Characters
- Aeneas — joins Hector against Automedon
- Alcimedon — takes the reins so Automedon can fight
- Aretus — Trojan slain by Automedon
- Automedon — charioteer of Achilles; fights beside the immortal team
- Hecuba — pursues the chariot and corpse
- Patroclus — dead former driver (prelude)
- Philotes — pities the horses; strengthens them
- Xanthus and Balios — immortal horses of Achilles; grieve; renewed by Zeus
Places
- Achilles’ chariot — center of Automedon’s fight
- Plain of Troy — battle over Patroclus’s body
Themes
Narrative
When Patroclus is dead and Hector has stripped Achilles’ armor, the immortal horses Xanthus and Balios stand apart in the battle, weeping for their fallen driver; Zeus pities them, grants them fresh spirit, and they shake the dust from their manes. Automedon, Achilles’ charioteer, cannot manage both spear and reins alone among the press. Alcimedon climbs beside him, takes the reins, and Automedon leaps down to fight on foot, killing Aretus and stripping armor while Hector and Aeneas press the chariot. The pair hold the divine team in the swirling fight over Patroclus until the Achaeans can drag the body clear.
Catalogue Automedon’s Book 17 exploit apart from the composite corpse-and-armor narrative and apart from the later speaking of the horses in Book 19.