Tuesday, September 18, 2012

5 minute summary Book 17



The chapter begins with the dead Patroclus with Menelaus defending the corpse.  Euphorbus wants the corpse however Menelaus kills him by a spear through the neck.  Menelaus begins to strip the armor of Euphorbus and when Hector sees, he leads the armor to defend the corpse of Euphorbus and claim the corpse of Patroclus.  Hector then takes the armor of Patroclus but loses the naked corpse to Menelaus and Ajax.  Glaucus rebukes Hector for leaving the body and suggests that they could have traded it for Sarpedon’s.   Hector raced back to the wall and strips his own armor and puts on the armor of Achilles (that Patroclus had been wearing).  Zeus was disturbed but made the armor fit Hector and Aries filled him with strength to go back into battle with power.  There is then a series of killings back and forth while fighting over the corpse of Patroclus.

Hippothous killed by Ajax

Schedius Killed by Hector (who was trying to kill Ajax)

Phorcys killed by Ajax

The Trojans begin to back off and the Greeks claim the corpse as well as the armor of the two fallen Trojans.  Apollo rallies the Trojans who then turn back to fight and then there is then a few more killings.  Leocritus is killed who is revenged by his friend Lycomedes who kills Apisaon.  During this whole thing Achilles has no clue but the decision is made to send Nestor’s son to go tell him in an effort to claim the corpse and push back the Trojans.  The Greeks do seem to claim Patroclus’s body.

Essentially a large group of people die over the struggle to take claim over the body of Patroclus.  Hector does claim the armor of Achilles and puts it on sealing his doom and future death.

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