Chapter 5 examines Achilles’ refusal of the Embassy’s offer in Book 9, a refusal often interpreted as blindness or arrogance. The chapter argues his refusal stems from the interlocutors’ failure to grasp the offer’s implications. Achilles explains that he will die at Troy, if he resumes fighting. This implies that a crucial part of Agamemnon’s offer (cities and a daughter in marriage when he returns to Greece) is void. This is why Achilles threatens to leave the next day. Phoenix fails to ‘read his mind’ by asking him to fight solely for gifts. Achilles relents after Ajax’ speech and promises to resume the fight if the Trojans reach his tent and ships. The embassy members do not know that Achilles asked Zeus to make them be defeated in battle; only Ajax unwittingly touches upon this. Odysseus, reporting on the Embassy to the Greeks’ assembly, only narrates the version that will make the warriors fight most vigorously. If we read Achilles’ mind, he must think that his final version has been reported to the Greeks. That is why he refuses to fight in Book 16, sending Patroclus instead. Achilles’ downfall, like Hector’s, is caused by a failure of communication.