Achilles

Achilles (uh-KIH-leez), the son of Peleus and the Nereid Thetis, is the prince of the Myrmidons and the mightiest of the Achaian warriors at the siege of Troy. At his birth, his mother had dipped him in the Styx, so that all parts of his body are invulnerable to hurt except the heel by which she held him. A young man of great beauty, strength, courage, and skill in battle, he nevertheless possesses two tragic flaws, an imperious will and a strong sense of vanity. Enraged because King Agamemnon orders him to surrender the maid Briseis, whom Achilles had taken as his own prize of war, he quarrels bitterly with the commander of the Greek forces and withdraws from the battlefield. When the Trojan host attacks, driving the Greeks back toward their ships, Achilles remains sulking in his tent. So great is his wrath that he refuses to heed all entreaties that he come to the aid of the hard-pressed Greeks. When the Trojans begin to burn the Greek ships, he allows his friend Patroclus, dressed in the armor of Achilles, to lead the warlike Myrmidons against the attackers. Patroclus is killed by Hector, the Trojan leader, under the walls of the city. Seeing in the death of his friend the enormity of his own inaction, Achilles puts on a new suit of armor made for him by Hephaestus and engages the Trojans in fierce combat. Merciless in his anger and grief, he kills Hector and on successive days drags the body of the vanquished hero behind his chariot while King Priam, Hector’s father, looks on from the walls of the city. When the sorrowing king visits the tent of Achilles at night and begs for the body of his son, Achilles relents and permits Priam to conduct funeral rites for Hector for a period of nine days. In a later battle before the walls of Troy, an arrow shot by Paris, King Priam’s son, strikes Achilles in the heel and causes his death.

Hector

Hector (HEHK-tur) is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. As the commander of the Trojan forces, he is the greatest and most human of the heroes, an ideal figure in every respect: a skilled horseman, a brave soldier, an able leader, a man devoted to his family and his city, and the master of his emotions under every circumstance. His courage in battle, his courtesy in conference, his submission to the gods, and his sad fate at the hands of vengeful Achilles provide an admirable contrast to the actions of the blustering, cunning, cruel, and rapacious Greeks.

Andromache

Andromache (an-DROM-uh-kee) is the devoted wife of Hector and the mother of Astyanax. After the fall of Troy, she was taken into captivity by Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. Still later, according to the Aeneid, she married Helenus, the brother of Hector, and ruled with him in Pyrrhus.

Astyanax

Astyanax (as-TI-eh-naks) is the young son of Hector and Andromache. During the sack of Troy, Neoptolemus killed the child by hurling him over the city wall.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon (ag-eh-MEHM-non) is the king of Mycenae and the older brother of King Menelaus, husband of the lovely Helen, whose infidelity brought about the Trojan War. Courageous and cunning but often rash and arrogant, as in his treatment of Achilles, he is the commander of the Greeks in the war. He stands as a symbol of the capable leader, without the heroic qualities of the more dramatic warriors who fight under his command. He is killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, after his return from Troy.

Menelaus

Menelaus (meh-nuh-LAY-uhs) is the king of Sparta and the husband of beautiful but faithless Helen, who is seduced and abducted by Paris, the prince of Troy, in fulfillment of a promise made by Aphrodite. He stands more as a symbol than as a man, a victim of the gods and an outraged husband who avenges with brave deeds the wrong done to his honor. At the end of the war, he takes Helen back to Sparta with him. In the Odyssey, she is shown presiding over his royal palace.

Helen

Helen is the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and, for nineteen years after her abduction, the consort of Paris. Being confined within the walls of Troy, in the company of doting elders, she plays a minor part in the story. Because she is the victim of Aphrodite’s promise to Paris, she does not suffer greatly for her actions. Her attempts at reconciliation unwittingly aid the Greek cause in the capture of Troy.

Paris

Paris is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Called to judge a dispute among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena, he awarded the prize, the golden apple of discord, to Aphrodite, who in turn promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. Although his love for Helen, the bride he stole from her husband, has become proud devotion to a principle, Paris nevertheless places himself in jeopardy as a champion of the Trojan cause and offers to meet King Menelaus, the injured husband, in single combat. Aphrodite, fearful for the safety of her favorite, watches over him and saves him from harm. An arrow from his bow strikes Achilles in the heel and kills the Achaian warrior. One story says that Paris was slain by a poisoned arrow from the bow of Philoctetes.

Priam

Priam (PRI-am) is the king of Troy and the beneficent father of a large family. Although he is not a ruler of Agamemnon’s stature, he is a man of shrewdness and quiet strength who suffers much at the hands of fate and the rivalry of the gods. Although he does not condone the abduction of Helen by Paris, he is fair in his judgment of both because he knows that they are victims of Aphrodite’s whims. His devotion to his son Hector and his pity for all who suffer in the war elevate him to noble stature.

Hecuba

Hecuba (HEH-kew-buh) is the wife of King Priam. Her fate is tragic. She witnesses the death of her sons, the enslavement of her daughter Cassandra, carried into captivity by Agamemnon, and the sacrifice of her daughter Polyxena to appease the shade of Achilles.

Calchas

Calchas (KAL-kuhs) is the seer and prophet of the Greeks. After many animals and men have been slain by the arrows of Apollo, Calchas declares that the destruction is a divine visitation because of Agamemnon’s rape of Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. He counsels that the maid be returned to her father without ransom.

Chryseis

Chryseis (KRIH-see-uhs) is a maiden seized by the Greeks during the plundering of Chrysa and given to Agamemnon as a prize of war. Forced by the intervention of Apollo to send the girl back to Chryses, her father, Agamemnon announces that he will in turn take any other maid he desires. His choice is Briseis, the slave of Achilles. Agamemnon’s demand leads to a quarrel between the two Greeks.

Briseis

Briseis (BRI-see-uhs) is a captive slave taken by Achilles as a prize of war. Agamemnon’s announcement that he intends to take the girl into his own tent leads to a quarrel between the two men. Forced to surrender Briseis, Achilles and his followers retire from the battlefield and refuse to engage in the fierce fighting that follows. Agamemnon returns the girl to Achilles shortly before the sulking warrior undergoes a change of mood and returns to the fighting to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus.

Patroclus

Patroclus (pa-TROH-kluhs) is the noble squire and loyal friend of Achilles. His death at the hands of Hector is mercilessly and horribly avenged when Achilles and Hector meet in hand-to-hand combat and the Greek warrior kills his Trojan rival. Reasonable in argument and courageous in the face of great odds, Patroclus distinguishes himself in battle and is sublime in his willingness to die for a cause and a friend.

Odysseus

Odysseus (oh-DIHS-ews) is the crafty middle-aged warrior who, with Diomedes, scouts the Trojan camp, captures a Trojan spy, Dolon, and kills Rhesus, a Thracian ally of the Trojans. Although he is a minor figure in the story, he serves as a foil to haughty Agamemnon and sulking Achilles. He and Nestor are the counselors who interpret rightly the will of the gods.

Diomedes

Diomedes (di-oh-MEE-deez) is a valiant Argive warrior who dashes so often and fearlessly between the Greek and Trojan lines that it is difficult to tell on which side he is fighting. He is the companion of Odysseus on a night-scouting expedition in the Trojan camp, and he is the slayer of Pandarus. In hand-to-hand fighting, he attacks Aeneas so fiercely that the gods wrap the Trojan in a veil of mist to protect him from Diomedes’s onslaught.

Dolon

Dolon (DOH-luhn) is a Trojan spy captured and put to death by Odysseus and Diomedes.

Nestor

Nestor (NEHS-tur) is the hoary-headed king of Pylos and a wise counselor of the Greeks. Although he is the oldest of the Greek leaders, he survives the ten years of war and returns to his own land, where Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, visits him.

Machaon

Machaon (meh-KAY-uhn) is the son of Asclepius, the famous physician of the ancient world. He is the chief surgeon in the Greek forces. He heals Menelaus after the king of Sparta has been wounded by an arrow from the bow of Pandarus.

Ajax

Ajax (AY-jaks) is the son of Telamon of Salamis and half brother of Teucer. A warrior of great physical size and strength, he uses his mighty spear to hold off the Trojans attempting to burn the Greek ships after breaching the rampart around the vessels. According to a later story, he goes mad when Agamemnon, acting on the advice of Athena, awards the armor of dead Achilles to Odysseus.

Teucer

Teucer (TEW-sehr) is the half brother of Ajax and a mighty bowman. He helps Ajax defend the Greek ships. During one of the Trojan onslaughts, he kills the charioteer of Hector.

Glaucus

Glaucus (GLOH-kuhs) is a Lycian ally of the Trojans. Meeting him in battle, Diomedes recognizes the Lycian as a guest-friend by inheritance. To seal a covenant between them, they exchange armor, Glaucus giving up his gold armor, worth a hundred oxen, for the brass armor of Diomedes, worth only nine oxen.

Sarpedon

Sarpedon (sahr-PEE-duhn) is the leader of the Lycian allies fighting with the Trojans. He is killed by Patroclus.

Aeneas

Aeneas (ee-NEE-uhs) is the son of Anchises and Aphrodite. A warrior descended from a younger branch of the royal house of Troy, he commands the Trojan forces after the death of Hector. Earlier, while trying to protect the fallen body of his friend Pandarus, Aeneas is struck down by Diomedes, who would have slain him if the gods had not hidden the Trojan in a misty cloud. Aeneas’s wounds are miraculously healed in the temple of Apollo, and he returns to the battle.

Pandarus

Pandarus (PAN-duh-ruhs) is a Lycian ally of the Trojans and a skilled archer. After Paris has been spirited away from his contest with Menelaus, Pandarus aims at the king of Sparta and would have pierced him with an arrow if Athena had not turned the shaft aside. Diomedes kills Pandarus.

Cassandra

Cassandra (ka-SAN-druh) is the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Gifted with second sight, she is never to have her prophecies believed because she has rejected the advances of Apollo. She becomes Agamemnon’s captive after the fall of Troy.

Helenus

Helenus (HEH-leh-nuhs) is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Like his sister Cassandra, he possesses the gift of second sight. He eventually marries Andromache, the wife of his brother Hector.

Deïphobus

Deïphobus (dee-IH-feh-buhs) is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. He becomes the husband of Helen after the death of Paris and is killed during the sack of Troy.

Antenor

Antenor (an-TEE-nor) is the Trojan elder who advises that Helen be returned to the Greeks to avoid bloodshed.

Polydamus

Polydamus (po-lih-DA-muhs) is a shrewd, clear-headed leader of the Trojans.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite (a-froh-DI-tee) is the goddess of love. Because Paris had awarded her the fated golden apple and Aeneas is her son, she aids the Trojans during the war.

Apollo

Apollo (uh-PO-loh) is the god of poetry, music, and prophecy, as well as the protector of flocks and the patron of bowmen. He fights on the side of the Trojans.

Athena

Athena (uh-THEE-nuh), also called Pallas Athena, is the goddess of wisdom. She aids the Achaians.

Poseidon

Poseidon (poh-SI-dehn) is the god of the sea and earthquakes. The enemy of the Trojans, he aids the Achaians.

Ares

Ares (AY-reez) is the god of war. Because of Aphrodite, he fights on the side of the Trojans.

Hera

Hera (HIHR-uh) is the consort of Zeus and the enemy of the Trojans.

Zeus

Zeus (zews) is the supreme deity. He remains neutral, for the most part, during the war.

Thetis

Thetis (THEE-tihs), a Nereid, is the mother of Achilles, whom she aids in his quarrel with Agamemnon.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus (hee-FEHS-tuhs) is the artificer of the gods. At the request of Thetis, he makes the suit of armor that Achilles is wearing when he slays Hector.

Achilles

Achilles is the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and Thetis the sea goddess; he and his fellow Myrmidons come to Troy as part of the Greek force led by King Agamemnon. Achilles embodies the characteristics of the Homeric hero, particularly in his apparent lack of character and control and his lust for fame. He is therefore a balance—superhumanly powerful thanks to a relationship with the gods and his mother’s precautions taken when he was a baby but morally and intellectually flawed. His attitude will be his death after the Iliad ends.

Achilles can’t control his pride or the rage that overtakes him when that pride is threatened; in short, he’s a big, incredibly strong spoiled brat. At one point he even abandons his men and prays that the Trojans will slaughter them because Agamemnon has insulted him. Because of that pride, like many other Homeric heroes, Achilles is driven primarily by an insatiable desire for glory. His spoiled, lazy nature might prefer to live a long, easy life, but he knows that his preordained fate (symbolized by his “Achilles heel”) will force him to choose between comfort and fame. His ego wins out, and he is willing to sacrifice everything so his name will become part of Greek history.

Achilles doesn’t develop significantly over the course of the epic. Although the death of Patroclus guilts him into reconciling with Agamemnon, his rage doesn’t die, but is redirected toward Hector, the Trojan hero. Such a lateral emotional move doesn’t mark any kind of change, just a transfer of the same anger, pride, and hatred that has driven Achilles all along. He doesn’t learn from Patroclus’s death. He brutalizes his opponents, takes on the river Xanthus in a bold, almost suicidal campaign, desecrates Hector’s body after death, and horrifically sacrifices twelve Trojan soldiers at the funeral of Patroclus. Achilles’s rage doesn’t subside until Troy’s King Priam, pleading for the return of Hector’s body, appeals to Achilles’s memory of his father, Peleus. However, even in this moment it remains uncertain whether Priam’s actions really transform Achilles or whether this scene merely testifies to Achilles’s capacity for grief and acquaintance with anguish, which were already proven in his intense mourning of Patroclus.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek army, is the son of Atreus and the brother of Menelaus, the king of Sparta, and commander-in-chief of the Greek army. He resembles Achilles in that he is prideful and prone to anger; even more so than Achilles, Agamemnon gives way to arrogance. He demands that Achilles relinquish his war prize, Briseis, causing Achilles to withdraw angrily from battle, leaving the Greek army open to attack. Both men are equally to blame for the carnage this situation causes.

While Achilles’s pride flares up after it is injured, Agamemnon inflicts his injured pride on those around him. He stays clear of the worst of a battle but expects the largest share of the prize, and he insists on leading the Greek army even though his younger brother Menelaus—whose wife, Helen, was the cause of the war—is the one with the truest need for revenge.

Also unlike Achilles, Agamemnon is capable of appreciating subtlety. Achilles is fiercely devoted to those who love him and equally brutal to those who hurt him—a fundamentally “black and white” view of the world. Agamemnon sees the gray and uses it to his advantage, manipulating people and situations for his own benefit. He continually tests the loyalty of his troops, as shown in book 2. Where Achilles lacks control, Agamemnon has it and takes advantage of it. This causes the king to be even less sympathetic than his greatest warrior.

Hector

Hector is King Priam of Troy’s son and his greatest warrior. Achilles kills him, but until then he causes major damage to the Greek army—Achilles’s childish abandonment of his own army is Hector’s opportunity. He leads the assault that finally penetrates the Achaian ramparts, he is the first and only Trojan to set fire to an Achaian ship, and he kills Patroclus. Hector, too, however, is a flawed, even a tragic, hero.

Hector shows cowardice when he flees Great Ajax twice in book 17; he returns to battle only after being insulted by his fellow soldiers. He is prone to the same rage as Achilles at times, as when he kills Patroclus with unthinking cruelty. Later, caught up in a burst of confidence, he orders the Trojans to camp outside Troy’s walls the night before Achilles returns to battle, allowing the Achaians to easily destroy his army when Achilles returns with a vengeance.

For all these faults, however, Hector doesn’t come across as arrogant or overbearing like Agamemnon does. Homer takes a sort of “home-field advantage” by showing Hector’s family and his love for them. For his brother Paris, who started the war in the first place but seems disinterested in fighting it, he only has words of frustration, not scorn. Most of all, Homer gives Hector an overwhelming sense of his responsibility to Troy. He entertains the idea of escaping Achilles early in their battle, but his duty wins out even though his gods have left him alone with a man whom could never defeat. Hector’s loyalty makes him not only a noble figure, but also the most tragic figure in the Iliad.

Other Characters

Aeneas—A brave warrior and the second in command, behind Hector, of the Trojan forces. The son of Aphrodite, he is often protected by her.

Alexandros/Paris—Hector’s brother; his abduction of Helen from Menelaus’s palace in Sparta started the Trojan war, yet he feels no remorse.

Athena—Greek goddess of wisdom and protector of the Greeks.

Diomedes—The son of Tydeus and Deipylos who succeeded Adrestos as king of Argos. He comes to Troy with eighty ships and is, next to Achilles, the bravest hero of the Greek army. A perfect gentleman, he is known for his wisdom and courteous ways.

Hades—Greek god of the underworld and brother of Zeus and Poseidon.

Helen—The daughter of Zeus and Leda and originally the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta.

Hera—Greek goddess of marriage and birth; the wife of Zeus and also his sister. She fights vigorously for the Greeks, seeing the destruction of Troy.

Menelaus—King of Sparta, and Agamemnon’s brother, and former husband of Helen.

Poseidon—Greek god of the seas. Helps both sides.

Achilles

Achilles, the son of the mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, is the greatest warrior in the Trojan War. He commands the Myrmidons, whose name derives from the Greek word for "ant," as their ancestors were transformed from ants by Zeus after a plague decimated part of the kingdom ruled by Achilles’s grandfather, Aeacus.

In an effort to make Achilles invincible, his mother dipped him in the River Styx. However, she neglected to submerge the heel she held him by, leaving it as his only vulnerable spot. This has given rise to the term “Achilles’ heel,” denoting a singular point of vulnerability.

Thetis was aware that her son was fated either to die young and gloriously at Troy or to live a long yet uneventful life as a ruler at home. To prevent him from joining the war, she disguised him as a woman and sent him to another king’s court. However, Odysseus discovered him and persuaded him to join the army, despite Thetis's objections. Knowing his life would be brief, Achilles was determined to achieve greatness and was highly sensitive to any suggestion that he was not the most esteemed warrior, leading to his conflict with Agamemnon, which sets the poem in motion.

Later Greek tradition suggested that Achilles and Patroclus were not just friends but also lovers, a common practice in classical times. In his introduction to Robert Fagles’s 1990 translation of the Iliad, Bernard Knox argues that “the text gives no warrant” for this claim, though other critics disagree. Several instances in the poem imply a deep bond between them beyond mere friendship (e.g., XVIII.22ff., XIX.4-5, XIX.319-21, and XXIII.144ff.).

Knox accurately notes that Achilles exhibits godlike qualities beyond his appearance. Throughout much of the poem, Achilles acts more like a deity—petulant, self-centered, touchy, and nearly unyielding in his anger—than a human. His words to Hector before killing him, “to hack your flesh away and eat it raw” (XXII.347), echo Hera’s hostility towards the Trojans, as described by Zeus at the poem's start (IV.35-36). It is only after Hector’s death that Achilles begins to regain his humanity, a transformation that culminates when Priam comes to ransom Hector’s body.

After Hector’s death, Achilles and the Achaians gain ground against the Trojans. However, Achilles does not live to see the fall of Troy; he is killed by Paris, with Apollo's assistance, shortly before the Achaians use the “Trojan Horse” to infiltrate the city by night.

Achilleus

See Achilles

Aeacides

See Achilles

Aeneas

Aeneas, the son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite, is a minor character in the Iliad. He is depicted as a formidable warrior, particularly in books 5 and 20. At one point (VI.75f.), he is described as Hector’s equal in “both war and counsel,” although not everyone concurs with this view (see XIII.460).

According to legend, Aeneas was the sole member of the Trojan royal family to survive the city's fall (see XX.302). He and his companions are said to have journeyed westward. The Romans later claimed Aeneas as the progenitor of their race and the founder of their nation, a story detailed by Virgil in the Aeneid, an epic poem in Latin.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon, son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, and king of Mycenae, is the overall commander of the Achaian forces at Troy. His status is highlighted in the original Greek by the epithet anax andrên (“lord of men”), which appears nearly sixty times in the Iliad and is almost exclusively used for Agamemnon (the five exceptions are dictated by the poem's meter).

Homer portrays Agamemnon as a competent fighter, a proud and passionate individual, and a fair tactician. However, he is somewhat indecisive and easily discouraged. He seems to harbor some resentment over the fact that, although he is in command, Achilles receives most of the glory. Conversely, Achilles resents that he does most of the work while Agamemnon gains most of the war's material spoils.

In Greek myths, Agamemnon appears as a driven man: he sacrifices one of his daughters to Artemis to secure a favorable wind for the army bound for Troy, insults the best fighter in his army, and refuses reconciliation until disaster looms. In some traditions, upon his return home, he allows himself to be treated almost like a god. These traits are indicative of what the Greeks called hubris (“arrogance,” “overweening pride”) or Até (similar to what we might call “temporary insanity”), which are Agamemnon’s major flaws.

The Greeks attributed these personality defects to a curse on the house of Pelops (Agamemnon’s grandfather), as retribution for a sacrilegious murder he committed while courting his wife. This curse came to fruition when Agamemnon was murdered upon his return from Troy. According to Homer in the Odyssey, he was killed by Aegisthus, his cousin and the lover of Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra. According to Aeschylus in his play Agamemnon, Clytemnestra herself committed the murder. Agamemnon’s young son Orestes, who was too young to go to Troy, eventually avenged his father’s death by killing his mother and her lover, a story that forms the basis of the remaining two plays in Aeschylus’s tragic cycle, the Oresteia.

Aias

See Ajax

Aineias

See Aeneas

Ajax (Oilean, the Lesser)

When this character appears alongside Ajax the Greater (Telamonian Ajax), Homer sometimes refers to them collectively as “Aiantes,” the Greek plural of “Ajax.” Though this term might seem confusing, it is often preferred by translators for its elegance over “the two Ajaxes.”

Son of Oileus and leader of the Locrians at Troy, Ajax the Lesser was shipwrecked on his journey home after the war. He boasted of surviving the sea despite the gods, only to be drowned by Poseidon, the sea god.

Ajax (Telamonian, the Greater)

When this character appears with Ajax the Lesser, Homer sometimes refers to them collectively as “Aiantes,” the Greek plural of “Ajax.” Although this term might seem confusing, translators often prefer it for its grace over “the two Ajaxes.”

Telamonian Ajax, son of Telamon and grandson of Aeacus (who was also the grandfather of Achilles), was the king of Salamis, an island near Athens. Salamis would later be the site of a significant naval battle between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BCE. Known as one of the bravest and strongest warriors at Troy, Homer portrays him as somewhat stubborn and single-minded, focused solely on fighting.

Notably, he fights without any divine assistance. While Diomedes, Achilles, Odysseus, and others receive help from gods at various points in the poem, Telamonian Ajax relies solely on his abilities.

After Achilles’s death, he competes with Odysseus for Achilles’s armor and weapons during the funeral games. When the prizes are awarded to Odysseus, Telamonian Ajax becomes enraged and, in a fit of madness, kills a flock of sheep, mistaking them for his enemies. Realizing his mistake, he falls on his sword, overwhelmed with shame. His tragic end is the subject of a play by Sophocles.

Ajax the Lesser

See Ajax (Oilean)

Akhilleus

See Achilles

Alexandros

See Paris

Andromache

Andromache is the daughter of Eetion, wife of Hector, and mother of Astyanax (also known as “Scamandrius,” his given name; “Astyanax” means “lord of the [lower] town” in Greek and serves as a princely title). After Hector’s death, she marries the seer Helenus. When the city falls to the Achaians, her son is killed, and she is given as a prize to Achilles’s son, Neoptolemus.

Antenor

Antenor is one of Troy’s elders and a counselor to King Priam. In the Iliad, he is perhaps best known for fathering many sons who appear throughout the poem.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, has varied origins according to ancient texts. Homer states she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, while the poet Hesiod (who likely lived shortly after Homer) claims she emerged from the sea foam (aphros in Greek). This depiction is famously captured in Sandro Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus (circa 1485). Though married to Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithcraft, she is not faithful. Her numerous lovers include Ares, the god of war, and the Trojan prince Anchises, father of Aeneas. This connection makes her favor the Trojans over the Achaians during the Trojan War.

Aphrodite can be seen as partly responsible for the war. Paris declared her the most beautiful of the goddesses, and she rewarded him with the “right” to have the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, who was already married. Menelaus, Helen's husband, was understandably outraged when Paris took her away, but Aphrodite seemed indifferent to such concerns.

Such indifference is to be expected. Aphrodite's primary focus is the physical attraction and ensuing actions between lovers. This is the source of her power and, like all gods, she prioritizes her sphere of influence above all else. Other concerns are secondary, if noticed at all. This explains why, after rescuing Paris from a duel with Menelaus in book 3, she sends him to bed with Helen, and why she frightens Helen when she questions the goddess’s commands to go to her lover.

Apollo

Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto and twin brother of Artemis, is the god of archery, prophecy, music (especially the lyre, which Achilles plays in book 9), medicine, light (though not identified with the sun in Homer), and youth. Plagues and diseases, and sometimes peaceful deaths in old age, were often attributed to arrows shot by Apollo for men or by Artemis for women. Despite being cheated out of proper payment after helping Poseidon build the walls of Troy, Apollo supports the Trojan side in the war.

Ares

Ares, son of Zeus and Hera, is the god of war, specifically warlike frenzy. In the Iliad, he is more often mentioned than actively involved, as seen in the epithet “beloved of Ares.” When he does appear, Homer portrays him negatively, a common sentiment in Greek mythology.

Ares is depicted as a bully who enjoys causing trouble simply for the pleasure of watching the chaos he creates. He is more of a boaster than a man of action. He is unpopular even among the gods, who mock him after he is wounded by Diomedes in Book 5. Even his own parents hold a low opinion of him.

Artemis

Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo, is a virgin goddess associated with the hunt, the moon, and, in some traditions, childbirth and young creatures. Alongside her brother, she supports the Trojan side. Plagues, various diseases, and occasionally a peaceful death in old age were often attributed to arrows shot by Artemis (for women) or by her brother Apollo (for men).

Athena

Athena, the daughter of Zeus and Mêtis, was born fully grown and armored from Zeus’s head after Hephaestus (or, in some versions, Prometheus) split it open with an axe to relieve his headache. This followed Zeus swallowing Mêtis to prevent her from bearing a son who would overthrow him.

Athena is honored as the patron goddess of Athens, where the Parthenon was dedicated to her in her role as Athena Polias, the city’s protector. She is also revered as a goddess of war, wisdom, and craftiness (her mother’s name means “Scheme” or “Trick”), particularly in weaving and spinning. As Zeus’s favorite daughter, she often calms him when no one else can. She supports the Achaian side in the war and has a special fondness for Odysseus.

Athene

See Athena

Atreides

See Agamemnon

Atrides

See Agamemnon

Calchas

Calchas, the son of Thestor, is a highly esteemed seer or prophet with the Achaian forces. He provokes Agamemnon by declaring that Apollo’s anger with the army is Agamemnon’s fault. Calchas is also the prophet who predicted the need to sacrifice Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigeneia, to Artemis in exchange for favorable winds to sail to Troy.

Cassandra

Cassandra, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, who fell in love with her. However, when she spurned his advances, he cursed her so that although her prophecies were always accurate, no one would ever believe her. After Troy fell, she was taken as a slave and concubine by Agamemnon and was killed alongside him upon their return to Mycenae.

Chryses

A priest of Apollo, Chryses, approaches Agamemnon to negotiate the return of his daughter, who was captured during a raid on their city. Agamemnon refuses the offered ransom, prompting Chryses to pray to Apollo. In response, Apollo sends a plague upon the army as retribution. The plague is only lifted after the girl is safely returned and Chryses prays to Apollo once more.

Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra, the daughter of Tyndareus (who also adopted Helen), is the unfaithful wife of Agamemnon. During Agamemnon's absence, she takes Aegisthus, Agamemnon’s cousin and foster brother, as her lover. Together, they conspire to murder Agamemnon upon his return from Troy. Depending on the tradition, she either kills Agamemnon herself by smothering him with a cloak or blanket in the bath and striking him with an axe, or she incites Aegisthus to commit the murder, as depicted in Homer’s Odyssey. Eventually, her own son, Orestes, kills her to avenge his father's death.

Diomedes

Diomedes, the son of Tydeus and king of Tiryns and Argos, is one of the chief warriors in Agamemnon’s army, second only to Achilles. He, along with Ajax the Greater, shoulders much of the combat after Achilles withdraws to his camp in anger. The primary focus of books 5 and 6 is on Diomedes.

Homer portrays Diomedes as an honorable, yet sometimes impulsive, warrior. Later traditions suggest that Aphrodite, seeking revenge for being wounded by Diomedes while protecting her grandson Aeneas, caused Diomedes's wife to be unfaithful during his absence at Troy. Upon discovering her infidelity upon his return, Diomedes leaves home in disgust. He is believed to have traveled to Italy, where he established several cities, died, and was ultimately buried near the Apulian coast on the so-called “Islands of Diomedes.”

Hades

In Homer’s works, Hades primarily refers to a place rather than a person. The name itself seems to be derived from the Greek words for “not” and “seeing,” which could be interpreted as “The Unseen” (place or person).

Hades was thought to be located underground. It was not so much a place of punishment, akin to hell, but rather a realm of darkness where the dead lived a shadowy existence, a mere reflection of their former lives. While Homer appears unaware of the tradition of Elysian Fields, a brighter region within Hades for virtuous souls, he does mention Tartarus, the traditional place of punishment for particularly wicked individuals.

Hades is mentioned only sparingly in Homer’s works. He was the third son of Cronus and Rhea, alongside Zeus and Poseidon. After Zeus overthrew their father, the three brothers drew lots to divide the world among them: Zeus received the sky, Poseidon got the sea, and Hades was given the underworld.

Hector

Hector, the son of Priam and Hecuba, is the husband of Andromache and father of Scamandrius (also known as Astyanax). As the prince of Troy and leader of the Trojan forces, Hector plays a role for the Trojans similar to Achilles' for the Achaeans.

Many readers find Hector to be a more relatable and human character than Achilles, despite being less flamboyant. He is deeply committed to his wife, son, parents, and above all, his city and homeland. Unlike Achilles, Hector is fully aware of what he is fighting for: the very survival of his city, his family, and his people. He continues to fight for these causes even though he knows, or at least suspects, that they are doomed.

Another distinction between Hector and Achilles is that while Achilles is often described and acts like the gods, Hector remains very much a human being. Achilles’ godlike rage and exceptional combat skills highlight his divine qualities, which he only seems to temper at the poem's end, after Patroclus’s death and Priam’s plea for Hector’s body. In contrast, Hector never loses his human traits. Although he does get angry, his rage is never as overwhelming or blinding as Achilles’. In both defeat and victory, Hector maintains his honor and dignity. His intention to defile Patroclus’s body (XVII.125-127), while distasteful to modern readers, was a common practice or threat in heroic warfare—unlike Achilles’ treatment of Hector’s body, which even the gods find excessive.

Hector may be regarded as the first great tragic figure in Western literature. He fights for a cause he does not believe in and knows, though he seldom admits it, is doomed. His successes are fleeting—merely the final moments of respite for the Trojans before their city falls. Even worse, we know, though Hector does not, that his success is more a result of Zeus answering Achilles’ prayer than his own efforts.

Despite all he endures, both in the present and what he anticipates for the future, Hector maintains a quiet dignity and nobility, embodying humanity at its finest.

Hecuba

The daughter of Dymas and the wife of Priam, she is the mother of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra, among others. When Troy falls, she is given to Odysseus as a prize and witnesses her daughter Polyxena being sacrificed at Achilles' tomb. She is the central figure in two extant plays by Euripides (ca. 480–406 BCE): Hecuba, which is undated, and The Trojan Women (415 BCE).

Hekabe

See Hecuba

Hektor

See Hector

Helen

Helen is the daughter of Zeus and the mortal Leda, whom Zeus impregnated after taking the form of a swan. According to myth, every man in the Greek world desired to marry Helen. Her foster father, Tyndareus, followed Odysseus' advice and had all her suitors swear an oath to protect her, even after her marriage. After she married Menelaus, Paris abducted Helen, leading to the Trojan War as her husband and former suitors besieged Troy to retrieve her.

Helen remains an enigma in Homer’s poetry and perhaps in Homer’s mind as well. She appears to have willingly gone with Paris, possibly under the influence of the goddess Aphrodite, who is known for inducing uncontrollable lust in mortals. Yet, she also seems to regret her decision to accompany Paris and the suffering it caused Troy and its inhabitants. Moreover, she appears content to be reunited with Menelaus.

As a daughter of Zeus, Helen shares more traits with goddesses like Athena and Aphrodite than with mortal women like Andromache and Hecuba. It is hard to imagine either Andromache or Hecuba standing up to a goddess as Helen does to Aphrodite. Nor is it likely they would speak to a man as sharply as Helen does to Paris after Aphrodite rescues him from his duel with Menelaus.

Hephaestus

The son of Zeus and Hera (or, according to Hesiod, of Hera alone, born out of spite after Zeus gave birth to Athena by himself), Hephaestus is the god of fire and related arts like smithcraft. He is disabled (in Homer’s account, due to being thrown off Olympus for siding with Hera in a quarrel with Zeus) and serves as both a source of amusement and master craftsman for the gods. He creates thunderbolts for Zeus, houses and furniture for the other gods, and forges a new suit of armor for Achilles after Hector takes the old one from Patroclus's body.

Hephaistos

See Hephaestus

Hera

Hera, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and both sister and wife to Zeus, is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. She is renowned for her jealousy towards Zeus and her schemes against him, as well as his numerous mortal lovers and illegitimate offspring. In the Iliad, Hera supports the Achaians, not only because their primary cities fall under her protection but also due to her anger at the Trojans, stemming from Paris's choice to award the golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" to Aphrodite.

Iris

Iris, the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods, is the daughter of Thaumas and Electra. She is married to Zephyrus, the god of the west wind.

Kalchas

See Calchas

Kalkhas

See Calchas

Kassandra

See Cassandra

Klytaimestra

See Clytemnestra

Menelaos

See Menelaus

Menelaus

Menelaus, son of Atreus and brother of Agamemnon, is the king of Sparta and the husband of Helen. Menelaus could be described, somewhat accurately, as the "Mr. Average" of the Iliad. One might expect him to lead the Achaian forces, given that Helen is his wife, and Sparta is comparable to Mycenae in wealth and power.

However, Agamemnon possesses what Menelaus seems to lack: the ability to inspire followers. Menelaus's fighting skills are mediocre, as Homer depicts. He is not the strategist his brother is, nor does he match Odysseus in tactical prowess or oratory skills. He does not appear deeply embittered by his wife being taken away. Naturally, he is angry at the wrongs inflicted by Paris, but even in his prayer to Zeus before battling Paris, Menelaus seems more irritated by the breach of etiquette than outraged by the abduction of his wife.

Unlike his brother and many other Achaean kings, Menelaus enjoys a swift and safe return home after the war, with Helen and all his rightful possessions restored, along with additional spoils from Troy.

Nestor

Nestor, the sole surviving son of Neleus, is the elderly king of Pylos. It is said (I.250–52) that he has already reigned over two generations and is currently ruling the third. Nestor serves as the elder statesman and advisor. Although he can be somewhat long-winded and prone to recounting tales of his past exploits, his advice is generally well-received, even if it sometimes leads to unfortunate outcomes (as seen when Patroclus follows his counsel and borrows Achilles's armor).

Following the fall of Troy, Nestor safely returns to his homeland of Pylos. In the Odyssey, he also plays a significant role, serving as both an adviser and a host to Telemachus, the son of Odysseus.

Odysseus

Odysseus, the son of Laertes and Anticleia, rules over Ithaca, located in what is now the western part of Greece. Although he was one of Helen’s suitors, he assessed his chances as slim and chose to marry Penelope instead. It was his suggestion that led Helen’s stepfather, Tyndareus, to make all her suitors swear an oath of mutual assistance should anything happen to her future husband after the marriage.

In the Iliad and other literary works, Odysseus is celebrated as a cunning and resourceful man, more adept at devising plans and persuading others than excelling in hand-to-hand combat or infantry battles. While he is competent in warfare, it is not his greatest strength. Agamemnon frequently relies on Odysseus for strategic planning and complex negotiations. Even the Trojans respect his rhetorical prowess; Antenor likens Odysseus’s words to falling snowflakes in a winter storm (III.222), suggesting that his eloquence compensates for his unremarkable appearance and demeanor.

Despite his scheming nature, Odysseus is depicted as a man of honor, characterized by his cool, calculated demeanor and boundless energy. The night raid in book 10, where he and Diomedes initially promise to spare Dolon’s life but then kill him, followed by the slaughter of twelve sleeping men, seems inconsistent with Odysseus’s character as shown elsewhere in the poem. This inconsistency has led some scholars to theorize that this book, or portions of it, might have been later additions by another author.

Oilean

See Ajax

Paris

Paris, a prince of Troy and the son of Priam and Hecuba, was the subject of a prophecy predicting that he would bring great troubles to the Trojans. In an attempt to prevent this prophecy (which, as is typical in Greek mythology, ensured its fulfillment), Priam sent Paris to tend flocks on Mount Ida. There, Paris encountered the goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera, who asked him to judge which of them was the most beautiful. Paris chose Aphrodite, who granted him the right to claim the most beautiful mortal woman, Helen, as his wife.

There was, however, a significant issue: she was already wed to Menelaus. In an era when women were essentially considered property, this was not an insurmountable barrier. What complicated matters further was that Paris had visited Menelaus’s home in Sparta, thereby incurring certain quasi-sacred obligations under the laws of hospitality—one of which was that he could not rob his host. Yet, that is precisely what Paris did. Although Helen seemed to have left willingly, Paris also plundered Menelaus’s storehouses, taking a number of unspecified “treasures” along with Helen.

Paris is not well-regarded in the Iliad: his own father is embarrassed by him, his eldest brother can barely stand the sight of him (III.39ff.), and even Helen has harsh words for him after his failed duel with Menelaus. Paris is not known for his valor in battle and is primarily skilled as an archer—a role the Greeks considered fit for weaklings and cowards.

However, Paris eventually brings down the great Achilles (with some divine assistance). In an ironic twist, Paris himself is wounded by a poisoned arrow shortly before the war ends.

Patroclus

Homer provides limited details about Patroclus or his lineage. His father, Menoetius, had sailed with the hero Jason on the Argo during the quest for the Golden Fleece.

Homer’s epic places both Patroclus and his father in the house of Peleus, as Nestor recalls their arrival with Odysseus on a “recruiting” mission in Book 11, to find “the hero Menoetius inside, and you [Patroclus], Achilles beside you, and Peleus the aged horseman,” all engaged in sacrificing an ox to Zeus. This narrative suggests that Patroclus was sent to Troy partly to temper Achilles’s impulsiveness, serving as a cooler head who could reason with the hero when no one else could.

From what Homer shows us, Patroclus is compassionate, caring, strong, brave, and level-headed—except when Zeus sends a “huge blind fury” (XVI.685–6) upon him, causing him to forget Achilles’s command not to pursue Hector once he had driven the Trojans away from the Achaian ships. As a result of this fury, Patroclus is first disarmed and stripped of his armor by Apollo, wounded by Euphorbus’s spear, and ultimately killed by Hector.

Patroklos

See Patroclus

Pelides

See Achilles

Phoenix

Son of Amyntor, Phoenix quarreled with his father (and, in some versions of the story, was blinded by him, then cured by the centaur Chiron) and was taken in by Peleus, who made him king of the Dolopians. Phoenix helped raise Peleus’s son Achilles and eventually accompanied him to Troy. Phoenix died on the way home and was buried by Neoptolemus.

Phoinix

See Phoenix

Poseidon

Poseidon, son of Cronus and Rhea, and brother to Zeus and Hades, is the deity of the sea, earthquakes, and horses. He is often depicted as a dignified older man, capable of intense emotion and bluster, much like the storms at sea said to be born from his rage.

Typically calm, Poseidon can be merciless when provoked. Alongside Apollo, he constructed the walls of Troy for King Laomedon. When Laomedon refused to compensate them for their work, Poseidon unleashed a sea monster to menace the city. Laomedon promised his renowned horses to Heracles if he would slay the beast but broke his word again, prompting Heracles to lead an assault on Troy, ultimately destroying it—a tale briefly mentioned in the Iliad. Still embittered by his treatment from an earlier Trojan king, Poseidon sides with the Achaian forces in the war.

Priam

Priam, the son of Laomedon and husband to Hecuba, reigns as king of Troy during the Achaian expedition. Although frequently mentioned, he seldom appears in the poem.

When he does appear, Homer depicts him as a kind older man, courteous to all and striving to do his best despite his age and frailty. One might expect bitterness, but Homer shows little sign of it in Priam’s character. He treats Helen, who has brought such calamity upon him and his city, like a cherished daughter and prevents others from mistreating her, at least in his presence.

There is a tragic element in Homer’s portrayal of Priam. He grieves deeply for his deceased children, particularly Hector, the greatest and seemingly most beloved of them all. Yet, he never loses his dignity, even when he finds himself in the unprecedented position of being a guest (albeit temporarily) in the home of Hector's killer, whom he must beg to reclaim Hector’s body.

Piam is aware, or at least suspects, that his city will eventually succumb to the superior Achaian forces. However, he refuses to let this grim prospect affect his judgment. A tradition holds that he was killed by Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus, during Troy’s sacking. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, a traveling actor recites a dramatic scene where Phyrrus kills Priam.

Smintheus

See Apollo

Thetis

Thetis is a sea nymph and the daughter of Neleus, whom Homer calls the “Old Man” of the sea. Unusually for Greek mythology, though not unheard of, she was married to a mortal.

There are varying accounts of how she became married to Peleus. The predominant version suggests that both Zeus and Poseidon were enamored with her but ceased their pursuit upon learning of a prophecy stating that any son she bore would surpass his father. Subsequently, she was wed to Peleus at a lavish banquet where all the gods were invited except Discord.

The alternative version narrates that Thetis was raised by Hera and, out of affection for her foster mother, resisted Zeus’s advances. Infuriated by her refusal, Zeus punished her by marrying her off to a mortal.

Tritogeneia

See Athena

Tydides

See Diomedes

Ulysses

See Odysseus

Zeus

The son of Cronus and Rhea, both brother and husband of Hera, and brother to Poseidon and Hades, Zeus reigns as the king of the gods and the deity of the sky, storm, and thunder. Homer describes him as the eldest child, although this is a minority view; other sources claim that Zeus was the youngest, hidden by his mother before eventually overthrowing his father.

Experts in ancient religion have long believed that Zeus symbolizes a conglomeration of various local "head gods," which could explain the numerous offspring attributed to him and the many mortal and immortal women with whom he is said to have consorted. In the Iliad, Zeus is depicted as a larger-than-life human with enhanced powers and knowledge but possessing all the emotions, peculiarities, and flaws of any person. However, Zeus is endowed with more dignity and majesty compared to some other Homeric gods.

One trait that distinguishes Zeus from the other Homeric gods is his lack of capriciousness. While he answers some prayers and denies others, there is no indication that he does so arbitrarily. Although he occasionally uses threats of violence (as with Hera, for instance), he generally prefers to rule by law and, to some extent, through mutual agreement among the other gods.

In the introduction to his translation of the Iliad, Richmond Lattimore unequivocally asserts that Zeus can act as he wishes and is not bound by fate. Conversely, Bernard Knox, in his introduction to the Fagles translation, describes the relationship between Zeus and fate as "a subtle one." Just five lines into the poem, we are informed that "the will of Zeus was moving toward fulfilment," indicating that the entire trajectory of the war was driven by Zeus's will. However, the discussion of Sarpedon's death in Book 16 hints that Zeus could oppose fate but refrains to prevent the inevitable chaos that such an action would cause. Further evidence, such as in XX.30 (where Zeus expresses concern that Achilles might "raze the walls contrary to destiny"), suggests that humans might occasionally act against destiny. The correct interpretation might not be whether Zeus is or isn't subject to fate, but rather that he embodies both conditions.