The book also describes the foregone decision of the result of the war as decided by Hera who held a vicious grudge against the Trojans.
The events in Book Four perfectly portrays how despite the truce forged and upheld after the fight between Menelaos and Alexandros, it is through the meddling of the gods and goddesses in the form of Athena's machinations to convince Pandaros to break the truce that caused the war to begin again. In the end of Book Sixteen, Patroclus dies because the gods chose to withdraw their protection and instilled dangerous temper in his heart at a critical time in the battle.
Up to that time, gods had not let that helmet with its horsehair plume get smudged with dirt, for it was always guarding godlike Achilles' head, his noble forehead, too. Later Zeus awarded it to Hector to carry on his head, as his death loomed. [800]
In Patroclus' hands, his heavy long-shadowed spear, 930
thick and strong, with its bronze point, was completely smashed.
His tasselled shield and strap fell from his shoulders down on the ground. Next, Apollo, Zeus' son, loosened the body armour on Patroclus. His mind went blank, his fine limbs grew limp -- he stood there in a daze.
Indeed, even Achilles and slays Hector with the close assistance of Pallos Athena. However, it may also be observed that the meddling of the gods, their disguises and the suggestions they offer to mortals that seem to easily overpower their good judgment, mostly come in the form of destructive emotions. In the case of Achilles in most of the...
In the case of Pandaros, ambition, while in the case of Patroclus, it is anger and impulsiveness. It may seem that the author is warning his readers against these negative emotions by showing the havoc they wreak and suffering they cause.
Meanwhile, the latter chapters show Hector, the Trojan, and his sense of duty and heroism in comparison to the bad temper and conceit of Agamemnon and the pride of Achilles. He goes on to duel against Achilles for the love of his people and family knowing that the odds were against him despite all the pleas of his family. Despite the chances that were given to him to stay within city walls and escape from having to fight the mighty warrior Achilles, Hector' sense of duty kept him to his promise to fight Achilles despite sure doom. He accepted his fate and bravely left the city walls to meet it.
Ultimately, The Iliad is a story of a war and the men who fought and died in it in as much as it a story of those who won the war. While the war may have been sparked by men who let their impulses and destructive emotions get the better of them, it is in Hector's stand in Book Twenty Two that tells the story of most of the men who fought in the war. Hector's courage is the epitome of what most would come to admire among the soldiers whose stories are told in the different books of The Iliad. They left their homes for years and went to war to defend their country, their family and for honor. While there may be a few who go to war for the spoils, it is patriotic duty and a sense of honor that truly drove most.
