Book IV

Jove suggests ending the war to provoke Juno, praising Venus's intervention while other gods watched from afar.

Enraged, Juno rails against Jove, who grants her permission to destroy Troy but warns her against future interference.

Juno offers her own cities for Troy's destruction and suggests Minerva break the truce, a plan Jove approves.

Disguised as a mortal, Minerva convinces the archer Pandarus to break the truce by shooting an arrow at Menelaus.

Pallas deflects Pandarus's arrow, but Menelaus is wounded, causing Agamemnon to deliver a long, despairing lament.

Menelaus reassures his brother the wound is minor, and Agamemnon summons the healer Machaon to treat it.

As the Trojans attack, Agamemnon moves through the ranks, inspiring the brave warriors and reproaching the cowardly.

Agamemnon praises the battle-readiness of the Cretan king Idomeneus and the formidable, silent ranks of the two Ajaxes.

Agamemnon finds Nestor skillfully arranging his troops and praises his wisdom, though Nestor laments his lost youth.

Agamemnon mistakenly reproves Ulysses for inaction, but after Ulysses's sharp reply, the king quickly apologizes.

Agamemnon finds Diomedes and sternly reproaches him for inaction, unfavorably comparing him to his famously heroic father, Tydeus.

After Diomedes defends Agamemnon's right to command, he leaps into action, and the silent Greeks advance against the shouting Trojans.

Inspired by the gods, the two armies clash with a sound like roaring torrents, and the first warriors fall.

Ajax kills the young Simoisius, and after a Trojan spear kills his friend Leucus, Ulysses takes revenge on Democoon.

Apollo rallies the Trojans, leading to more deaths, as the narrator reflects on the vast and glorious slaughter.