Dawn breaks, and the Achaeans and Trojans arm for battle once more. Both sides fight fiercely, but the Achaeans break the Trojan line, forcing them back to the city walls. 

However, the Trojans soon rally. Agamemnon is hit in the arm with a spear and retreats from the field, Diomedes is shot through his foot with an arrow, and Odysseus is stabbed through his shield, so he, too, withdraws to camp. 

Ajax fights bravely, holding off Trojans almost single-handedly while Achilles watches from his ship, sensing the need for him on the battlefield. 

Nestor drags a wounded man from battle, then begs Patroclus to use his influence over Achilles to bring fresh troops into battle. If he cannot, Nestor begs Patroclus to join the fray wearing Achilles’s armor. 

As he heads toward Achilles’s camp, Patroclus meets Eurypylos, who has been shot in the thigh by an arrow, and stops to tend his wound.