In the Trojan War, when the Greeks finally reach Troy, Agamemnon dishonors Achilles and takes away his battle prizes as well which Achilles and his men had plundered as theirs was the first ship to reach the shores of Troy. Angered by this insult, Achilles refuses to participate in the war.
Gradually, the battle turns against the Greeks and the Trojan army led by their brave prince Hector manages to push the Greek forces on the verge of being completely destroyed. Patroclus, a close friend of Achilles and an equally accomplished Greek warrior then led the Myrmidons into battle wearing Achilles’ armor. The Greek army thought it was Achilles himself who had joined the battle and enthused by this fact fought with renewed valor, vigor and managed to inflict significant damages on the Trojan army.
However, prince Hector was not to be outdone and managed to kill Patroclus on the field of battle. Enraged at this, Achilles himself entered the field of battle. He put on his armor and cradled his helmet in his arms. He knelt before the Gods and swore revenge for his closest friend Patroclus’ death. He pulled on the helmet and secured the strap, and set forth to battle on his chariot.
Blinded by his rage, Achilles went on a killing spree laying to waste as many Trojans as he could lay his eyes on. He even went to battle with the River Lord who was angry that Achilles was choking his waters with the corpses of the men that he killed. Finally, when Achilles found Hector on the battlefield, he first chased him around the walls of Troy thrice.
Realizing the inevitability of facing Achilles in battle, Hector finally engaged with him. After a fierce fight, when Hector finally realized the outcome, the only request that he had from him was to treat his corpse with respect after Achilles killed him, which Achilles promptly refused stating that his rage, his fury would prevent him from according any kind of respect to the man who killed his beloved Patroclus.
Image courtesy : Wikipedia
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This post has been written for Today’s Author Write Now Prompt for September 24, 2013 where the prompt had to include the phrase – He pulled on the helmet and secured the strap which is the reason this phrase is highlighted separately in the post.