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The major characters

See also: Category: Deities in the Iliad

The many characters of the Iliad are catalogued; the latter-half of Book II, the “Catalogue of Ships”, lists commanders and cohorts; battle scenes feature quickly-slain minor characters.

• The Achaeans (Ἀχαιοί) — aka the Hellenes (Greeks), Danaans (Δαναοί), and Argives (Ἀργεĩοι).
  • Agamemnon — King of Mycenae; leader of the Greeks.
  • Achilles — Leader of the Myrmidons.
  • Odysseus — King of Ithaca; the wiliest Greek commander, and hero of the Odyssey.
  • Aias (Ajax the Greater) — son of Telamon, with Diomedes, he is second to Achilles in martial prowess.
  • Menelaus — King of Sparta; husband of Helen.
  • Diomedes — son of Tydeus, King of Argos.
  • Aias (Ajax the Lesser) — son of Oileus, often partner of Ajax the Greater.

• The Trojan men
  • Hector — son of King Priam; the foremost Trojan warrior.
  • Aeneas — son of Anchises and Aphrodite.
  • Deiphobus — brother of Hector and Paris.
  • Paris — Helen’s lover-abductor.
  • Priam — the aged King of Troy.
  • Polydamas — a prudent commander whose advice is ignored; he is Hector’s foil.
  • Agenor — a Trojan warrior who attempts to fight Achilles (Book XXI).
  • Dolon (Δόλων) — a spy upon the Greek camp (Book X).
  • Antenor — King Priam’s advisor, who argues for returning Helen to end the war; Paris refuses.
  • Polydorus — son of Priam and Laothoe.

• The Trojan women
  • Hecuba (Ἑκάβη) — Priam’s wife; mother of Hector, Cassandra, Paris, and others.
  • Helen (Ἑλένη) — Menelaus’s wife; espoused first to Paris, then to Deiphobus.
  • Andromache (Ἀνδρομάχη) — Hector’s wife; mother of Astyanax (Ἀστυάναξ)
  • Cassandra (Κασσάνδρα) — Priam’s daughter; courted by Apollo, who bestows the gift of prophecy to her; upon her rejection, he curses her, and her warnings of Trojan doom go unheeded.

These Olympic deities advise and manipulate the humans; excepting Zeus, they fight the Trojan War. (See Theomachy.)

• The major deities:
  • Zeus
  • Hera
  • Artemis
  • Apollo
  • Hades
  • Aphrodite
  • Ares
  • Athena
  • Hermes
  • Poseidon
  • Hephaestus

• The minor deities:
  • Eris
  • Iris
  • Thetis
  • Proteus
  • Scamander