Book 15: Despite nearly dying, Hector leads the trojans into battle yet again
Zeus Is Pissed
The Greeks have now gained back some land, pushing the Trojans to where the ditch is.
Fortunately for the Trojans, Zeus has now woken up from his divine nap. He bolts upright, looks down at the field and sees Poseidon among the Greek soldiers. He then sees Hector lying down where we left him, still vomiting up blood. Obviously, Zeus is not happy about this and so turns to Hera and says (something like) “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL THIS EVIL YOU HAVE INFLICTED ON THE TROJANS WHEN I WHIP YOU” (real stand up guy). To strengthen his threat, he reminds her of the time he had previously tied her hands together and hung her from the clouds with the Olympians watching on (I wish I was making this up I really do).
Hera is terrified by her husband’s threats. She tells him that she has nothing to do with Poseidon fighting on the Greek side and that his involvement is entirely his choice.
Zeus redirects his anger towards Poseidon, saying that if Hera is telling the truth then she must call for Iris so that he can then send her to tell Poseidon off. He also asks Hera to let Apollo know that he can go and help Hector recover. This is when we hear the plot points of the ENTIRE book once again, as Zeus tells us that Hector needs to be healed in order to push the Greeks back towards Achilles’ ships, putting pressure on Patroclus to come out onto the battlefield which will ultimately cause Hector to kill him and then Achilles, in anger, will kill Hector. Zeus tells us that only when that happens will the fighting be swayed in the Greek’s favour. Until then, he says he will not stop his anger because he made a promise to Thetis.
Meeting of the gods
Hera doesn’t disobey and goes straight to Olympus from Ida. Upon her arrival, she enters the room where all the gods are sitting and they all swarm around her to hear what she has to say. Hera ignores them all in favour of walking over to Themis (the goddess of good counsel), who is holding a tray of wine cups.
As Hera takes a cup, Themis notices that the queen looks as though Zeus has just scared her. Hera replies (with something like) “Don’t ask about it because you know what he’s like — stubborn and arrogant. Keep doing your thing in presiding over this little feast here because you and everyone else are about to hear some things you’re not going to like and it’s probably better if everyone’s drinking”. The queen of the gods then takes her seat.
The other Olympians see her serious mannerisms and are worried. They notice that despite having a smile on her face, Hera’s brow and forehead have loads of tension which is not a good sign.
The queen of the gods tells them that Zeus is in a bad mood and everyone just kind of has to take it. She assumes he will target them all in some way considering he has already targeted Ares (remember, Ares’ son was killed? If not, that happened and I definitely noted it in the previous chapters).
Hearing this, Ares slaps his legs and stands up (finally), telling the other gods that they will have to excuse him as he must go and avenge his son’s death. Ares goes as far to say that even if Zeus were to unleash whatever anger he harbours on the god of war, it would not stop him from honouring his child correctly. Fear and Terror — Ares’s little minions — start to get his horses ready.
Athena springs up and takes Ares’s helmet off his head and his spear out of his hands. She tells him that he’s insane and wonders if his ears are working, yelling (something like) “DID YOU NOT JUST HEAR WHAT HERA SAID!?” She asks if Ares wishes to return to Olympus as a “plant seed of sorrow” for the rest of them since Zeus will no doubt leave his current position on the battlefield to go to Olympus and batter them all if Ares breaks the agreement of not interfering with the war. She begs Ares to give up his anger for his son and reassures him that someone has probably already avenged him. She then forcibly pushes Ares’s booty back down into a chair to contain his outburst.
While this is going on, Hera calls Iris and Apollo to meet her outside. She tells them Zeus wants to see them on Mount Ida and suggests to the pair that whatever he wants them to do, they should just do it. Once the pair have disappeared, the Queen returns back to sit on her throne.
Apollo and Iris fly to Mount Ida and find Zeus waiting for them. First, he speaks to Iris, saying she must tell Poseidon that he needs to cut it out on the battlefield and go back to hang out with the other gods or go back to his home in the sea. He says that if Poseidon refuses, Iris should remind him that even though Poseidon is powerful, he’s not as powerful in strength as Zeus is. Iris obeys and runs off to Troy.
When Iris gets down to Poseidon, she tells him that she’s been sent by Zeus to deliver a message. She reiterates what we just heard from Zeus and informs Poseidon that if he does not obey the king of the gods, then Zeus is going to fight him.
Poseidon stares at Iris, gives a beat of silence and simply replies: No. He says that Zeus is going too far with his orders and that the king of the gods needs to remember that he and Poseidon are equals. Poseidon explains how he, Hades and Zeus are all siblings and how each of them was allotted an equal part of the Earth: he the sea, Zeus the sky, and Hades the Underworld. However, he establishes here that the earth itself (including Mount Olympus) is allotted to all three of them and therefore — since he’s on EARTH — he technically does not have to listen to Zeus. He says that Zeus should stop being mean to him for no reason and that he should keep his threats for his children.
Iris asks if this is exactly what he wants her to say to Zeus or if he’s willing to change it slightly. Poseidon tells her that she just has to relay his threat: if Zeus decides to spare Troy, there will be no healing of Athena, Hera, Hermes, Hephaestus nor his own anger. With those words, he went back into the sea, leaving the Greeks to fight without him.
We then cut back to Zeus who is telling Apollo to go to Hector and heal him. Once he has completed that, Apollo is advised to go rally the Trojans back into battle, infuse Hector with the energy to push the army back towards the Greeks and then from there, Zeus will handle the trajectory of the war.
Back on the battlefield
Apollo obeys and runs down to the battlefield to find Hector looking pretty rough after the whole vomiting blood incident. The god of archery breathes strength into Hector, enabling the prince to march back into battle. Upon seeing a healed Hector, the Greeks cower in his presence.
Thoas says what we’re all thinking, which is (something like) “Is that Hector out there!? Wasn’t he basically just dead!?” He continues to say that the Greeks all hoped he had died by Big Ajax’s hand, but clearly, some god has come to his aid. Thoas tells the men that the best fighters should push forward against Hector while the others fall back, meaning that Ajax, Idonmeneus, Teucer, Meriones, and Meges hold the front line. The rest of the Greeks fall behind them, as instructed.
The Trojans, led by Hector (who was really led by Apollo as the god is shrouded in a mist), come down on the Greeks hard. Homer notes that many men fell in battle, but no one is mentioned specifically. He says that as long as Apollo was on the ground and holding Zeus’s Aegis, men would continue to fall.
Hector kills Stichios (leader of Boeotians) and Arkesilaos (trusted companion of Menestheus). Aeneas kills Medon (half-brother of Little Ajax) and Iasos (leader of Athenians). Poulydamas kills Mekisteus and Polites Echios, while Agenor kills Klonios. Paris kills Deichos by hitting him in the back of the shoulder.
As all the Trojans are climbing back into their chariots, Hector calls out to the army and instructs them to push forward and burn the ships. Apollo kicks the side of the ditch over to make a bridge (because remember that the horses were scared of the spikes), and the Trojans stream over into the camps with Apollo leading the way.
Seeing this, the Greeks start praying. Nestor is noted as reaching out his hands to the heavens and screaming (something along the lines of) “If you remember any of us making sacrifices to you, please don’t let us die today!” Luckily for him, Zeus hears his prayer. He sends out a sign to the Greeks in the form of a thunder stroke, however the Trojans assume that this is a sign intended for them. They interpret this as Zeus granting them passage to burn the Greek ships and thus are ignited with even more fighting energy.
The Trojans successfully push onto the Greek ships. The Greek army do their best to fight the enemy off but can feel their fighting spirit tiring.
We then briefly cut to Patroclus who has been healing Eurypylos’s injury. When Patroclus hears and sees what’s happening by the ships, he excuses himself from Eurypylos and announces that he must bring the news to Achilles in the hopes this stirs him back into fighting. Patroclus leaves.
Meanwhile, the Greeks are still trying to push the Trojans out of their camp. Despite fighting quite literally ON one of the ships, Hector is unable to set fire to the decks because Ajax is too strong in his defence.
A Trojan named Kaletor tries to bring fire to the ship, but Ajax stabs him with a spear through the chest. Hector is OUTRAGED when he sees this and instructs his men to make sure no Greek takes Kaletor’s armour. The Trojan prince attempts to throw a spear at Ajax, but misses him and instead hits Lykophron, son of Mastor.
Big Ajax shudders and says to Teucer (something like) “Look what Hector did! He killed the guy that lived with us for a while — not cool! Where are your bow and arrows at!? LET’S GO.”
Teucer starts firing his arrows at the Trojans, first killing Kleitos, son of Peisenor and friend of Poulydamas. Teucer then picks up another arrow and fires it with the intention of hitting Hector but the Trojan prince was being protected by Zeus. Teucer sighs and explains that he strung his bow that day so the arrows should be hitting their mark perfectly … and yet they are not, meaning a god must be watching Hector. Big Ajax hilariously replies by saying that if the god is against Teucer’s arrows, then he should put them down and take up a spear instead. Teucer does as he’s told, laying aside his bow and picking up his shield and spear. He then goes to stand by Big Ajax.
When Hector notices that Teucer’s arrows have no effect on him, he turns around and tells the Trojans that Zeus is clearly still with them. He also tells them that if it’s the men’s destiny to die there, the soldiers should allow it as there is no dishonour in dying to defend one’s own country.
While Hector’s raising his men’s fighting spirits, Big Ajax does the same … except, unlike Hector, Ajax yells and shames his men into fighting better. He says that if they allow Hector to take the ships, the Trojan prince will follow by taking all of their lives. The men of both sides are spurred on to fight harder.
Hector kills Schedios, son of Perimedes, and Ajax kills Laodamas, son of Antenor. Poulydamas kills Otos of Kyllene, Meges’ friend, and seeing this, Meges lunges at Poulydamas. The Trojan sees this attack and moves out of the way just in time, meaning that Meges ends up hitting Kroismos in the chest. Meges goes over to get his armour while a Trojan named Dolops comes up behind him and lunges at Phyleides, however only hits his shield. Meges leans up to stab Dolops’ helmet, tearing it off with his spear so that it topples to the ground. Despite this, Dolops stands his ground and keeps fighting in the hopes of winning, but Menelaus moves in to support Meges. Being unseen, Menelaus throws his spear at Dolops and it tears through his chest, killing him. The pair go in to get his armour.
Hector now yells at the Trojans once more, first attacking Melanippos, son of Hiketaon. He says (something along the lines of) “Why are you not running to help Dolops!! Does his death mean nothing to you!? The Greeks MUST be killed or else they’ll kill all of us — so GO!” He then leads the way into the thick of the fighting.
Realising his screaming tactic didn’t help so much, Big Ajax has another go at talking to the Greeks. This time he is much calmer and begins with (something like) “Friends: let shame be in your hearts” and then again attempts to spur them into war. Unfortunately, although the Greeks are rallied up, Zeus is the one pushing the Trojans forward.
Menelaus goes to find Antilochus and tells him that since he’s one of the youngest and fastest of all the men, he should run ahead of the others. Antilochus listens and bolts into action with his spear, stabbing Melanippos in the chest next to the nipple. As Antilochus runs over to strip his armour, Hector begins to march towards the son of Nestor. Antilochus sees Hector approaching and flees, but as he’s running the Trojans shower him with weapons (don’t worry, he’s fine).
The Trojans are described as sweeping along the ships. Homer lets us know that Zeus is pushing the Trojans on to burn the vessels in order to honour the deal he made with Thetis; however, as soon as one Greek ship is set alight, the king of the gods planned to push the Trojans back towards their city again. As Hector rages on, we are reminded that Hector’s life is destined to be short and that his dying day is slowly approaching, driven on by the inevitable return of Achilles in battle.
The Greeks continue to fight off the Trojans, but Hector is described as coming in like a lion on cattle. The only soldier Hector kills is a Greek man named Periphetes.
Due to the serious nature of the situation at hand, the Greek army starts to panic. Nestor even comes forward to tell the soldiers to remember their families and why they’re fighting in the first place as a way to keep their spirits high. All the Greeks now stride forward with Ajax in the lead holding a great pike that’s 22 cubits long (translation: it’s BIG). With Ajax approaching, Zeus continues to push Hector on.
The battle continues, with lots of fighting and weaponry detailed. Within this description, Hector is seen hanging onto the stern of the ship and screams (something like) “Zeus is here with us, giving us the day that all of this fighting was for!! Bring the fire and LET’S END THIS!!!’ This speech gets the Trojans pumped, and they begin to push on the Greeks even harder.
Big Ajax can not fight against the strength of this attack. He moves back towards the middle of the ship and gives up the high deck for the Trojans to seize. From the middle of the boat, Ajax turns to encourage the Greeks yet again and says that now is the time for them to fight the hardest they ever have.
Homer tells us Ajax was watching the Trojans approaching with fire, as anytime one of them got close, he would stab them with his pike. He wounds a total of twelve Trojans who attempt to burn the ship.
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