Book 20 Summary

All the divinities are summoned by Zeus to Mt. Olympos, where they are told they can now interfere in the battle on either side in whatever way they wish. This is what they have all been waiting for.

On the battlefield, Achilles is straining to meet Hector, but Apollo disguises himself as Lykaon, a son of Troy's king, Priam and heckles Aineias into going against Achilles instead. Aineias is not eager to do it, pointing out that he had come up against Achilles before and was almost killed by him. Apollo reminds him that his mother was as much a goddess as Achilles' mother, so he should have nothing to fear from Achilles. In fact, the mother of Aineias was supposed to have been Aphrodite herself, daughter of Zeus, which makes her a higher goddess than the mother of Achilles, who is only...