Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part A

(Walls of Troy by CherryX)

The Deeds and Death of Patroclus (end)

Characters:  Hector, Patroclus, Apollo(god)

    Hector: Kind of cowardly, needs his heart to be changed by Apollo to actually do any action. 

    Apollo: Drives more of the action in this part of story. I think he should have less of a role because ultimately this is a story about men. 

    Patroclus: Gets kind of screwed over due to forces he can't control. Was being very heroic, but Apollo takes him out.

Plot: Patroclus has gotten frenzied because he defeated one of the best warriors on Troy's side, Sarpedon. This has caused Patroclus to repeatedly attack the Trojan lines, killing multiple people each time. Eventually Apollo is is tire of his side being killed and blinds Patroclus (very unfair). Hector then calls out Patroclus for not actually being Achilles despite wearing his armor. Patroclus is then stabbed by Hector with a spear and Patroclus calls out Hector and his army for needing Apollo's help to slay him. He says that he could kill any of the men one on one.

What I could change: This fight is kind of anti climatic. The hot-headed Patroclus isn't defeated in like an honorable way, and he didn't die due to any trick by Hector. Hector being portrayed as a coward should probably win by some sort of trick or trap. Maybe coaxing Patroclus close to the walls, where his men will dump rocks or something onto him. 

Setting: Outside of the walls of the city of Troy. They seem to be further back from the walls and are in the middle of a fight. There isn't much interaction with the setting in this part of the story. Some more things could come into play like setting the stage of the battlefield more or having the battlefield shift as the gods watch or something. They could be fighting on a clear day, and as Patroclus starts to over power Hector, Zues could call a thunderstorm making it extremely hard to see.

Bibliography: "The Deeds an Death of Patroclus" in the "Iliad" Retold by Alfred J. Church