin of this anger.

In an earlier raid against the Trojans, two beautiful women were captured and kept as war prizes. Chryseis is awarded to Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army, and Briseis is given to Achilles. Unfortunately, Chryseis happens to be the daughter of a priest of Apollo, and when her father, Chryses, learns she has been taken, he comes to the Achaians to offer a ransom for her return. Agamemnon drives him away harshly and refuses to return Chryseis, so Chryses appeals to Apollo...