List of Iliad characters

This is a list of the main characters that appear in the Iliad by Homer.

A

• Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς), the leader of the Myrmidons (Μυρμιδόνες) and the principal Greek champion whose anger is one of the main elements of the story.
• Aeneas (Αἰνείας), cousin of Hector, his principal lieutenant, son of Aphrodite, the only major Trojan figure to survive the war. Held by later tradition to be the forefather of the founders of Rome. See the Aeneid.
• Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων), King of Mycenae, supreme commander of the Achaean armies whose actions provoke the feud with Achilles; brother of King Menelaus.
• Agenor, a Trojan warrior who attempts to fight Achilles in Book 21.
• Ajax or Aias, also known as Telamonian Ajax (he was the son of Telamon) and Greater Ajax, was the tallest and strongest warrior (after Achilles) to fight for the Achaeans.
• Ajax the Lesser, an Achaean commander, son of Oileus often fights alongside Great Ajax; the two together are sometimes called the “Aeantes.”
• Andromache (Ἀνδρομάχη), Hector's wife and mother of their infant son, Astyanax (Ἀστυάναξ).
• Antenor, a Trojan nobleman who argues that Helen should be returned to Menelaus in order to end the war.
• Antilochus, Achaean, son of Nestor.
• Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, and sexual pleasure. Daughter of Cronus, wife of Hephaestus, and lover of Ares.
• Asius, Trojan warrior and charioteer who tries to breach the Greek walls.
• Asteropaeus, Trojan warrior who is killed by Achilles.
• Astyanax, son of Hector and Andromache.
• Athena, goddess of wisdom.
• Automedon, Achilles' charioteer.

B

• Briseis, mistress and love interest of Achilles, a woman captured in the sack of Lyrnessos, a small town in the territory of Troy, and awarded to Achilles as a prize; Agamemnon takes her from Achilles in Book 1 and Achilles withdraws from battle as a result.

C

• Calchas (Κάλχας), a powerful Greek prophet and omen reader, who guided the Greeks through the war with his predictions.
• Cassandra, daughter of Priam, prophetess, first courted and then cursed by Apollo. As her punishment for offending him, she accurately foresees the fate of Troy, including her own death and the deaths of her entire family, but is not believed.
• Cebriones, son of Priam and half brother and chariot driver of Hector.
• Chryseis, Chryses’ daughter, taken as a war prize by Agamemnon.
• Chryses, a priest of Apollo in a Trojan-allied town.

D

• Deiphobus, Trojan warrior, son of Priam and brother of Hector.
• Diomede, also known as Deïdameia, was the mistress of Achilles and mother of Neoptolemus.
• Diomedes (also called "Tydides") - the youngest of the Achaean commanders, famous for wounding two gods, Aphrodite and Ares.
• Dolon, a Trojan spy. Sent on an ill-fated expedition to the Achaean camp in Book 10.

E

• Eudoros, Myrmidon commander.
• Euphorbus, Trojan warrior who wounds Patroclus.
• Eurybates, Greek herald.
• Eurypylus, Achaean leader from Thessaly.

G

• Glaucus, co-leader of the Lycian forces allied to the Trojan cause with Sarpedon.
• Gorgythion, a son of Priam killed in battle by Teucer's arrow aimed at Hector.

H

• Hector (Ἕκτωρ), firstborn son of King Priam, leader of the Trojan and allied armies and heir apparent to the throne of Troy.
• Hecamede, daughter of Arsinous, captured and given as captive to King Nestor.
• Hecuba (Ἑκάβη), Queen of Troy, wife of Priam, mother of Hector, Cassandra, Paris, and numerous other Trojan figures.
• Helen (Ἑλένη), former Queen of Sparta and wife of Menelaus, now espoused to Paris.
• Helenus, son of Priam and Hecuba, seer of the Trojans.
• Hera, queen of the gods.
• Hermes, messenger of the gods, leads Priam into Achilles' camp in book 24.

I

• Idomeneus, King of Crete and Achaean commander. Leads a charge against the Trojans in Book 13.
• Imbrius, son-in-law to Priam who is killed by Teucer in Book 13.
• Iris, messenger of Hera.

L

• Laertes, father of Odysseus, mentioned only in passing.
• Laomedon, father of Priam, his predecessor as king of Troy.
• Laocoon, Trojan prophet and son of Priam.
• Laothoe, wife of Priam.

M

• Machaon, an Achaean healer, wounded by Paris in Book 11.
• Menelaus (Μενέλαος), Helen's abandoned husband, younger brother of Agamemnon, King of Sparta.
• Menestheus, King of Athens, noted for his cowardice in war.
• Mentes, is King of the Cicones.
• Meriones, Achaean captain from Crete.

N

• Neoptolemus, son of Achilles and Deïdameia, also known as Diomede. Though not a character in the Iliad, He was taken to Troy in the last year of the war by Odysseus, because of Helenus' declaration that Troy could not be captured without the aid of a descendant of Aeacus.
• Nestor (Νέστωρ), of Gerênia and the son of Neleus. He was said to be the only one of his brothers to survive an assault from Heracles. Oldest member of the entire Greek army at Troy.

O

• Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς), another warrior-king, famed for his cunning, who is the main character of another (roughly equally ancient) epic, the Odyssey.
• Othryoneus, suitor of Princess Cassandra of Troy, killed by Ajax the Great.

P

• Pandarus, a Trojan archer, whose shot at Menelaus in Book 4 breaks the temporary truce between the two sides.
• Paris (Πάρις), Trojan prince and Hector's brother, also called Alexander; his abduction of Helen is the casus belli. He was supposed to be killed as a baby because his sister Cassandra foresaw that he would cause the destruction of Troy. Raised by a shepherd.
• Patroclus (Πάτροκλος), beloved companion to Achilles.
• Peleus, father of Achilles and grandson Zeus. He never appears in person but his memory is invoked by Priam to convince Achilles to return Hector's corpse to the Trojans in Book 24.
• Phoenix, an old Achaean warrior greatly trusted by Achilles, acts as mediator between Achilles and Agamemnon.
• Polydamas, a young Trojan commander.
• Polypoetes, leader of the Lapiths who helps to protect the ships.
• Priam (Πρίαμος), king of the Trojans, too old to take part in the fighting; many of his fifty sons are counted among the Trojan commanders.

S

• Sarpedon, co-leader of the Lycian forces allied to the Trojan cause with Glaucus. Son of Zeus.
• Stentor, Greek herald, known for his "stentorian" (loud) voice.
• Sthenelus, Achaean from Argos, friend to Diomedes.

T

• Talthybius, herald of Agamemnon.
• Thetis, a water nymph, mother of Achilles.
• Teucer, Achaean archer, half-brother of Ajax.
• Thersites, Achaean, criticises Agamemnon in Book 2 and so beaten by Odysseus with Agamemnon's sceptre.

U

• Ucalegon, one of the Elders of Troy, whose house was set on fire by the Achaeans when they sacked the city. He is one of Priam's friends in the Iliad (3.148) and the destruction of his house is referred to in the Aeneid (2.312). His name in Greek means "doesn't worry."

External links

• The Iliad Book Notes Summary: Major Characters
• Iliad Study Guide: Character list
• Who's Who In the Iliad - An exhaustive list of people and places mentioned in the Iliad.