Reconciliation of Achilles with Agamemnon

When early in the morning, as soon as dawn broke, Thetis brought armor to her son, she found him sobbing over the corpse Patroclus. Trying to comfort her son, Thetis showed him the armor she had brought. None of the Myrmidonians could look at the armor, so they sparkled. The eyes of Achilles sparkled with fire. He took the armor and began to admire them. The son of Thetis decided to immediately go to battle with the Trojans. One thing bothered him: he was afraid that the corpse of Patroclus would be disfigured by corruption. But the goddess Thetis calmed her son. She promised to preserve the corpse by pouring nectar and ambrosia into it; the deceased Patroclus should have become even more beautiful from this. She advised her son to go to the council of the Greek leaders.

Achilles walked along the seashore, calling everyone to the people's assembly. The whole army gathered at the tent of Agamemnon. No one stayed at the tents and ships. They came limping and Odysseus with Diomed, Agamemnon, suffering from a wound, also came out. When everyone had gathered and silence was established, Achilles proposed to Agamemnon to reconcile. He hurried everyone to join the battle with the Trojans as soon as possible. All the Greeks rejoiced when they heard that the enmity of Achilles and Agamemnon was over. Agamemnon got up from his seat; he confessed his guilt and said that it was the goddess of discord who blinded him. She, walking with light feet on the heads of people, catches them in her nets. After all, Zeus himself was once blinded by her. Agamemnon promised to give Achilles immediately all the gifts that he promised him for reconciliation. But Achilles no longer needed gifts, he was only thinking about the battle, about revenge to Hector, he called everyone to fight soon. But the cunning Odysseus advised Achilles not to hurry. He said that first the warriors must be sated in order to join the battle fortified with food and wine. Meanwhile, Achilles had to accept the gifts and the Briseida returned to him . Agamemnon agreed with Odysseus' advice. He asked him to go with the young men for gifts and Briseis, and the messenger Talfibia sent for a boar to sacrifice it to the gods for reconciliation. In vain Achilles asked everyone not to take care of the gifts, but to take care of the battle. He wanted the Greeks to go into battle right away and, only after avenging the dead, they sat down to a common feast in the evening. Achilles refused to feast now, food did not come to his mind when his faithful friend lay unavenged in his tent. Odysseus, however, persuaded Achilles to delay the start of the battle. Odysseus brought gifts from Agamemnon's tent, and the heroes brought slaves and Briseis.

Everyone went to their tents. The Myrmidonians, taking the gifts of Agamemnon, went to their ships. Achilles went with them. Soon the leaders of the Greeks came to Achilles, they asked him to refresh himself with food, but Achilles refused. Achilles left Agamemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, Nestor, Idomeneus and Phoenix; they tried to comfort the great hero, but he thought only of Patroclus and, sighing, said:

- There was a time when you yourself, Patroclus, offered me food before the battle, but now you are lying pierced by a spear. Even then, my grief would not have been stronger if I had learned about the death of my father, or even if I had learned about the death of my beloved son, Neoptolemus, left by me in Skyros. I hoped that I would die alone in a foreign land; I thought that you would return to Phthia and bring my young son there.