Plot in Iliad

Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Her abduction by Paris (also called Alexandrus) is what sets off the Trojan War.

Also known as Paris, he is the character who takes Helen from her husband and, therefore, sets off the Trojan War.

Each Olympian god or goddess is allied with either the Achaean forces or the Trojan forces. Minerva (Athena) and Juno are allied with the Achaeans due to an event that took place before the war in which the Trojan prince Paris judged Venus to be more beautiful than both goddesses.

This statement is a reference to the Greek idea that no human being can avoid fate and that all lives are predetermined from birth. Hector and Achilles both know their fate before they go to war, but they are still allowed to exercise their own free will, creating significant conflict in the plot of the story.

Achilles has withdrawn from the battle and taken his army with him. Their absence has caused Agamemnon's own forces to start losing against the Trojans, and an envoy is sent to convince Achilles to return to the battle. The underlying plot of the Iliad is the efforts to win Achilles back to the side of the Achaeans because only his presence can grant them victory.

The plea for ransom comes up approximately a dozen times in the Iliad. This points to the fact that Troy was an extremely wealthy city and, therefore, would be able to pay a ransom to get back its prisoners of war. The poet-narrator seems to state that because of their great wealth, the Trojans believe that money can buy almost anything and that the civilized exchange of prisoners is an option in war. Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Achaeans do not subscribe to this idea.

This passage establishes context for the plotline of the Iliad. The story takes place within the final year of the Trojan War, which was a ten year conflict ending with the fall of Troy.

This passage is an important instance of foreshadowing in the Iliad. Patroclus asks to borrow Achilles’s armor and lead his men into battle while Achilles continues to hold out against Agamemnon, thinking that the Trojan forces may mistake him for Achilles and fall back in fear. The Trojans do mistake him for Achilles, and it is this that leads to Hector’s killing him and subsequently incurring the wrath of Achilles and his rejoining the Achaean forces in the war.

The hero of the Trojans, Hector, is faced with his imminent death. Not even Zeus's helmet can save him, though the god takes it from where it rolled away from Patroclus in the action of battle and gifts it to him in an attempt to give him an advantage.

This references the death of Achilles; he will be killed by Paris, who will be assisted by the god Apollo.

The name Astyanax literally means “Lord of the City” in Greek. Astyanax’s father, Hector, defends Troy, which makes Astyanax the de facto ruler of the city when Hector is not present.

Notice that the situation here is very similar to the the one at the beginning of the Iliad when Agamemnon tactlessly takes Briseis, Achilles's war prize, away from him. Though that event led to great conflict and strife, this argument is resolved quickly, showing that Achilles values peaceful resolution more than he did at the beginning of the poem.