Achilles is maddened by grief at the death of his friend Patroclus. King Priam of Troy watches the body of his son, Hector, being dragged behind Achilles' chariot. There must be a way, he thinks, of reclaiming the body - of pitting compromise against heroics. Malouf's fable engraves the epic themes of the Trojan war onto a perfect miniature. | 
