The Iliad (Volume 2)

The Trojans have reached the ships and fire threatens the fleet when Patroclus takes Achilles' armour to drive them back. His death at Hector's hands brings Achilles into the battle, with armour forged by Hephaestus and a fury nothing can check. The plain, the river, then the walls of Troy see the two men close on each other, while the city watches. This second volume explores grief, revenge and the pity an enemy can still command. Homer carries the poem to Hector's funeral, after a night in which a father comes to ask for his son's body.