Book 17 is the aftermath. Patroclus lies dead, stripped of Achilles' armour. Now TWO battles rage simultaneously: one for his corpse (which the Greeks MUST recover for burial) and one for his armour (which Hector claims as the ultimate trophy). This book shows what warriors will do for honour—both personal and communal—and introduces one of the Iliad's most haunting images: Achilles' immortal horses weeping for their fallen master.
Book 17's Central Tragedy
The fight over Patroclus's body is BRUTAL and seemingly endless. Heroes risk their lives not for strategic advantage but for symbolism—recovering a friend's corpse, denying an enemy glory. Homer shows war at its most futile and most human: men dying over a dead body while the person who loved Patroclus most (Achilles) doesn't even know he's dead yet.
What Book 17 Establishes
Menelaus's loyalty: First to defend Patroclus—shows unexpected depth
Hector's triumph (and hubris): Wears Achilles' armour—sets up his doom
The Ajaxes as defensive heroes: Holding actions, protecting retreat—different heroism
Achilles' horses mourn: Even animals grieve—foreshadows Achilles' reaction
Greeks WIN but LOSE: Recover body but lose armour—pyrrhic victory
Book 17 Structure
Book 17 has a RELENTLESS structure: defend → attack → defend → attack → retreat. It's exhausting by design—Homer makes us feel the grind of this fight.
SCENE 1
Menelaus Stands Over the Body
Lines 1-60
Menelaus finds Patroclus's body and stands guard like a mother cow protecting her calf. Euphorbus tries to claim the corpse—Menelaus kills him.
SCENE 2
Hector Takes the Armour
Lines 61-214
Apollo (disguised) shames Hector into returning. Hector strips Achilles' armour from Patroclus's body and puts it on himself—fatal hubris.
SCENE 3
Fight Over the Body
Lines 215-425
Mass battle. Glaucus rebukes Hector for abandoning Sarpedon's body. Ajax and Menelaus defend Patroclus. Stalemate.
SCENE 4
Achilles' Horses Weep
Lines 426-458
Zeus sees Achilles' immortal horses grieving for Patroclus. Pities them—they're caught in mortal suffering. Gives them brief strength.
SCENE 5
Sending Word to Achilles
Lines 459-696
Achilles doesn't KNOW Patroclus is dead. Menelaus sends Antilochus to tell him. Meanwhile, the fight continues.
SCENE 6
The Retreat
Lines 697-761
The two Ajaxes (Great Ajax and Little Ajax) fight a desperate rearguard action, carrying Patroclus's body back to the ships while Trojans pursue.
The Exhausting Pattern
Notice the BACK-AND-FORTH: Greeks protect body → Trojans attack → Greeks hold → Trojans push → Ajax arrives → Hector rallies Trojans → stalemate → repeat. This isn't a heroic aristeia—it's a GRIND. That's Book 17's point: war isn't always glorious charges. Sometimes it's just holding on.
Menelaus: Unexpected Hero
Menelaus—often seen as weak or cuckolded—is Book 17's first hero. He's the FIRST Greek to find Patroclus's body, and he immediately stands guard. Homer gives him one of the book's most beautiful similes.
Menelaus son of Atreus was quick to spot Patroclus. He made his way through the front fighters and took his stand over the body, like a mother cow standing over her first-born calf, lowing in distress, having had no experience of motherhood before. So Menelaus stood over Patroclus.
— Rieu, Book 17
💡 The Mother Cow Simile
Why a first-time mother? Because Menelaus has never done this before—stood over a fallen comrade alone. The simile is TENDER: the cow doesn't attack, just stands and lows (makes noise). Menelaus is protective, grief-stricken, and making his presence known. It's beautiful and vulnerable.
Euphorbus Returns
Remember Euphorbus? He wounded Patroclus in Book 16 (after Apollo stripped the armour). Now he's back, wanting credit for the kill.
'Son of Atreus, illustrious Menelaus, back off now and leave the corpse. Leave the blood-stained arms. Of all the Trojans and their famous allies, I was the first to strike Patroclus with my spear in the thick of the fight. So let me win my glory among the Trojans, or I'll strike you down and rob you of the sweet life you love.'
— Euphorbus to Menelaus, Rieu Book 17
Euphorbus's Claim
"I was the first to strike": Technically true (after Apollo), but misleading
"let me win my glory": Wants kleos for Patroclus's death
"or I'll strike you down": Threatens Menelaus to back off
Problem: Menelaus is FAR better than Euphorbus
Menelaus hit him with his spear in the throat and drove the bronze clean through. Euphorbus crashed down and his armour clanged about him.
— Rieu, Book 17
Menelaus kills Euphorbus with ONE thrust. No struggle. Euphorbus was a minor warrior punching above his weight—and he dies for his presumption.
📌 Pattern Recognition
This mirrors Patroclus's death: minor warrior (Euphorbus) tries to claim glory, gets in over his head, dies quickly. Homer's showing that trying to claim credit beyond your abilities is DANGEROUS.
Apollo Shames Hector
After Menelaus kills Euphorbus, Hector isn't around—he's fighting elsewhere. Apollo (disguised as a Trojan) finds him and SHAMES him into action.
'Hector, you may be chasing Achilles' horses, but they are difficult for mortal men to master and drive... Meanwhile warlike Menelaus son of Atreus is defending Patroclus's body and has just killed your best man, Euphorbus.'
— Apollo (disguised), Rieu Book 17
Apollo's Strategy
"you may be chasing Achilles' horses" = you're wasting time on impossible goals
"they are difficult for mortal men" = you CAN'T control them (emphasizes mortality)
"Meanwhile... Menelaus is defending Patroclus" = Greeks are winning the REAL prize
"killed your best man" = you LOST someone while distracted
This works. Hector abandons the horses and returns to Patroclus's body. When he arrives, Menelaus (outnumbered) retreats, and Hector strips the armour.
Hector Wears Achilles' Armour
This is the MOMENT. Hector takes Achilles' divine armour (the armour Patroclus wore, the armour Thetis gave to Peleus, the armour that marks the greatest warrior alive) and PUTS IT ON.
As soon as glorious Hector had his hands on the armour, he withdrew from the fighting and pursued his men... When he caught up with them... he exchanged his own armour for the immortal arms of Achilles, which the gods had given to his father Peleus, and which Peleus in turn had passed on to his son when he grew old—though the son was not to grow old in his father's armour.
— Rieu, Book 17
⚠️ Fatal Hubris
"the son was not to grow old in his father's armour"—Homer TELLS US Achilles will die young. And now Hector is wearing that armour. This is dramatic irony at its most brutal: we know Hector wearing this armour GUARANTEES his death, but he thinks it's triumph.
Zeus Watches and Pities
Zeus saw him from afar, sitting apart from the rest on the highest peak of Olympus, putting on the divine armour of Peleus's son. He wagged his head and addressed his own great heart: 'Ah, unhappy man, you have no thought of death, which even now is very close to you. You are putting on the imperishable armour of a great man before whom many tremble. You have killed his gentle and powerful friend and improperly taken the armour from his head and shoulders. Yet for the present I will grant you great power, in return for which you will never come home from battle with the famous armour of Achilles—Andromache will not receive it from your hands.'
— Rieu, Book 17
Zeus's Prophecy Decoded
"you have no thought of death, which is very close" = you don't realize you're doomed
"You have killed his gentle and powerful friend" = Patroclus's death WILL be avenged
"improperly taken the armour" = this is desecration, not victory
"I will grant you great power" = Zeus gives Hector temporary success
"you will never come home" = you WILL die in this armour
"Andromache will not receive it" = your wife won't bury you with honor
💡 Zeus's Pity
Zeus PITIES Hector even while prophesying his death. He gives Hector "great power" as a final gift—letting him dominate the battlefield briefly before he dies. This is tragic: Zeus gives Hector enough success to make his fall more devastating.
A Different Kind of Heroism
Most Iliadic heroes win glory through offense—killing enemies, sacking cities. The two Ajaxes (Great Ajax son of Telamon, and Little Ajax son of Oileus) show DEFENSIVE heroism: holding ground, protecting comrades, covering retreat.
The two Ajaxes kept up their resistance, like a wooded ridge stretching across a plain, which stops an avalanche of water and holds the destructive torrents of all the mighty rivers, deflecting them across the plain without their force ever breaking through. So the two Ajaxes kept driving back the Trojan attack.
— Rieu, Book 17
The Wooded Ridge Simile
DEFENSIVE imagery: Ridge doesn't attack—it HOLDS
"stops an avalanche": Overwhelming force contained
"destructive torrents": Trojan pressure described as natural disaster
"deflecting... without breaking": Redirection, not victory—survival heroism
This is NOT glorious. Holding actions don't win kleos like killing Sarpedon does. But it's NECESSARY, and Homer honors it by comparing the Ajaxes to an immovable natural feature.
The Fight Continues
Book 17's middle section is BRUTAL repetition: kill, die, kill, die. Homer names warriors and gives them brief backstories right before they die. The fight swirls around Patroclus's body for HOURS.
📌 Exhaustion as Narrative Strategy
Homer makes Book 17 deliberately exhausting to READ. The repetition, the endless names, the back-and-forth—we feel the grind. This is what defending Patroclus costs: everything. When we finally reach the retreat, we're as relieved as the Greeks.
Achilles' Horses Mourn
In the middle of battle, Homer gives us one of the Iliad's most haunting images: Achilles' immortal horses, standing motionless, weeping for Patroclus.
The horses of Achilles had withdrawn from the fighting and were weeping ever since they saw their charioteer brought down in the dust by man-slaying Hector. Automedon struck them many times with his swift whip; he spoke to them gently; he threatened them. But they would not go back to the ships by the broad Hellespont, nor would they go into battle with the Greeks. They stood as still as a gravestone set over the tomb of a dead man or woman, with their heads bowed to the ground. Hot tears poured from their eyes to the earth as they grieved for their charioteer. Their beautiful manes were fouled, streaming from beneath the yoke-pad on either side of the yoke.
"Their beautiful manes were fouled": Neglect their appearance—lost to grief
💡 Why Immortal Horses Weep
These horses are GIFTS FROM THE GODS—immortal, intelligent, supernatural. They should be above mortal concerns. But they loved Patroclus, and now they experience grief—a purely mortal emotion. This is tragic: immortals trapped in mortal suffering.
Zeus Sees and Pities
When Zeus saw them grieving he wagged his head and addressed his own great heart: 'Unhappy pair! Why did we give you to King Peleus, a mortal, when you yourselves are ageless and immortal? Was it so that you should suffer with unhappy mankind? For of all creatures that breathe and walk upon the earth, nothing is more wretched than man.'
— Rieu, Book 17
Zeus's Lament
"Why did we give you to... a mortal?" = regret at their involvement
"you yourselves are ageless and immortal" = they shouldn't experience this
"Was it so that you should suffer?" = exposure to mortality brings pain
"nothing is more wretched than man" = humanity defined by suffering
⚠️ The Human Condition
Zeus's conclusion—"nothing is more wretched than man"—is devastating. Humans KNOW they'll die, LOSE people they love, and must KEEP GOING anyway. The horses' grief is temporary (Zeus will give them strength). Human grief is permanent.
Connecting to Achilles
The horses weep for Patroclus. Achilles DOESN'T KNOW Patroclus is dead yet. This creates dramatic irony: we watch immortal horses grieve while Achilles (Books away) remains ignorant.
Foreshadowing Achilles' Grief
Horses: paralyzed, weeping, fouled manes = external manifestation of grief
Achilles (Book 18): throws himself down, covers himself in dirt, tears his hair
Both express grief through PHYSICAL degradation
Horses recover when Zeus intervenes; Achilles never fully recovers
If immortal horses grieve THIS much, imagine Achilles' suffering
Sending Word to Achilles
While the fighting continues, Menelaus realizes someone must TELL Achilles. He sends Antilochus—knowing the news will devastate Achilles but MUST be delivered.
'Antilochus, run to brilliant Achilles with the news, if indeed you can persuade him to come. Though I doubt it. He has no armour to wear, since brilliant Hector is wearing it himself.'
— Menelaus, Rieu Book 17
Antilochus leaves. The battle continues. Book 17 ends with the Greeks carrying Patroclus's body back toward the ships—exhausted, bloodied, having lost the armour but saved the corpse.
📌 Pyrrhic Victory
The Greeks WIN (recover the body) but LOSE (Hector has Achilles' armour). This "victory" costs dozens of lives and achieves nothing strategic. It's pure symbolism—the right to bury a friend. That's war's cruelty: fighting and dying over what's already lost.
Key Points for Revision
Menelaus the unexpected hero: First to protect body—shows loyalty and courage
Euphorbus claims false credit: Wants kleos for Patroclus's death—dies trying
Hector wears Achilles' armour: Fatal hubris—guarantees his death
Zeus prophesies Hector's doom: "you will never come home"—but gives temporary power
Defensive heroism of the Ajaxes: Holding ground, not attacking—different glory
Achilles' horses weep: Immortals experiencing mortal grief—tragedy of involvement
Zeus pities the horses: "nothing is more wretched than man"—human condition
Antilochus sent to tell Achilles: Sets up Book 18's grief scene
Greeks recover body, lose armour: Pyrrhic victory—symbolism over strategy
Book 17 is exhausting: Homer makes us FEEL the grind of this fight