The Achaean fortifications are breached, and many of the the greatest remaining Achaean warriors are wounded. Agamemnon offers rich prizes, but Achilles refuses the offer and remains withdrawn from battle. The Achaeans build fortifications, but at the urging of the chieftains Agamemnon sends and embassy to ask Achilles to return to battle. With Achilles out of the way, Hector, champion of the Trojans, drives the Achaeans back to their beached ships. Zeus is indebted to Thetis, and he grants her request. Achilles asks his mother, the goddess Thetis, to prevail on Zeus, king of the gods, to bring ruin on the Achaeans as long as Achilles does not fight for them. Agamemnon has Briseis taken from Achilles, and he returns Chryses' daughter to him. Horribly dishonored, Achilles returns to his ships and refuses to fight. Agamemnon says he will take back Briseis, a captive woman who was given to Achilles as a prize for valor. Agamemnon demands that he be compensated for the loss of the girl, and Achilles, the greatest Achaean warrior, objects. The Achaean prophet Calchas correctly identifies the cause of the problem, and he suggests giving the girl back with gifts to Apollo. When Agamemnon treats him roughly and refuses the ransom, Apollo is angered and brings plague on the Achaeans. In the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, Chryses, a priest of Apollo, attempts to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaeans, who has taken her captive while on a raid.
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