This chapter covers most of the excitement of The Iliad, including the fight between Patroclus and the Trojans leading to Achilles' leaving retirement.
Achilles lets Patroclus wear his armor and lead the Myrmidons against the Trojans, but gives him specific instructions as to how far to go. Patroclus feels flushed with success and goes further. He loses his armor and then Euphorbus sticks his spear into Patroclus' back. This is not a killing blow. That is left to Hector who stabs Patroclus in the belly. Strauss says a Syrian general referred to destroying an enemy as "'smashing his belly.'" Achilles then roars three times and scares the Trojans away. Achilles returns to battle partly because the Myrmidons would have rejected his leadership if he had continued to be a useless weight. After Achilles has shown his superhuman power by fighting the Scamander River, Hector is fearful and runs around the Trojan Plain with Achilles behind him three times. Strauss has made a point of Achilles' speed, so it is odd that Achilles doesn't catch up with Hector and odder yet that Strauss doesn't mention this. Then Hector stops to face Achilles who drives his spear into the Trojan prince's neck. Strauss then says that the Trojans should have used Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope strategy to tire out the enemy, but again, glory-hungry Hector couldn't tolerate it and so paid the ultimate price. Just because Hector was dead did not mean the war was over. The Trojans could have waited out the Greeks.
The Trojan War: A New History, summary pages:
Introduction | 1. War for Helen | 2. The Black Ships Sail | 3. Operation Beachhead | 4. Assault on the Walls | 5. The Dirty War | 6. An Army in Trouble | 7. The Killing Fields | 8. Night Moves | 9. Hector's Charge | 10. Achilles Heel | 11. The Night of the Horse | Conclusion
