Chapter Thirty-One

Summary

• Achilles watches as a battle against the city of Troy progresses.
• He observes a group of men coming back, one of whom appears to be carrying the body of his lover Patroclus.
• Grief-stricken, Achilles first tries to commit suicide by slashing his throat, only to realize he had given his sword away.
• Achilles holds Patroclus's body and mourns his loss, rebuffing any effort to help or comfort him including from Odysseus and his beloved companion Briseis.
• Achilles finds great solace in holding Patroclus's dead body and longs for his own death.
• Achilles loudly calls out Hector's name, who was the one that killed Patroclus, as he rushed back into the battlefield.
• In the ensuing combat, Achilles battles the river god Scamander, who tries to prevent Achilles from reaching Hector.
• Achilles is able to defeat Scamander and continue his quest for Hector's life.
• Achilles and Hector ultimately face-off in a grove near Troy's walls, where Achilles kills Hector.
• Achilles drags Hector’s body back with him and refuses any feast or honour extended by Agamemnon.
• Despite his mother Thetis's request, Achilles refuses to stop dragging Hector's corpse around the walls of the city, attracting Apollo's wrath.
• Achilles and Thetis have a argument where Thetis admits to taking joy in Patroclus's death.
• Thetis, disgusted by Achilles's grief and his unwillingness to let go of Patroclus's body, disowns him and leaves Achilles with Hector's body and his grief for Patroclus.