List of Homeric characters

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

Greeks in the Trojan War

• Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς), the leader of the Myrmidons (Μυρμιδόνες), son of Peleus and Thetis, and the principal Greek champion whose anger is one of the main elements of the story.
• Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων), King of Mycenae, supreme commander of the Achaean armies whose actions provoke the feud with Achilles; elder brother of King Menelaus.
• Ajax or Aias (Αίας), 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 "Ajaxes" (Αἴαντε, Aiante).
• Calchas (Κάλχας), a powerful Greek prophet and omen reader, who guided the Greeks through the war with his predictions.
• Cornilius , Depressed Greek known for his nihilistic rants aand prays for death as also seen in the "bible"
• Diomedes (also called "Tydides")(Διομήδης) - the youngest of the Achaean commanders, famous for wounding two gods, Aphrodite and Ares.
• Helen (Ἑλένη) the wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. Paris visits Menelaus in Sparta. With the assistance of Aphrodite, Paris and Helen fall in love and elope back to Troy, but in Sparta her elopement is considered an abduction.
• Idomeneus, (Ιδομενέας) King of Crete and Achaean commander. Leads a charge against the Trojans in Book 13.
• Menelaus (Μενέλαος), King of Sparta and the abandoned husband of Helen. He is the younger brother of Agamemnon.
• 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.
• Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς), another warrior-king, famed for his cunning, who is the main character of another (roughly equally ancient) epic, the Odyssey.
• Patroclus (Πάτροκλος), beloved companion to Achilles.
• Phoenix, an old Achaean warrior greatly trusted by Achilles, acts as mediator between Achilles and Agamemnon.
• Teucer, Achaean archer, half-brother of Ajax.^[1][2][3]

Troy

• 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.
• Agenor, a Trojan warrior who attempts to fight Achilles in Book 21.
• Antenor, a Trojan nobleman who argues that Helen should be returned to Menelaus in order to end the war.
• Glaucus, co-leader of the Lycian forces allied to the Trojan cause with Sarpedon.
• Hector (Ἕκτωρ), firstborn son of King Priam, husband of Andromache, father of Astyanax, leader of the Trojan and allied armies and heir apparent to the throne of Troy.
• 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.
• Polydamas, a young Trojan commander.
• Priam (Πρίαμος), king of the Trojans, son and successor of Laomedon, husband of Queen Hecuba, father of Hector and Paris, too old to take part in the fighting; many of his fifty sons are counted among the Trojan commanders.
• Sarpedon, co-leader of the Lycian forces allied to the Trojan cause with Glaucus. Son of Zeus.^[1][2]

Family and Servants of Odysseus

• Laertes, father of Odysseus.
• Penelope, wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachus, she is clever and loyal to Odysseus, she is contrasted with Clytemnestra.
• Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, matures during his travels to Sparta and Pylos, fights Penelope's suitors with Odysseus.^[3]

Suitors of Penelope

• Amphinomus
• Antinous
• Eurymachus^[3]

Mistresses

• 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.
• Chryseis, Chryses’ daughter, taken as a war prize by Agamemnon.
• Helen (Ἑλένη), daughter of Zeus, former Queen of Sparta and wife of Menelaus, now espoused to Paris.^[1][2]

Deities

• Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, and sexual pleasure. Wife of Hephaestus, and lover of Ares.
• Apollo, god of the sun, light, knowledge, healing, plague and darkness, the arts, music, poetry, prophecy, archery. Son of Zeus and Leto, twin of Artemis.
• Ares, god of war. Lover of Aphrodite. Driven from the field of battle by Diomedes (aided by Athena).
• Athena, goddess of crafts, domestic arts, strategic warfare, and wisdom. Daughter of Zeus.
• Hera, goddess of birth, family, marriage, and women. Sister and wife of Zeus, queen of the gods.
• Hermes, messenger of the gods, leads Priam into Achilles' camp in book 24.
• Iris, messenger of Zeus and Hera.
• Poseidon, brother of Zeus, Greek god of the sea and earthquake, curses Odysseus.
• Zeus, king of the Gods, brother of Poseidon and Hera and father of Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo.^[1][2][3]

References

1. "The Iliad Notes on Characters".
2. "The Iliad Character List".
3. "The Odyssey Character List".