Myths are not stories that are untrue rather they are tales that don't fit neatly
into the historical record which serve as a foundation to a culture. Fiercely, the Trojans fight pushing the Achaeans ever closer to their ships and their only chance of ever seeing home again. All the while, Achilles still refuses to help as the battle outside grows closer and closer. About this time, Agamemnon is willing to admit that maybe he shouldn't have alienated his best warrior. So he sends Odysseus on his behalf
to offer Achilles gifts as well as a promise to return Briseis if he will return to battle and help turn the tide. And he's hoping Achilles says yes because if he doesn't, the Achaeans are well and truly hecked. [Extra Mythology Theme by "Big Giant Circles"] Achilles paces in his tent,
mulling over Agamemnon's offer and trying not to think of his old allies
getting cut down outside. Suddenly, his beloved lifelong companion, Patroclus, bursts in with tears streaming down his face
with dire news from the battle. The Trojans have pushed all the way to the front line
and they're running out of time. "If you won't fight, at least let me wear your armor
and lead your men into battle!" "If they think you're back, the soldiers will rally!" While Achilles still can't forgive Agamemnon and doesn't want to be seen caring about the Achaean army... If Patroclus is asking, he's willing to listen. So he agrees, and just when all seems lost, Patroclus appears in Achilles' armor leading the Myrmidons tricking both the Trojans and the Achaeans
into believing Achilles is back! Patroclus's plan worked! The Achaeans rally, and the Trojans reel. Petroclus is on a rampage,
chasing after Hector and his retreating men. Three times he charges the Trojan line,
and three times he takes nine Trojan lives. But after his final charge, Apollo has had enough. Disguised as one of Hector's allies, he sneaks up behind Patroclus and strikes him so fiercely on the back
that his helmet flies off! Stunned and wounded, Patroclus desperately stumbles back toward the camp. But Hector notices this,
and thinking he has a chance to defeat Achilles himself, he impales Patroclus with his spear. Patroclus falls with a thud
and the entire Achaean army is stunned. First, because they think their hero has died,
and then because they realize what just happened. Hector strips Achilles' armor from the body
and puts it on himself as a badge of honor. Back at the camp, when Achilles learns that
his companion has died, he bursts into tears. He tears at his hair
and throws himself on the ground. "How could this have happened? Why did Patroclus have to chase Hector? I should have been there!" Achilles' mother, Thetis, hears her son's cries and comes once again to comfort him
but also with a warning. She knows with her goddess foresight
that if Achilles goes to avenge Patroclus, he will be killed. But Achilles doesn't care anymore. He loved Patroclus, and he will stop at nothing
to GET HIS REVENGE! Meanwhile, back on the battlefield,
a fight has broken out over Patroclus's body. Menelaus wants to return the body home for burial, but the Trojans want to capture the corpse
and display it as a warning for the Achaean troops. When Achilles comes to the battlefield,
wanting to see the body of his friend for himself, he is overcome with rage, and from the depths of his being, a rupture war cry so ferocious, it channels the power of Ares himself! The trojans are so terrified that they retreat, and the Achaeans recover Patroclus' corpse. And when Achilles finally lays eyes
upon his dead beloved, his sorrow intensifies. He then vows to kill Hector and sacrifice 12 Trojan warriors
on Patroclus' funeral pyre in revenge. Then, up on Olympus, Thetis pays a visit to Hephaestus,
the mighty smith for the gods. She tells him what happened on the battlefield
and asks him to build new armor for Achilles. He agrees and the armor he makes is a masterpiece! It's embellished with a series of concentric rings, each of which represents
various aspects of the universe. Cities, oceans, fields, weddings, farms and wars. And now freshly armed, Achilles calls another assembly. He declares his beef with Agamemnon is over, for now, and he will be returning to war. While the Achaean and Trojan armies
group for battle once more, Zeus calls an assembly of his own
and proclaims to all of the gods that they're now allowed
to just openly assist either side! Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, and Hephaestus
leave at once to join the Achaeans while Ares, Apollo, Artemis and Aphrodite
buck their alliteration naming trend and fly to the side of the Trojans. The end game has come. Men sling swords and spears, gods and goddesses unleash their power, and in the middle of it all stands Achilles. No longer a petulant teenager, he is now the embodiment of rage,
of war, of power, of masculinity, and he is unstoppable. The Trojan forces flee in terror.
None of them want to mess with Achilles. He kills so many Trojans that the rivers
run red with blood and are choked with bodies. In fact, it gets so bad that the god of the river
actually attacks Achilles with roaring currents and massive waves. Achilles almost falls under the onslaught,
but Poseidon and Athena rush in to back him up while Hera and Hephaestus attack the river with fire. And seeing his waters boil away, the river god relents. Bearing witness to Achilles' rage
and the gods' increasing chaotic interventions, the Trojan army retreats securing themselves once again
behind their mighty walls. All but Hector. He realizes that the only way out of this is
to face Achilles in combat, and so he stands alone outside the city gate. And now, Achilles and Hector will face off
against each other to end the war once and for all! Pinky promise! Achilles throws his spear first and misses,
but Athena rushes it back to him. Hector returns the favor,
but his spear cannot pierce Achilles' divine armor. The two men circle each other, slowly closing in... ...and after a few feints, Achilles lunges forward
and stabs Hector in the throat. As he dies, he begs that his body be returned
to his family, but Achilles refuses. The Achaeans then run up to jeer and stab
at Hector's corpse as Achilles strips off Hector's armor. Then, he ties lifeless Hector to his chariot
and circles the city three times desecrating the body. Then, with the war over and Patroclus avenged,
Achilles turns his attention to Patroclus' funeral. In the morning, the soldiers fetch wood
and build the funeral pyre. The armies march out in full regalia, Patroclus is placed atop it, and as promised, Achilles sacrifices 12 Trojan captives on the pyre before setting it alight. And once the flames finally died down, Achilles gathers the ashes
to be buried alongside him someday, and while that day would come soon enough,
that's a tale for another time. The Iliad is the prototypical war story, full of honor-bound conflicts and massive battles while at the same time
also functioning as an anti-war tale by showing us glimpses
behind the curtain of the small, often silly things, humans
and their gods enact violence in the name of. And at the center of it all is one powerful emotion: rage. A rage so great that even now, a thousand years later,
of it we still sing. [Extra Mythology Theme by "Big Giant Circles"] Legendary thanks to Ahmed Ziad Turk, Alicia Bramble, Casey Muscha, Dominic Valenciana, Gunner Clovis, Kyle Murgatroyd and Orels1
for helping to make this show possible! [Extra Mythology Theme by "Big Giant Circles"
playing continues]
