World Literature

Tuesday/Thursday 8:00 a.m.
McClurg 118

Character List for Homer's Iliad

Achilles (Akhilleus): (Greek) Son of Peleus (mortal) and Thetis (sea god). Achilles leads the Myrmidons. He is the best warrior in the Iliad. Because his mother dipped him in the River Styx as a baby, Achilles is invulnerable to attack--except for his heel, which Thetis failed to immerse in the water.

Aeneas (Aineias): (Trojan) Minor character in the Iliad, believed to be the only member of the Trojan royal family to survive the attack on the city. Virgil's Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas as the founder of Rome.

Agamemnon: (Greek) Brother of Menelaus and king of Mycenae. Agamemnon commands the Greek forces at Troy. Sacrifices his daughter Iphigeneia to the goddess Artemis in order to ensure a favorable wind to carry his ships to Troy, for which his wife Clytemnestra murders him (either herself or by convincing her lover to do so, depending on which text we read) upon his return from Troy.

Ajax (the Lesser and the Greater) (Aias): (Greek) Ajax the Greater is king of Salamis and one of the bravest fighters at Troy; he is one of the few warriors in the epic who fights without assistance from the gods. Ajax the Lesser is leader of the Locrians, who is shipwrecked and drowns on his way home from Troy.

Andromache: (Trojan) Wife of Hector.

Aphrodite: Goddess of love. She is married to Hephaestus, the god of fire; lover of Ares, the god of war; lover of Anchises, Trojan prince who fathered Aeneas. Aphrodite is to some extent responsible for the Trojan War, in that she granted Paris the right to have Helen as his wife. Aphrodite favors the Trojans.

Apollo: God of light (and sometimes the sun), youth, archery, prophecy, music, and medicine. Apollo supports the Trojans.

Ares: God of war. Plays little direct role in the Iliad.

Artemis: Goddess of the hunt. Artemis supports the Trojans.

Athena: Goddess of wisdom, war, and cleverness. Patron goddess of Athens. Athena favors the Greeks, and especially Odysseus.

Cassandra: (Trojan) Daughter of Priam and Hecuba, she is given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she rejects his love, he adds the curse that though she will see the future, no one will believe her. Taken as a slave by Agamemnon, she is killed with him upon his return from Troy.

Clytemnestra: (Greek) Wife of Agamemnon, she kills him (or has him killed, depending on which text we read) upon his return from Troy.

Diomedes: (Greek) Principal fighter, second only to Achilles, in Agamemnon's army.

Hector (Hektor): (Trojan) Son of Priam and Hecuba and prince of Troy. Hector leads the Trojan forces and is the best warrior on the Trojan side. Hector is devoted to his city and his family, a man of honor and dignity. In the Iliad, Hector agrees to fight for a doomed cause that came about due to events of which he does not approve; nonetheless, he never wavers in his sense of honor and duty. He is killed by Achilles and his body defiled, in an act that the gods condemn.

Hecuba (Hekabe): (Trojan) Wife of Priam and mother of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. She is given to Odysseus as a prize and forced to watch her daughter Polyxena sacrificed at Achilles's tomb.

Helen: (Trojan) Daughter of Zeus and Leda and wife of Menelaus. Helen is the most beautiful woman in the world. Every man in Greece swears a solemn oath that when Helen eventually marries, they will all support her husband and avenge him should anything happen to him because of the marriage. This oath brings about the Trojan War when Paris kidnaps Helen from Menelaus and takes her to Troy. She is reunited with Menelaus at the end of the war.

Hera: Goddess of marriage and childbirth; wife of Zeus. Hera supports the Greeks.

Menelaus (Menelaos): (Greek) King of Sparta and husband of Helen. The Trojan War is fought to bring back Menelaus's wife, Helen. He is avenged and Helen is returned to him, but Menelaus plays surprisingly little role in the actual fighting of the war.

Nestor: (Greek) King of Pylos. Nestor is an elder statesman and advisor.

Odysseus: (Greek) King of Ithaca. Odysseus is a great tactician rather than a great warrior. He draws up many of Agamemnon's battle plans and negotiates for Agamemnon as well.

Paris (Alexandros): (Trojan) Son of Priam and Hecuba and prince of Troy. Paris was prophesied to bring great tragedy to Troy. In an attempt to avoid this tragedy, Priam sent him out of the city, where he met Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera, who asked him to judge "the fairest of them all." He awarded the title to Aphrodite, thus incurring the wrath of Hera. Aphrodite, in return, awarded him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife--Helen, who was already married to Menelaus. Paris took Helen to Troy, setting off the Trojan War. He is not well respected and is a poor fighter, but he does eventually kill Achilles, the greatest warrior of all.

Patroclus: (Patroklos) (Greek) Cousin and lover of Achilles. Patroclus is a strong and level-headed fighter who is able to abate Achilles's rages. Mistaken for Achilles, he is killed by Hector.

Priam: (Trojan) King of Troy, husband of Hecuba, father of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Protects Helen even though her presence will bring about the destruction of his city. Mourns the death of Hector and negotiates with Achilles for the return of his son's body. He is believed to be killed by Achilles's son during the eventual sack of Troy.

Zeus: Ruler of the gods, god of the sky, storm, and thunder. The Trojan War is believed to be the will of Zeus.