Greek audiences would have been familiar with the background of the story, and here a brief summary of events is. See a complete list of the characters in the iliad and indepth analyses of achilles, agamemnon, and hector. The outcome of achilles anger is the will of zeus, but it also killed a huge number of achaean soldiers. King agamemnon, who leads the achaeans, has brought an illness upon the army by refusing to give up a woman, chryseis, whom he seized as a prize in a recent battle. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. The iliad begins with the trojan war already in progress. The story covered by the iliad begins nearly ten years into the seige of troy by the greek forces, led by agamemnon, king of mycenae. Summary and analysis of book 1 of homers iliad, with a focus on the theme of pride. Homer begins by asking the muse to help him sing the story of the rage of achilles. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. In the tenth year of the trojan war, achilles, the greatest fighter for the achaeans the greeks and their allies, is enraged. When agamemnon refuses and threatens to ransom the girl to her father, the offended apollo plagues them with a. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Set during the trojan war, the tenyear siege of the city of troy ilium by a coalition of greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the.