The gods on the field; Achilles meets Aeneas

Zeus, watching Achilles return to the field, calls the Olympians together. He releases them — anyone who wants to fight on either side may. He himself will sit and watch. The gods scatter. Hera, Athena, and Poseidon go to the Greeks; Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares to the Trojans. The level of divine intervention reaches its highest pitch in the poem. Battle on the plain becomes battle on two stages at once — men killing men below, gods clashing above and beside them.

Achilles, in his new armor, drives across the plain. He finds Aeneas first. Aeneas is the only Trojan besides Hector who could plausibly fight him in single combat — son of Aphrodite, second only to Hector on the Trojan side, fated (although the men do not know this yet) to survive Troy and to outlive his city. The two of them exchange the Iliadic ritual of comparing lineages before they fight, two men reciting their families across the bronze. They fight. Aeneas would be killed; he is no match for Achilles. But Poseidon — pro-Greek though he is — sees that Aeneas is destined to survive and live on. He intervenes, throws a mist over both of them, and lifts Aeneas to safety on the far side of the field.

Achilles is left alone on the plain looking for an enemy. He finds many. The book ends with him killing Trojans by the dozen, methodically, working his way toward Hector. Hector tries to face him once and is pulled away by Apollo. The space between them is closing.