The Iliad: Book 2 Summary & Analysis

Zeus is kept up at night trying to devise the best plan to honor Achilles by harming the Achaeans. He decides to send a treacherous dream to Agamemnon. The dream, taking the form of the wise Nestor, tells Agamemnon that Troy will fall if he attacks immediately at full strength. Agamemnon awakes, convinced he will finally capture Troy that day, and he calls an assembly of the army and a meeting of the captains.

Agamemnon repeats his dream to the assembled captains, and Nestor supports his plan. Before attacking, Agamemnon decides to test the courage of his soldiers, and tells the assembled soldiers that despite the original prophecy of Zeus and that fact that they outnumber the Trojans, the time has come to give up hope of capturing Troy. He tells his troops that it is time to sail home, and to his dismay, the soldiers immediately begin to prepare their ships to depart.

Hera sees the Achaeans preparing to sail, and sends Athena to stop them from leaving. Athena appears beside Odysseus and tells him to hold the men back from readying the ships. Recognizing a god, Odysseus runs through the encampment, telling his fellow captains to stand fast and disciplining the common soldiers. He manages to marshal the men back into their ranks.

The armies have regrouped, but one common soldier, Thersites, dissents from the ranks. He is described as obscene, ugly, and insubordinate. In front of everyone, he criticizes Agamemnon for hoarding treasure while the soldiers of Achaea are slaughtered, and suggests that the Achaeans should sail home without him. Odysseus steps in, reprimands him, and strikes him over the shoulder with Agamemnon’s scepter. The soldiers laugh at Thersites.

Odysseus makes a speech to Agamemnon and the troops. He criticizes the men for being so ready to depart from Troy after all of their hard fighting. Next, he recalls the former prophecy of Calchas. Before the fleet reached Troy, the army was offering a sacrifice when they saw a snake crawl up a tree to reach a nest, where it swallowed eight baby sparrows and the mother, and then turned to stone. Calchas interpreted this as a sign that Troy would fall after the ninth year of battle.

Odysseus’ speech rallies the armies. Nestor then advises the men to honor their oaths by continuing the war. He says that any man who tries to sail home will meet his death, and suggests that the armies organize themselves by tribe, as men fighting with their kin will show their true bravery. Agamemnon agrees and also expresses some regret for quarreling with Achilles, stating that the argument came from Zeus, and that Troy would fall “if the two of us / could ever think as one”.

Agamemnon orders the men to eat and then ready themselves for battle. The armies disperse and the men make sacrifices to the gods. Agamemnon sacrifices an ox to Zeus, praying to defeat the Trojans, but Zeus is not yet prepared to grant his request. After eating, Nestor and Agamemnon decide to review the armies before they march out. Athena shines her bright shield on the massing armies, which are described as being like swarms of flies and flocks of animals under tight control.

Homer invokes the Muses to help him list the enormous number of kings and armies of Achaea, beginning what is known as the Catalogue of Ships. The armies are listed by the region and its chiefs, often with some brief background information about a hero or a city from which the men came. Homer also gives an indication of strength by listing the number of ships that sail for each army. Great Ajax is singled out as the best Achaean soldier after Achilles.

As the armies of Achaea storm out to battle, Zeus sends his messenger Iris to Troy, alerting them to assemble their own armies to meet the Achaeans. Hector breaks up their meeting of chiefs, and a similar catalogue of the Trojans and their foreign allies follows. Hector is singled out as the bravest Trojan.