only if Agamemnon gave Chryseis back. Achilles was all in favor of him doing this but Agamemnon was reluctant. They quarreled, and Nestor, the master of the courteous word, the clear-voiced orator", tried to reconcile them. Agamemnon eventually agreed to do as he was told but in order to reassert his authority over Achilles in the most insulting way he could, and simultaneously compensate himself for the loss of Chryseis(whom he claimed to prefer to his own wife Clytemnestra), he took away from Achilles his slave-girl, Briseis. Achilles was justifiably enraged Not only was it an insult to his honor, but it was grossly unfair, as he, Achilles, had done most of the fighting necessary to procure all the treasure and booty that Agamemnon felt he had a right to enjoy. Accordingly, Achilles withdrew to his tent, and took no more part in the fighting or the council meetings. The fighting grew fiercer, with more direct attacks made on Troy and the Trojans. But the greeks were hard pressed without their greatest fighter, and even Agamemnon was eventually forced to make overtures" to Achilles, offering him riches of all description, along with the return of Briseis. Achilles, however, rejected all appeals, declaring that even if Agamemnon's gifts were" as many as the grains of sand or the particles of dust he would never be won over A Surprise Attack upon the Trojans at night At this point, Odysseus and Diomedes went out on a night expedition to see what the Trojans were up to". Unknown to them, a Trojan named Dolon was setting out on a similar errand: the Greeks surprised him, and forced him to tell them the dispositions" of the Trojan camp. On his recommendation they ended their night excursion with an attack on the encampment of rhesus, king of Thrace, with whose beautiful horses they escaped back to the greek camp The Death of Patroclus and Achilles' revenge Despite the success of this daring raid, in the overall fighting the Greeks were being driven back to their ships by the Trojans and were in desperate straits", when Achilles's friend Patroclus came to him and begged to be allowed to lead Achilless troops, the Myrmidons, into battle. He also asked if he could borrow Achilless armor in order to strike terror into the ranks of the Trojans, who would mistake him for Achilles. Achilles agreed, and Patroclus went out and fought long and gloriously efore, predictably, he was slain by hector, son of Priam and the best fighter on the Trojan side Achilles was overcome by grief. His mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, came to him and promised him new armor to replace that which had been lost with Patroclus. The new armor, made by the smith-god Hephaestus, included a beautiful shield covered with figured scenes, cities at peace and war, scenes of rural life with flocks, herds and rustic dances and round the rim of the shield ran the river of ocean. achilles and Agamemnon were reconciled, and Achilles returned to the field of battle, where he slaughtered Trojan after Trojan with his spear, like a driving wind that whirls the flames this way and that when a conflagration rages"in the gullies on a sun-baked mountainside and the high forest is consumed". After killing many Trojans and surviving even the attack of the River Scamander, which tried to drown him in its mountainous waves, achilles was at last able to meet his chief adversary Hector67 only if Agamemnon gave Chryseis back. Achilles was all in favor of him doing this, but Agamemnon was reluctant. They quarreled, and Nestor, “the master of the courteous word, the clear-voiced orator”, tried to reconcile them. Agamemnon eventually agreed to do as he was told, but in order to reassert his authority over Achilles in the most insulting way he could, and simultaneously compensate himself for the loss of Chryseis (whom he claimed to prefer to his own wife Clytemnestra), he took away from Achilles his slave-girl, Briseis. Achilles was justifiably23 enraged. Not only was it an insult to his honor, but it was grossly unfair, as he, Achilles, had done most of the fighting necessary to procure all the treasure and booty that Agamemnon felt he had a right to enjoy. Accordingly, Achilles withdrew to his tent, and took no more part in the fighting or the council meetings. The fighting grew fiercer, with more direct attacks made on Troy and the Trojans. But the Greeks were hard pressed without their greatest fighter, and even Agamemnon was eventually forced to make overtures24 to Achilles, offering him riches of all description, along with the return of Briseis. Achilles, however, rejected all appeals, declaring that even if Agamemnon’s gifts were “as many as the grains of sand or the particles of dust” he would never be won over. A Surprise Attack upon the Trojans at Night At this point, Odysseus and Diomedes went out on a night expedition to see what the Trojans were up to25. Unknown to them, a Trojan named Dolon was setting out on a similar errand: the Greeks surprised him, and forced him to tell them the dispositions26 of the Trojan camp. On his recommendation they ended their night excursion with an attack on the encampment of Rhesus, king of Thrace, with whose beautiful horses they escaped back to the Greek camp. The Death of Patroclus and Achilles’ Revenge Despite the success of this daring raid, in the overall fighting the Greeks were being driven back to their ships by the Trojans and were in desperate straits27, when Achilles’s friend Patroclus came to him and begged to be allowed to lead Achilles’s troops, the Myrmidons, into battle. He also asked if he could borrow Achilles’s armor in order to strike terror into the ranks of the Trojans, who would mistake him for Achilles. Achilles agreed, and Patroclus went out and fought long and gloriously, before, predictably, he was slain by hector, son of Priam and the best fighter on the Trojan side. Achilles was overcome by grief. His mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, came to him, and promised him new armor to replace that which had been lost with Patroclus. The new armor, made by the smith-god Hephaestus, included a beautiful shield covered with figured scenes, cities at peace and war, scenes of rural life with flocks, herds and rustic dances, and round the rim of the shield ran the River of Ocean. Achilles and Agamemnon were reconciled, and Achilles returned to the field of battle, where he slaughtered Trojan after Trojan with his spear, “like a driving wind that whirls28 the flames this way and that when a conflagration29 rages30 in the gullies on a sun-baked mountainside and the high forest is consumed”. After killing many Trojans and surviving even the attack of the River Scamander, which tried to drown him in its mountainous waves, Achilles was at last able to meet his chief adversary, Hector