NovelGuide: The Iliad: Novel Summary: Chapters 17-18

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Chapters 17-18

Chapter 17: Hector takes Achilles' armor off of Patroclus.  The Greek warriors rush to defend Patroclus' body.  Many Greeks fight to save his body, and Menelaus and Meriones are successful.
Chapter 18: Achilles learns of Patroclus' death, and he cries and mourns.  Achilles mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, comforts her son by asking Hepheastus, blacksmith of the gods to make him a suit of divine armor.  Hepheastus makes a suit of armor that shows scenes from Greek history, of the past, of the current war, and of the future.