It is only on the twelfth day after Patroclus' death, that the gods interfere in behalf of the Trojans, by sending Iris to Priam to guide him to Achilles' tent, where they assure him his prayers will obtain his son's body.

The rainbow goddess not only serves as guide to the mourning father, but brings him unseen into Achilles' tent, where, falling at the hero's feet, the aged Priam sues in such touching terms that the Greek warrior's heart melts and tears stream down his cheeks.

Not only does he grant Priam's request, but assures him he is far happier than Peleus, since he still has several sons to cheer him although Hector has been slain.
These words soft pity in the chief inspire, Touch'd with the dear remembrance of his sire.
Then with his hand (as prostrate still he lay) The old man's cheek he gently turn'd away.
Now each by turns indulged the gush of woe; And now the mingled tides together flow: This low on earth, that gently bending o'er; A father one, and one a son deplore: But great Achilles different passions rend, And now his sire he mourns, and now his friend.
The infectious softness through the heroes ran One universal solemn shower began; They bore as heroes, but they felt as man.
Still guided by Iris, Priam conveys the body of his son back to Troy, where his mother, wife, and the other Trojan women utter a touching lament.

Then a funeral pyre is built, and the Iliad of Homer closes with brave Hector's obsequies.
All Troy then moves to Priam's court again, A solemn, silent, melancholy train: Assembled there, from pious toil they rest, And sadly shared the last sepulchral feast.
Such honors Ilion to her hero paid, And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade.
FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 2: All the quotations from the Iliad are taken from Pope's translation.] THE ODYSSEY _Book I._ Homer's second great epic covers a period of forty-two days.
After the opening invocation he proceeds to relate the adventures of Ulysses.

Nearly ten years have elapsed since the taking of Troy, when the gods looking down from Olympus behold him--sole survivor of his troop--stranded on the Island of Calypso.