10 - The Armor of Achilles

Achilles let Patroclus borrow his war gear and lead the Myrmidons in his place pretending to be his lord. After Patroclus left, Achilles prayed to Zeus and offered wine. Then Patroclus had a great victory. Suddenly, Apollo secretly took off his helmet, and seeing that it wasn’t Achilles, the Trojans killed him. While he was near death, Patroclus predicted that Hector will be killed by Achilles soon.
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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 9 - Summary

9 - Battle for the Ships

The Trojans separated into five groups to try to break into the Greek camp but Hector’s group had a bad omen in the form of a red snake. Soon Hector got a big rock and smashed the gate with help from Zeus. Then Ajax, with help from Poseidon, injured Hector badly with another big rock. Zeus sent Apollo to make Hector even more powerful than he was before, and when he awoke he started burning the Greek ships.

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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 8 - Summary

8 - Red Rain

The Greeks woke up in a good mood even though there was red rain, which was a bad omen. In battle, Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus were all wounded and then their chief healer Machaon got wounded. Nestor told Patroclus that there should be a replacement for Achilles.


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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 7 - Summary

7 - The Horses of King Rhesus

Odysseus and Diomedes went to spy on the Trojans, but then they saw an enemy spy named Dolon. The Greeks listened to his information and then killed him. Then they secretly went to the Thracian {an ally of Troy} camp, where they killed the King and his 12 bodyguards, and then stole the best horses. Since the King was dead, the Thracians would probably go home and stop helping the Trojans.


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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 6 - Summary

6 - The High King’s Embassy

Paris and Hector went to battle, and now war was really going strong. Athene stopped the fighting for the day by letting Hector and Ajax (a Greek) challenge each other. After fighting they gave each other gifts, to show their respect to each other. The Greeks strengthened their camp, but on the next battle-day they were still defeated. The High King suggested going home, but wise old Nestor, a soothsayer, said they only need Achilles back. An embassy was sent to meet Achilles, but he said that he wouldn’t come back.

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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 5 - Summary

5 - The Women of Troy

Pandarus (a Trojan) wounded Menelaus to break the truce, and when the Greeks started to win the Trojans sacrificed to Athene so that they might have a chance of winning. Hector lectured Paris to go fight, and said goodbye to his wife, saying that he probably wouldn’t see her or their son ever again. Then Hector and Paris went back to war.

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Black Ships Before Troy - Chapter 4 - Summary

4 - Single Combat
The High King tested the temper of the army by telling them that they should go home. The army took him seriously, and they were glad to go home, but Odysseus said that if they gave up now they would have wasted the ten years in Troy, so then they got ready for battle. Trojans were happy that Achilles was not among the Greeks, so they came out of their city to fight, led by Paris, who challenged any Greek to come and battle him. Menelaus came forward, and Paris was scared. But Hector made Paris angry and reckless, so Paris and Menelaus agreed on a fight to the death. However, Aphrodite kept meddling, so that both were unharmed in the end.

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