Iliad

The Iliad (Greek ?????, Ilias) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i.e. the Trojan War, and is, along with the Odyssey, one of the two major Greek epic poems traditionally attributed to Homer, a blind Ionian poet. Scholars dispute whether Homer existed, and whether he was one person, but it is clear that the poems spring from a long tradition of oral poetry. The Iliad and the Odyssey are traditionally dated to the 8th century BC, but many scholars now prefer a date of the 7th century BC (e.g., Martin West) or even the 6th century BC (e.g., Richard Seaford). The epics are considered to be the oldest literary documents in the Greek language, though the classical Greeks thought that the works of the poet Hesiod were composed earlier. The word Iliad means "pertaining to Ilion" (Latin Ilium), the name of the city proper, as opposed to Troy (Greek ?????, Troia, Latin Troja) the state centered around Ilium, over which Priam reigned. The names are often used interchangeably.

Major characters

As an epic, the Iliad contains a sometimes confusingly great number of characters. The latter half of the Iliads second book (often called the Catalogue of Ships) is devoted entirely to listing the various commanders. Many of the battle scenes in the Iliad feature bit characters who are quickly slain. See Trojan War for a detailed list of participating armies and warriors.

Related Topics:
Catalogue of Ships - Trojan War

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• The Achaeans (??????) - the word "Hellenes", which would today be translated as "Greeks", is not used by Homer
• Achilles, (????????), leader of the Myrmidones, (??????????) whose anger is the over-arching theme of the story
• Agamemnon, (?????????), King of Mycenae, supreme commander of the Achaean armies whose actions provoke the feud with Achilles
• Patroclus,(?????????) friend or lover to Achilles
• Nestor, (??????), Menelaus, (????????), Diomedes, (????????), Idomeneus, (?????????), and Telamonian Aias, (???? ? ??????????), kings of the principal city-states of Greece who are leaders of their own armies, under the overall command of Agamemnon
• Odysseus,(????????) another warrior-king, famed for his cunning, who is the subject of his own epic
• Calchas, (??????) a powerful Greek prophet and omen reader, who guided the Greeks through the war with his predictions.
• The Trojans and their allies
• Hector, (?????) firstborn son of King Priam, leader of the Trojan and allied armies and heir apparent to the throne of Troy
• Priam, (???????) king of the Trojans, too old to take part in the fighting
• Paris, (?????) Trojan prince and Hector's brother, also called Alexander; his abduction of Helen is the casus belli
• Aeneas, (???????) cousin of Hector, and his principal lieutenant
• Helenus and Deiphobus, brothers of Hector who fight at his side
• Poludamas, another Trojan warrior, apparently a commoner, or in any event not a member of the royal family
• Glaucus and Sarpedon, leaders of the Lycian forces allied to the Trojan cause
• Female characters
• Helen, (?????) former Queen of Sparta and wife of Menelaus, now espoused to Paris
• Cassandra, (?????????) daughter of Priam, a prophetess cursed by Apollo to prophesy correctly but never be believed
• Andromache, (?????????) Hector's wife and mother of their infant son, Astyanax (????????)
• Hecuba, (?????) Queen of Troy, wife of Priam, mother of Hector, Cassandra, Paris etc

The Olympian deities, principally Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, and Poseidon, appear predominantly in the Iliad as advisers to and manipulators of the human characters. All except Zeus become personally involved in the fighting at one point or another. (See Theomachy)

Related Topics:
Zeus - Hera - Apollo - Aphrodite - Ares - Athena - Poseidon - Theomachy

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