Book XXIII of the Iliad deals with the Funeral Games of Patroclus, whose death Achilles has avenged in Book XXII with his slaying of Hector. It provides a crucial element to the closure of Homer's epic, encapsulating its narrative and prominent themes, preparing the audience for the future of the story both within the poem and after its end, and focusing our attention on the behaviour and personality of its Achilles and his wrath as he grieves for his closest…