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Categorizing Characters in the Iliad
Open in iAnnotate to complete. Read through the character list for the Iliad, which is on the last 32 pages. There are 4 main categories
that most of the characters in Homer’s epic fall into: Greeks, Trojans, gods who favor/help the Greeks, gods who favor/help the
Trojans. Determine what category, if any, the characters belong in based on the descriptions given. Then provide some aspect given in
the description of the character in the Description column. NOTE: Not all characters on the list will go in one of the categories. Place
Helen in the category of where she currently stays. The gods and goddesses will go on the second page.
TROJANS
GREEKS (ACHAEANS)
CHARACTER
Achilles
DESCRIPTION
best Greek
warrior
CHARACTER
DESCRIPTION
GODS WHO FAVOR/HELP THE GREEKS
GODS WHO FAVOR/HELP THE TROJANS
CHARACTER
CHARACTER
DESCRIPTION
DESCRIPTION
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Character List- the Iliad
The characters are listed in alphabetical order.
Achilles The son of the military man Peleus and the sea-nymph
Thetis. The most powerful warrior in the Iliad, Achilles commands the
Myrmidons, soldiers from the homeland of Phthia in Greece. Proud and
headstrong, he takes offense easily and reacts with blistering
indignation when he perceives that his honor has been slighted.
Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden
Briseis, forms the main subject of the Iliad.
Aeneas Son of Aphrodite; a Trojan nobleman. He is second in
command of the Trojan army and a brave, skillful warrior. The Romans
believed that Aeneas later founded their city (he is the protagonist of
Virgil’s the Aeneid.)
Agamemnon king of Mycenae; commander-in-chief of the expedition
against Troy. He is brother of Menelaus. Arrogant and often selfish,
Agamemnon provides the Achaeans with strong but sometimes
reckless and self-serving leadership. Like Achilles, he lacks
consideration and forethought. Most saliently, his tactless
appropriation of Achilles’ war prize, Briseis, creates a crisis for the
Achaeans, when Achilles, insulted, withdraws from the war.
Andromache Hector’s loving wife. She begs Hector to withdraw from
the war and save himself before the Achaeans kill him.
Aphrodite Daughter of Zeus; goddess of love and sexual desire. She
is the mother of Aeneas and is the patron of Paris, so she fights on the
Trojan side. She is married to Hephaestus, but she maintains a
romantic relationship with Ares, god of war. She is especially
connected with Paris and Helen in the Iliad.
Apollo Son of Zeus and twin brother of the goddess Artemis, Apollo is
god of the arts and archery. He supports the Trojans and often
intervenes in the war on their behalf.
Ares god of war and lover of Aphrodite. Ares generally supports the
Trojans in the war.
Artemis Daughter of Zeus; twin sister of Apollo; goddess of the hunt
and wild animals. She fights on the Trojan side, but with little effect.
Astyanax The infant son of Hector and Andromache.
Athena goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts;
Zeus’s daughter. Like Hera, Athena passionately hates the Trojans and
often gives the Achaeans valuable aid.
Briseis A war prize of Achilles. When Agamemnon is forced to return
Chryseis to her father, he appropriates Briseis as compensation,
sparking Achilles’ great rage.
Calchas An important soothsayer. Calchas’s identification of the cause
of the plague ravaging the Achaean army in Book 1 leads inadvertently
to the rift between Agamemnon and Achilles.
Chryseis Daughter of Chryses, the priest of Apollo. She is the "war
prize" hostage of Agamemnon until Apollo demands that she be
returned to her father. She is from a Trojan-allied town.
Chryses A priest of Apollo in a Trojan-allied town; the father of
Chryseis.
Diomedes The youngest of the Achaean commanders, Diomedes is
bold and sometimes proves impetuous. After Achilles withdraws from
combat, Athena inspires Diomedes with such courage that he actually
wounds two gods, Aphrodite and Ares.
Great Ajax an Achaean commander; second mightiest Achaean
warrior after Achilles; his reputation is due primarily to his
extraordinary size, brute strength and courage, which are his virtues in
the poem. Epithet: wall of army.
Hector Prince of Troy and son of Priam and Hecuba. Hector is
commander of all the Trojan and allied forces. He is the greatest of the
Trojan warriors and one of the most noble characters in the Iliad. He is
always conscious of his duty and his responsibilities to his people and
does not let his personal interests interfere. He is a devoted and loving
husband and father.
Hecuba Wife of Priam. Queen of Troy.
Helen Originally married to Menelaus, she ran away to Troy with Paris
and became his wife. Supposedly, she is the most beautiful woman in
the world; however, she is also self-centered.
Hephaestus god of fire and husband of Aphrodite, Hephaestus is the
gods’ metalsmith and is known as the lame or crippled god. He helps
the Acheaeans by forging a new set of armor for Achilles.
Hera Queen of the gods and wife of Zeus. She is the most fanatical of
all the Olympian supporters of the Achaeans and is willing to go to any
lengths, including the deception of her husband, to achieve the defeat
of Troy. She was the goddess of women and childbirth.
Hermes messengers of the gods; He escorts Priam on his visit to
Achilles in Book XXIV.
Iris A messenger of Zeus.
Menelaus King of Sparta and younger brother of Agamemnon He was
the husband of Helen, who was abducted by Paris.
Myrmidons The soldiers under Achilles’ command, hailing from
Achilles’ homeland, Phthia.
Nestor The oldest of the Achaean warriors at Troy. Nestor has all the
wisdom and experience of age and is a valuable asset in the council.
Although he can no longer fight, he remains at the front line at every
battle, commanding his troops. He is a persuasive orator.
Odysseus A fine warrior and the cleverest of the Achaean
commanders. Along with Nestor, Odysseus is one of the Achaeans’ two
best public speakers. He helps mediate between Agamemnon and
Achilles during their quarrel and often prevents them from making
rash decisions.
Pandaros A good archer, but a treacherous man; it is he who breaks
the truce in Book IV.
Paris (Alexander) A prince of Troy; son of Priam and Hecuba; also
husband of Helen. He seems content to allow the Trojans to fight for
him. He is reprimanded for this by Hector more than once. His
reputation is that of a "pretty boy." His smoothness and glibness are
not admired by the warriors of either side, and they often accuse him
of cowardice. He fights effectively with a bow and arrow (never with
the more manly sword or spear).
Patroclus Achilles' close friend and warrior-companion. Patroclus grew
up alongside the great warrior in Phthia, under the guardianship of
Peleus.
Peleus Achilles’ father. Although his name often appears in the epic,
Peleus never appears in person.
Phoenix A kindly old warrior, Phoenix helped raise Achilles while he
himself was still a young man. Achilles deeply loves and trusts
Phoenix.
Polydamas a young Trojan commander; a very able and clear-headed
military strategist whose advice to Hector is usually not heeded.
Poseidon Younger brother of Zeus; god of the sea. He is a strong
supporter of the Achaean cause, having an old grudge against Troy
because they never paid him for helping them to build their city. He is
also somewhat resentful of Zeus' claim to authority over him.
Priam King of Troy. He is very old and no longer able to command his
army in the field, but he has earned the respect of both the Trojans
and the Achaeans. He is a noble and generous man, one of the few
Trojans besides Hector who treats Helen with respect and courtesy,
despite her infidelity to her husband and the war caused by her
actions.
Thetis Mother of Achilles, a sea nymph. She is a staunch advocate of
her son in his quarrel with Agamemnon and gets Zeus to help the
Trojans and punish the Achaeans at the request of her angry son.
Zeus king of the gods and husband of Hera. His duty is to carry out
the will of Destiny, so he is officially neutral in the war, but he is
sympathetic toward the Trojans, particularly Hector and Priam, and he
supports Achilles against Agamemnon. Of all the gods, he alone seems
able to change fate, though he chooses not to because of the
disruption to the world that would be caused.