The story of the Cypria comes chronologically at the beginning of the Epic Cycle, and is followed by that of the Iliad; the composition of the two was apparently in the reverse order.
The Cyclic Poets, as the translator of Homerica Hugh G. Evelyn-White noted,[4] "were careful not to trespass upon ground already occupied by Homer," one of the reasons for dating the final, literary form of Cypria as post-Homeric, in effect a "prequel".
Any reading of the Kypria will show it preparing for events for (specifically) the Iliad in order to refer back to them, for instance the sale of Lycaon to Lemnos or the kitting out of Achilles with Briseis and Agamemnon with Chryseis".
In Lacedaemon the Trojans are entertained by the sons of Tyndareus, Castor and Pollux, and by Menelaus, who then sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen to furnish the guests with all they require.
In the meantime Castor and Pollux, while stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus, are caught and killed: Zeus gives them immortality that they share every other day.
The assembled leaders offer ill-omened sacrifice at Aulis, where the prophet Calchas warns the Greeks that the war will last ten years.
The fleet scattered by storm, Achilles puts in at Skyros and marries Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes, then heals Telephus, so that he might be their guide to Ilium.
When the Achaeans have been mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon is persuaded by Calchas to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease the goddess Artemis and obtain safe passage for the ships, after he offends her by killing a stag.
The Achaeans next desire to return home, but are restrained by Achilles, who afterwards drives off the cattle of Aeneas, sacks neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus.
Patroclus carries away Lycaon to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils Achilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon Chryseis.