What god drove them to fight with such a fury?
Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto. Incensed at the king
he swept a fatal plague through the army – men were dying
and all because Agamemnon spurned Apollo’s priest.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 1, lines 7-10. Homer asks what god drove Agamemnon and Achilles to such a furious conflict. He then answers that it was Apollo, who sends a fatal plague to infect the Greek soldiers because of Agamemnon’s offence to Apollo’s priest.