Book 17: Patroclus’ body is now out on the battlefield, but who’s gonna get it?
More fighting …
As Menelaus saw Patroclus fall, he ran over to the body to protect it from the Trojans. Euphorbos sees this and goes to meet Menelaus, demanding that the son of Atreus step aside so that he could take the body and get all the glory for being the first to hit Patroclus. If Menelaus refuses to move, then Euphorbos says he will kill him.
Menelaus replies by telling Euphorbos of how Hyperenor (Euphorbos’ brother) faced him in battle previously and met a quick death, which means that Euphorbos should be worried about meeting the same fate if he is to fight Menelaus.
Euphorbos is ENRAGED hearing that Menelaus killed Hyperenor, yelling at the Greek that he must pay the price for killing his brother. He says that he would love to carry Menelaus’ head — along with all of his armour — back to the city of Troy. Upon finishing his speech, Euphorbos goes to stab Menelaus, but his spear hits Menelaus’ shield. Menelaus retaliates by striking the Trojan in the “gullet” and slicing through his neck.
After this, no Trojan was brave enough to face Menelaus. The son of Atreus may have successfully taken Euphorbos’ armour at that moment, however Apollo comes down to get involved. The god takes on the form of Mentes, leader of the Kikones, and goes to redirect Hector’s attention. Apollo/Mentes says three main things to Hector: the first being that he seems to be wasting his time chasing Achilles’ horses and he should really stop this, the second is that Menelaus just killed one of the best of the Trojans so Hector should be concerning himself with that, and lastly, he reminds the Trojan prince that Patroclus’s body is still up for grabs. Once he’s said all of that, Apollo/Mentes leaves.
Hector stalks through the ranks and gives out a shrill war scream as he approaches Menelaus, who is still trying to get the armour off of Euphorbos.
Menelaus under pressure
Menelaus pauses what he’s doing to have a little soliloquy, wondering if he should abandon Patroclus there (if he does this, he risks the Greeks holding it against him), or if he should attack Hector and the Trojan army single-handedly (objectively stupid). The son of Atreus says it will always be a disaster to fight a man favoured by a god, and so he settles on the idea of abandoning his position in favour of his life. However, Menelaus does not feel comfortable leaving the body, and so wonders if there is a way for him to get the word back to Big Ajax to join him. If he can do this successfully, then the pair of them may have a chance of protecting the body from Hector and the Trojans.
Given that the Trojans are currently running towards him in an attempt to cut him down right then and there, Menelaus has no choice but to leave Patroclus’ body and run back to safety. Homer tells us that the hero did this reluctantly, constantly looking over his shoulder to check on Patroclus.
Menelaus immediately goes to find Big Ajax off on the other side of the battle. He runs over and tells him they must go and get Patroclus’ body because Hector has already stripped his armour. Big Ajax is raring to go and so the pair move back over to where the body is.
When they arrive, they find that Hector has already dragged Patroclus back into the protection of Trojan soldiers, with the intention of cutting off his head and tossing the body to the dogs for their dinner. As Ajax strides over to put a stop to this, Hector gets scared and so hands the armour over to his companions and hops in his chariot to ride safely back to the city. This leaves the body open for Ajax to stand over, guarding his (now dead) comrade with his shield. Menelaus moves in to guard the other side.
Now that both armies see the standoff for Patroclus’ body commencing, Glaukos comes forward to speak to a retreating Hector. Instead of supporting the Trojan prince, Glaukos scolds Hector for focusing on Patroclus rather than avenging Euphorbos’ killer. In fact, Glaukos goes so far to say that this is Hector’s time to rectify how he should have acted when Sarpedon fell in battle. Now is Hector’s chance to prove that he is a good leader and fight for his men, but Glaukos knows that Hector is tentative to do that because Big Ajax is on the field and Hector knows he is no match for such a warrior.
In response, Hector asks why Glaukos is being annoying. He’s not happy that Glaukos could insinuate that Hector wouldn’t stand a chance against Big Ajax, and so the Trojan prince tells the Lykian to watch him fight. Hector then puts on Achilles’ armour (which he got off Patroclus’s body, remember), encourages his men to fight, and stalks back into the thick of battle.
When Zeus sees Hector put on the new armour, the king of the gods starts shaking his head. He says Hector should not have killed Patroclus and taken his armour if he valued his life, as by doing this he has solidified his fate. Despite that, Zeus will still stir in the Trojan prince a great strength to make up for the fact he will, officially, never return to his home.
A little More fighting
Ares goes into Hector to infuse him with fighting strength.
Hector goes into battle, encouraging each captain along the way: Mesthles and Glaukos, Thersilochos and Medon, Deisenor and Hippothoos and Asteropaios, Phorkys and Chromios and also the “bird interpreter” Ennomos. He reminds all of these men that the Trojans called them to war to protect their children and women, and now is the time to fight. More specifically than that, he says that now is the time for them to drag Patroclus back to Troy and solidify their victory. He says that whoever pushes Ajax back from the body will get half the overall war spoils and a glory as great as Hector’s. Hearing this, all the men turn and run into battle with their spears lifted.
Unsurprisingly, Big Ajax kills the lot of them as they come in for the attack. When he sees how many Trojans there are and how unrelenting the army is, Ajax tells Menelaus that he worries the pair of them are unable to protect the body alone. Therefore, he asks Menelaus to call on the rest of the Greeks to help them.
Menelaus obeys and screams at the army behind him. He asks that any of the soldiers who are willing to help Patroclus not become food for the dogs would be greatly appreciated. Little Ajax and Meriones step in to assist.
The Trojans, led by Hector, come down on the Greeks hard.
The tug of war for patroclus
Initially, the Trojans get control of Patroclus’s body because the Greeks are outnumbered, but Big Ajax quickly turns this around. As the Trojan Hippothoos was trying to drag Patroclus back by the foot, Ajax stabs him through the cheeks of his helmet. We are told that Hippothoos’ brains run out from the wound near his eye. He collapses over Patroclus, dead.
Hector then throws a spear at Big Ajax. Luckily Ajax was watching carefully and so dodges it, however the spear continues on to hit Schedios, son of Iphitos, and kills him instead.
Big Ajax then turns to cut down Phorkys, son of Phainops. The Greek soldiers pull these Trojan bodies back to take their armour back to the camps.
After this, the Trojans were so scared of the Greeks that they would have retreated had not Apollo stirred up a fighting spirit in Aeneas. Apollo takes on the form of the herald Periphas, Epytos’ son, and says to Aeneas (something like) “How could you protect Troy when I’ve seen loads of people try and fail? You won’t even face a single Greek soldier even though Zeus is clearly on our side!”
Aeneas knows that a god is speaking to him but instead of replying to Apollo, Aeneas turns to Hector. He tells the Prince of Troy that it’s shameful the men have begun to retreat considering a god has just informed him that they have Zeus’ favour. He concludes that the soldiers must fight back against the Greeks, and this speech — apparently — is enough to convince the army to follow his lead. The Trojans turn and stand their ground against the Greek army.
Aeneas kills Leiokritos with his spear. As Leiokritos falls, a man named Lykomedes feels pity and so retaliates, hitting Apisaon in the liver with his spear. A man called Asteropaios watches on as Apisaon dies, and this motivates him to drive into the Greeks with the intention of killing Lykomedes. Unsurprisingly, this was a suicide mission, and Asteropaios dies.
Meanwhile, Big Ajax would not let any Trojan close to the body of Patroclus. He instructs the army to fight in a close formation around Patroclus, meaning that the men stayed tight against the body, protecting it from the grasp of any Trojan. Many of the Trojans are said to have died, but we are told that far fewer of the Greeks fell in comparison.
Homer tsays hat the men near Patroclus were the bravest men on the battlefield, but away from this scene, there were two standout fighters: Thrasymedes and Antilochus. Neither of these men were near the tug-of-war that was happening, nor had any idea that Patroclus was even dead. But Homer wants us to know that they’re also doing some great work where they are (which is CUTE we love the random praise!!).
Anyways, the men fighting over Patroclus’s body are closer to the walls of Troy, meaning that Achilles is blissfully unaware of his comrade’s death. In fact, it’s the thought of Achilles that prevents the Greeks from giving up in battle because they would rather the Earth open up beneath them than return to the ships without the body of Patroclus.
As the men continue to fight, Achilles’ horses are mourning Patroclus’ death. Automedon, their rider, attempts to hit them with his whip to get them to move, but the horses simply could not. Homer describes the horses as being as still as a monument, leaning their heads on the ground and weeping warm tears.
Zeus sees the horses crying and he pities them, asking why the gods even gave them to Achilles in the first place considering men are bound to die and the horses are immortal (this does seem rather stupid now that it’s pointed out). He also takes this moment to ridicule Hector as Zeus fails to understand why his capturing of Patroclus’s armour is not enough for the Trojan prince — instead, Hector is now trying to grab Achilles’ horses and bring those back to Troy, too. To save Hector the trouble, Zeus puts power into the horse’s legs so they can carry Automedon back to the ships.
Cut back to Automedon on the battlefield and he is flying through the fighting on the chariot thanks to Zeus’s help. He wants to help the Greeks in combat, however can’t actually engage in fighting while he’s steering the horses (since you need two hands to do that one job, meaning he is left with no way of holding a weapon).
Luckily, Alkimedon sees Automedon and calls out to him. He says (something like) “Who the hell put the idea in your head for you to be charging around out here alone when your companion has just been killed!?”
Automedon replies by explaining that Alkimedon is the only other warrior — aside from Patroclus and, obviously, Achilles — who can handle the immortal horses attached to the chariot. Therefore, he asks Alkimedon to hop on board and steer the horses so that Automedon can help in the fighting. Alkimedon agrees to assist and hops into the chariot, allowing Automedon to get into the thick of combat.
Seeing this switch taking place and Automedon dismounts from the chariot, Hector turns to Aeneas and asks for his help to steal Achilles’ horses. The two Trojans stride forward together along with Chromios and Aretos (Homer tells us that these men had high military hopes, but that they were absolutely not going to return from this encounter).
Back near the chariot, Automedon can see the group of Trojans fast approaching him. He tells Alkimedon to stay close by as he may need backup, doubting that he will be able to beat them all in close combat. Automedon then calls out to Big and Little Ajax as well as Menelaus, asking them to come and help him fight. He instructs them to leave Patroclus’s body in the care of the other Greeks because there are now more than enough men protecting him to ensure his safe return to Achilles. Both Ajaxes and Menelaus agree that he needs help, and so move to assist Automedon.
Automedon throws his spear at Aretos, slicing him through the belly. Hector then leans forward to throw a spear at Automedon, but Automedon dodges it — instead, the spear goes straight into the ground. Both Ajaxes come in to attack, giving Automedon time to strip Aretos’s armour. He places the armour in the chariot with Alkimedon and then climbs in himself.
Zeus has now decided that the favour of the battle has shifted and thus sends down Athena to assist the Greeks. Athena, shrouded in a mist, goes to Menelaus and likened her voice to that of Phoinix. She tells him that he must encourage the Greeks to continue fighting, to which Menelaus replies with (something like) “Oh Phoinix, if only Athena would give me such strength and hold off the weapons from hitting me because I’m so sad by the death of Patroclus! Hector still has Zeus’ favour and so we’re all doomed!” Hearing this, Athena is happy that Menelaus singles her out among all the gods, and so puts strength into him and darkens his heart for war.
Menelaus goes to stand over Patroclus’s body and throws his spear at Podes, Eetion’s son, hitting him through the war belt. When he falls, Menelaus drags the body away in order to strip his armour.
Apollo now goes to stand near Hector in the form of Phainops, Asios’s son. He says (something along the lines of) “You just shrunk at the sight of Menelaus, a man who was a weak fighter in comparison, and now he’s taking the body of one of your men!?!?” In response, Hector feels sorrowful and so he charges on into war.
Zeus sends a signal of lightning and thunder, terrifying everyone into fleeing.
The first man to begin the flight was Peneleos who is then hit in the shoulder (not a big injury) by Poulydamas’ spear.
Hector wounds the hand of Leitos, so Leitos turns to flee since he can’t hold a spear anymore. However when Hector tries to attack Leitos after this, Idomeneus is watching and strikes him in the corslet. The Trojans shout to alert Hector to this attack and the Trojan prince goes to attack Idomeneus but missed him … INSTEAD HITTING MERIONES! Idomeneus would have been killed by the Trojans here had not Koiranos come quickly with horses and intercepted a spear thrown by Hector. He was hit under the jaw by the ear — the spear pushing the teeth by their roots and splitting the tongue through the middle. Koiranos drops the reins of the horses and, from the ground, Meriones picks them up to yell at Idomeneus to drive them all back to safety. Idomeneus hears and does as he’s instructed.
Big Ajax and Menelaus appear to be the only Greeks to notice that Zeus has shifted favour. Big Ajax says that Zeus must be on the Trojan’s side as every time one of their men lets go of their weapon, it lands in one of the Greeks. He suggests that they come up with a game plan to retrieve Patroclus’s body, but also send one of their men back to Achilles in order to prepare him for his comrade’s return.
When Zeus hears Big Ajax, he scatters the mist that had been over the Greek army, pushing the darkness away from the men’s eyes so that they are able to think more clearly. Big Ajax tells Menelaus to send Antilochus back to tell Achilles what has happened to Patroclus, and so Menelaus runs off to find the son of Nestor.
Menelaus finds Antilochus and tells him that Patroclus has fallen. He instructs him to run and tell Achilles the news, including that Hector has taken the armour from the body. Antilochus listens for a long time without saying anything, his eyes filling with tears, but eventually runs off towards the ships in pursuit of Achilles.
Thrasymedes takes over the fighting in Antilochus’s place and Menelaus returns to the body of Patroclus. The son of Atreus tells Big and Little Ajax that he has sent Antilochus back to Achilles, and so now they must figure out how to get the body back too.
Big Ajax comes up with the idea to have Meriones and Menelaus shoulder the body and carry it out of battle while the Ajaxes fight men off from behind. The men agree and start moving.
We are told that every time one of the Trojans made a lunge for Patroclus, the Ajaxes would fight them off with ease. Hector and Aeneas remained hot on the men’s heels the entire way back to the ships.
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