Regal affairs continued

At last, the tenth year is finally here. The 'Iliad' narrates the events of this year only over a period of fifty-one days. Throughout the war, the Greeks have laid claim to many war prizes from the surrounding countryside. One of these prizes just so happens to be Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. A quarrel takes place between Achilles and King Agamemnon. Achilles claims that her release would palliate the Wrath of Apollo upon the entirety of the Greek army. The dubious king refused to heed to Achilles, this ultimately leads to Achille's withdrawal from the war. At this point, Achilles' companion Patroclus borrows his armor and enter the battle with their contingent of soldiers to help the distressed Greeks who have been fighting for weeks till no end. Supposing it to be Achilles himself, the Trojans flee in terror from the camp before Patroclus, who pursues them to the town and lays waste to everything they held dear. At last Patroclus, himself is slain by Hector. Achilles full of hatred and vengeance challenges Hector to a parley. Both fight valiantly but alas, Hector is beaten down by Achilles who boasts of his victory by tying Hector's corpse to his chariot and dragging it back to the Greek camp. King Priam, furious, sneaked into the Greek camp and tried to implore Achilles in returning his son with honor so that he can cremate Hector. The Iliad ends with the funeral of the Tamer of horses.

The trojan war is finally able to be brought to an end when the greek army sends a mysterious gift to the Trojans which is accepted by them with open hands, despite the unheeded warnings by Cassandra, Priam's daughter. Oblivious to the truth and deceit behind the gift, the Trojans pull the mysterious gift into town. As soon as night fell the Greeks, led by Odysseus, climbed out of the horse and laid siege to the town. Achilles lost his life during this siege at the hands of Paris. An arrow shot by him pierced Achilles' heel and the prophecy by the oracle came true. Achilles was cremated and his ashes lay buried in the same urn as those of Patroclus.

The warriors slowly made their way back home, overjoyed with their victory. Their voyage back home was fraught with troubles, only a few of the brave warriors were able to reach home safely. Odysseus had to undergo wanderings for years. His journey home has been recounted within the "Odysseus". Menelaus along with Helen then returned to Sparta, where they lived happily until their deaths. But according to some rumors, after Menelaus' death, Helen was exiled to the island of Rhodes where Apollo finally comes to her rescue and escorts her to Olympus. King Agamemnon, alas, was killed by his wife and her lover Aegisthus while he was enjoying his welcome home banquet.

Little is ever told about Homer. Over years of research, historians can date the completion of the “Iliad” to about 750 B.C., and thus the “Odyssey” to about 725. Many traditions and cultures portray Homer as a blind poet, this is because the name Homer is quite similar to 'blind' in various greek dialects. Within the “Odyssey”, a blind bard appears telling stories of spoils of the war, this might as well be interpreted as a cameo by the poem's author himself.

Written by Vaibhav and Veertej.

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