The Trojan War: A New History

Achilles is the central character in Homer’s Iliad. Athletic and immodest, he claims to have sacked twenty-three cities by the ninth year of the Trojan War. The Greeks carry out assaults and ambushes on neighboring Trojan allies. The Greek encampment facilitates continued seaborne raids along the coast. Helen’s brother, Castor, is killed during such a raid. Years afterward, King Nestor would recount Achilles’s valiant performance on these occasions, of which the Iliad specifies six. There is no mention of counterattacks from the Trojans.

The mission to Thebes-under-Plakos is successful, and the looters return to the camp at Troy laden with booty. Achilles respectfully buries King Eetion, whom he kills in the conflict. He exchanges the Queen for a ransom from the Trojans, though she later dies. The loss of Thebes-under-Plakos afflicts the Trojan’s morale and weakens their logistical support. Chryesis, a pilgrim from another city, is taken as a mistress by Agamemnon following the raid. Aeneas, a minor Trojan prince, flees Achilles in the battle. Lyrnessus is also sacked. Having killed her three brothers and husband, Achilles takes Briseis as a mistress. She is comforted by Achilles’s second in command, Patroclus.

In another episode, Achilles captures the Trojan prince Lycaon, whom he finds outside the walls on a military mission. Achilles sells Lycaon back to Troy. Despite such successes and the accumulation of wealth in the Greek camp, as the war drags on, Greek morale flags.