Chapter Thirty-One

Contains spoilers

Summary

  • Achilles watches as a battle against the city of Troy progresses.
  • He observes a group of men coming back, one of whom appears to be carrying the body of his lover Patroclus.
  • Grief-stricken, Achilles first tries to commit suicide by slashing his throat, only to realize he had given his sword away.
  • Achilles holds Patroclus's body and mourns his loss, rebuffing any effort to help or comfort him including from Odysseus and his beloved companion Briseis.
  • Achilles finds great solace in holding Patroclus's dead body and longs for his own death.
  • Achilles loudly calls out Hector's name, who was the one that killed Patroclus, as he rushed back into the battlefield.
  • In the ensuing combat, Achilles battles the river god Scamander, who tries to prevent Achilles from reaching Hector.
  • Achilles is able to defeat Scamander and continue his quest for Hector's life.
  • Achilles and Hector ultimately face-off in a grove near Troy's walls, where Achilles kills Hector.
  • Achilles drags Hector’s body back with him and refuses any feast or honour extended by Agamemnon.
  • Despite his mother Thetis's request, Achilles refuses to stop dragging Hector's corpse around the walls of the city, attracting Apollo's wrath.
  • Achilles and Thetis have a argument where Thetis admits to taking joy in Patroclus's death.
  • Thetis, disgusted by Achilles's grief and his unwillingness to let go of Patroclus's body, disowns him and leaves Achilles with Hector's body and his grief for Patroclus.