Chapter Twenty-Seven

Summary

• The narrator notes his companion's rising anger as he declares that he will no longer fight for a man who seeks to overshadow and disrespect him.
• His anger stems from a belief that the Greeks will fall without him and that this will force the man he's angry at to either beg for his help or die.
• The narrator ponders a conversation between Achilles and his mother Thetis, in which she promises to make the Greeks lose until they beg for Achilles' help.
• When asked what would happen if the man chooses death over begging, he insists that he will not fight until the man begs for his help.
• The narrator recalls a conversation they once had with their mentor, Chiron, about the value of one man's life over another.
• He later visits Agamemnon's camp where he is pitied by onlookers. The narrator realizes that he is part of a plan to punish not only Agamemnon but also his whole army.
• At the camp, Agamemnon brags about how well he treats a woman named Briseis, implyng that he is doing so to prove to Achilles that he respects him. His attitude agitates the narrator.
• The narrator speaks to Briseis, who asks how much longer this ordeal will last. He admits that he does not know.
• The following day, all the kings, except for Achilles and the narrator, and their armies march off to fights the Trojans.
• They relish in their freedom but it feels tense as they wait for the gods' next move.