BOOK BY BOOK SUMMARY OF
THE ILIAD
OCR 2017 onwards
BOOK 19 SUMMARY
•Thetis brings new armour to Achilles. Achilles calls an assembly and formally renounces his
anger.
•Agamemnon admits that he was blinded by Delusion and offers all the gifts he offered by the
embassy in Book 9.
•Achilles is urgent to enter the battle, but Odysseus insists on eating before fighting and on a
public formalisation of the reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon, by publicly parading all the
gifts.
•Briseis, returned to Achilles' tent, makes a lament for Patroclus. Achilles laments, remembering
his father and son.
•The book ends with a description of Achilles arming for battle, and the prophecy of his horse
Xanthos, given human speech by Hera, which is that Achilles will be 'brought down in battle by a
god and a man'.
The Iliad | Book 19
THE ILIAD
OCR 2017 onwards
BOOK 19 SUMMARY
•Thetis brings new armour to Achilles. Achilles calls an assembly and formally renounces his
anger.
•Agamemnon admits that he was blinded by Delusion and offers all the gifts he offered by the
embassy in Book 9.
•Achilles is urgent to enter the battle, but Odysseus insists on eating before fighting and on a
public formalisation of the reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon, by publicly parading all the
gifts.
•Briseis, returned to Achilles' tent, makes a lament for Patroclus. Achilles laments, remembering
his father and son.
•The book ends with a description of Achilles arming for battle, and the prophecy of his horse
Xanthos, given human speech by Hera, which is that Achilles will be 'brought down in battle by a
god and a man'.
The Iliad | Book 19
