Chapter Thirty-Three

Summary

• The sea nymphs burn the boy's body on a pyre built by the Myrmidons, and mourn for him as the flames turn him to ash. Briseis, Thetis, and others watch in silence. Thetis and Odysseus discuss whether to collect the ashes.
• The servant girls collect the ashes and put them in an urn. Agamemnon calls a council to discuss where to build a tomb. Nestor and Machaon suggest different locations.
• A boy, Neoptolemus, arrives, announcing that he is Achilles' son and will take his father's place. He offers himself to the army, claiming that the Fates have stated that without him, Troy will not fall.
• Under his leadership, Troy falls. Pyrrhus kills Priam and his family and the Greeks loot the city. Pyrrhus also cruelly kills Priam's wife and child.
• As the Greeks prepare to leave, Pyrrhus insists on a final sacrifice for his father. He kills Princess Polyxena as a tribute, believing that this is what his father would want. Odysseus tries to persuade him to honor Patroclus, but he refuses.
• Thetis, Achilles' mother, visits the tomb each day. Despite this, she cannot bring herself to acknowledge Patroclus, causing resentment from the narrator.
• Odysseus and Thetis share their memories of Achilles. Thetis is grief-stricken, revealing her guilt over the prophecy and the fate she feels she imposed on her son. She also admits her regret that she couldn't make Achilles a god.
• Succumbing to the narrator's appeals, Thetis finally acknowledges Patroclus by adding his name to the tomb. The narrator can finally be with Achilles in the afterlife.