The Iliad (Volume 1)

In the tenth year of the siege of Troy, Agamemnon takes from Achilles the captive awarded to him, and the best of the Achaeans withdraws to his tent. Without him the Greek army fights on the plain: the duel of Paris and Menelaus, the feats of Diomedes, Hector's farewell to Andromache. An embassy begs Achilles to return and fails, while the Trojans press on and break the rampart before the ships. This first volume explores anger, honour and the weight of the gods. Homer gives each fighter a name, a birthplace and a death described in full.