Tell us a story, god, of how the anger of a man named Akhilleus brought about the destruction of so many. Had it not been for Agamemnon's selfish behavior, Akhilleus would never have been enraged, and his army would not have suffered all of their losses. Agamemnon brought on this great anger of Akhilleus because he had wronged a priest by kidnapping his daughter and asking for ransom, even though he had no intention of taking the ransom or giving the daughter back. This angered Akhilleus, and he brought plague upon the army, killing so many.
The old priest, named Khryses, had tried to offer Agamemnon ransom for his daughter, by bringing many gifts to his ships, and begging the captains Agamemnon and Menelaos, and all of their men, to have mercy on him. He begged them to return her in the name of the god Apollo, which is who they worshipped. Agamemnon's soldiers knew the priest had connections with the god, and all feared what might happen if he did not give her back to the priest, and they all wanted Agamemnon to take the ransom and return the daughter safely to her father, but he would not do this, and he forced the old priest to leave, threatening him not to come back, that if he did, his faith in the gods would fail him, because he would be killed. He also told him that there would be no point in coming back for his beautiful daughter, because she would stay with him forever, working for him and being his mistress.
Having no other choice, the frightened old priest left sadly, praying all the while to the god Apollo, telling him that if he had ever taken a liking to him in the past, that he would use his anger to harm the Danaans in revenge for his sadness. The god Apollo heard the priest's prayers, and with anger in his heart, he took to using his arrows. He showered them down on the Danaans. First, he killed any animals he could get, then, soon after went on to killing the soldiers.
