Write your own The Iliad story

Achilles

The greatest Greek warrior, son of the mortal Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis, leader of the Myrmidons. He withdraws himself and his troops from battle after Agamemnon seizes his captive Briseïs, only returning to war after his close companion Patroclus is killed by Hector. He then slays Hector in single combat, drags his body behind his chariot, and finally relents to ransom the corpse back to King Priam.

Agamemnon

King of Mycenae and supreme commander of the Greek forces at Troy, brother of Menelaus. He refuses to return the captive Chryseïs to her father, bringing a plague on the Greek camp, and later seizes Achilles' captive Briseïs to compensate his own loss, sparking Achilles' wrath. He wields a scepter and rules with proud, sometimes wavering authority over the fractious Greek kings.

Hector

Eldest son of King Priam and greatest warrior of Troy, husband of Andromache. He leads the Trojan assault that nearly burns the Greek ships, kills Patroclus and takes Achilles' armor from his body, and is ultimately slain by Achilles in vengeance after Athena tricks him into standing his ground. His body is dragged behind Achilles' chariot before being ransomed by his grieving father.

Priam

Aged King of Troy, father of fifty sons including Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Near the poem's end he travels alone by night, guided by the god Hermes, into the Greek camp to beg Achilles for the return of Hector's corpse, offering rich treasures as ransom.

Helen

Wife of Menelaus of Sparta, whose abduction (or elopement) with the Trojan prince Paris caused the war. In Troy she lives with Paris, weaving a tapestry depicting the war fought over her, and is described as graceful and remorseful, mourning Hector as one of the few Trojans who treated her kindly.

Paris

Trojan prince, brother of Hector, whose abduction of Helen started the war. He fights Menelaus in a single duel meant to decide the war's outcome but is rescued from defeat by Aphrodite; he is a skilled archer, later wounding Diomedes and Eurypylus with arrows.

Menelaus

King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon and rightful husband of Helen. He duels Paris directly to try to end the war, and later kills the Trojan warrior Pisander in single combat and defends the body of the slain Patroclus alongside Ajax.

Diomedes

Greek warrior-king of Argos, son of Tydeus, called Tydides. Empowered by Athena to see and even wound gods, he strikes Aphrodite's hand and wounds Ares himself in battle, and later kills the Trojan archer Pandarus and nearly kills Aeneas before Apollo intervenes.

Odysseus (Ulysses)

Cunning Greek king of Ithaca, known for restraining unruly soldiers and common troops in council with sharp words, including silencing the rebellious commoner Thersites. He wrestles Ajax to a draw at Patroclus's funeral games and is among the wisest counselors of the Greek army.

Ajax (son of Telamon)

Massive, nearly unstoppable Greek warrior known as the 'bulwark of the Greeks,' who duels Hector to an honorable draw. He stands firm covering the retreat of the Greeks with his tower-like shield and helps recover the body of Patroclus from the Trojans.

Ajax (son of Oileus)

A lesser but swift Greek warrior, distinguished from the larger Telamonian Ajax by his patronymic, who fights alongside him at the walls and ships of Troy.

Nestor

Elderly King of Pylos, the wisest and most experienced counselor among the Greeks. He mediates the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles and repeatedly gives strategic and moral advice to younger warriors like Diomedes during battle.

Patroclus

Achilles' beloved companion and second-in-command of the Myrmidons. Wearing Achilles' own armor, he leads the Myrmidons into battle to save the burning Greek ships, drives back the Trojans, but is ultimately killed by Hector (with Apollo's aid), triggering Achilles' return to war and brutal vengeance.

Thersites

A deformed, loud-mouthed common soldier in the Greek camp who mocks the kings and generals, especially Agamemnon and Achilles, until he is publicly beaten into silence by Odysseus.

Chryses

Priest of Apollo whose daughter Chryseïs was taken captive by the Greeks and given to Agamemnon. When Agamemnon refuses his ransom offer and dismisses him with insults, Chryses prays to Apollo, who sends a devastating plague upon the Greek camp.

Chryseïs

Daughter of the priest Chryses, taken captive by the Greeks and awarded to Agamemnon as a war-prize; her forced retention sparks Apollo's plague, and her eventual return to her father resolves it.

Briseïs

Captive woman awarded to Achilles as a prize of war, later seized by Agamemnon's heralds to punish and humiliate Achilles, precipitating his withdrawal from the fighting. She is later returned to Achilles' tent by the poem's end.

Thetis

A sea-goddess, mother of Achilles by the mortal Peleus. She pleads with Zeus to grant the Trojans victory to avenge the dishonor done to her son, and later brings Achilles a new set of divine armor forged by Hephaestus after Patroclus's death.

Zeus (Jove)

King of the gods, whose will and 'nod' determine the ultimate outcome of the war. He grants Thetis's request to favor the Trojans temporarily, forbids the other gods from interfering once he decides Achilles' glory must be fulfilled, and oversees the deaths of great heroes like his own son Sarpedon.

Hera (Juno)

Queen of the gods, fiercely partisan toward the Greeks and hostile to Troy. She schemes with Athena to intervene in battle, seduces and distracts Zeus to allow the Greeks a respite, and clashes with Artemis over the gods' proper roles in war.

Athena (Pallas)

Goddess of war and wisdom, staunch supporter of the Greeks. She empowers Diomedes to see through the divine mists and wound gods, disguises herself to trick both Trojans and Hector, and ultimately tricks Hector into standing to face Achilles at his death.

Apollo (Phoebus)

God of the sun, plague, and prophecy, patron and defender of Troy. He answers his priest Chryses' prayer by sending a plague on the Greeks, repeatedly rescues Trojan heroes like Aeneas and Hector from death, and guides the fatal arrow that eventually kills Achilles (implied beyond the text's end).

Aphrodite (Venus)

Goddess of love, mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas. She rescues Paris from his duel with Menelaus and attempts to save Aeneas from Diomedes, only to be wounded on the hand by his spear and forced to retreat to Olympus.

Ares (Mars)

God of war, who fights on the Trojan side and rallies Hector's forces. Urged on by Athena, Diomedes wounds Ares with his spear, sending the god fleeing in agony back to Olympus.

Artemis (Diana)

Goddess of the hunt, sister of Apollo, who joins the gods' battle on the Trojan side. She is humiliated in a confrontation with Hera, who boxes her ears with her own bow and quiver.

Poseidon (Neptune)

God of the sea, who secretly aids the Greeks against Zeus's decree, opposing Apollo directly in the gods' battle and having to be recalled from the battlefield by Zeus's command through Iris.

Hephaestus (Vulcan)

Lame god of the forge, who reconciles Zeus and Hera's quarrel with wine and wit, and later forges magnificent new armor and a shield for Achilles at Thetis's request.

Aeneas

Trojan hero and son of Aphrodite, nearly killed by Diomedes in battle before his mother and then Apollo rescue him, carrying him to be healed in Apollo's temple at Pergamus.

Sarpedon

Son of Zeus and Lycian ally of Troy, who slays the Greek hero Tlepolemus. He is eventually killed by Patroclus, a death Zeus laments but permits despite his power to save him, illustrating the limits gods place on their own interference with fate.

Glaucus

Lycian ally of Troy, companion of Sarpedon, who rallies retreating Trojan and Lycian forces and kills the Greek warrior Bathycles in single combat.

Pandarus

Trojan archer from Lycia, incited by Athena in disguise to break the truce by shooting Menelaus with an arrow made from a mountain goat's horn. He is later killed by Diomedes.

Andromache

Wife of Hector, whose grief and fear for her husband and son are among the poem's most tender moments; her lamentation echoes through Troy as Hector's body is returned.

Hecuba

Queen of Troy, wife of Priam and mother of Hector and many other children, who offers wine libation to Zeus as Priam departs to ransom Hector's body from Achilles.

Cassandra

Daughter of Priam, the first in Troy to see her father's mournful procession returning with Hector's body, raising the alarm and cries of grief throughout the city.

Automedon

Achilles' loyal charioteer and companion-in-arms, who drives the immortal horses Xanthus and Balius, offspring of the wind, into battle.

Troy (Ilion)

The great walled city of the Trojans, ruled by King Priam, besieged by the Greek coalition for nine years before the events of the poem, which covers its final weeks. Its walls, gates, and towers are the focus of repeated assaults, and it is ultimately doomed to fall, though the poem itself ends before the city's destruction.

The Grecian Camp and Ships

The fortified beachhead where the Greek fleet of over a thousand ships is drawn up, protected by a rampart and ditch built only after Achilles' withdrawal exposes the camp to Trojan assault. It is repeatedly threatened with fire by Hector's forces before Patroclus and then Achilles drive the Trojans back.

Chrysa

A coastal town near Troy sacred to Apollo, home of the priest Chryses, where the god's temple stands and to which Chryseïs is finally returned to end the plague on the Greek camp.

Mount Olympus

The home of the immortal gods, where Zeus holds court and the divine councils and quarrels over the fate of Troy and the Greeks take place, including Thetis's plea to Zeus and the reconciliation of Zeus and Hera engineered by Hephaestus.

The Scamander (Xanthus) River

The river god of the Trojan plain, called Xanthus by the gods and Scamander by mortals, who fights on the Trojan side against Achilles and is opposed by the fire-god Hephaestus in one of the poem's divine battles.

The Achaeans (Greeks)

The coalition of Greek kingdoms besieging Troy under the overall command of Agamemnon, cataloged extensively by contingent and homeland (including Arcadians, Epeans, and others under leaders like Agapenor and Meges). Their fortunes rise and fall with the participation of Achilles and the favor of the gods.

The Trojans and Allies

The defenders of Troy under King Priam and his son Hector, reinforced by allied contingents such as the Lycians under Sarpedon and Glaucus, fighting to prevent the city's destruction and the loss of Helen.

The Myrmidons

Achilles' personal army from Phthia, described as fierce as ravening wolves, who refuse to fight while Achilles sulks in his tent but are unleashed under Patroclus's command to save the burning Greek ships.

Achilles' Divine Armor

A magnificent set of armor including a radiant shield forged by the god Hephaestus at Thetis's request, replacing the armor Achilles lent to Patroclus (which Hector stripped from his corpse). Its glow and craftsmanship strike terror into the Trojans upon Achilles' return to battle.

Pandarus's Horn Bow

A bow made from the horns of a mountain goat with sixteen palms of spread, tipped with gold, used by the Trojan archer Pandarus to break the truce by shooting Menelaus, and later to wound Diomedes.

The Wrath of Achilles

The central theme of the epic: Achilles' anger at Agamemnon for seizing his war-prize Briseïs leads him to withdraw from battle, causing devastating Greek losses, until the death of his friend Patroclus transforms his wrath into a terrible vengeance against Hector and the Trojans.

Ransom and the Rites of the Dead

A recurring practice throughout the epic in which captives, spoils, and even the bodies of the slain are exchanged for treasure or mercy, culminating in Priam's ransom of Hector's corpse from Achilles, and the funeral rites and games held for Patroclus with prizes including a Sidonian silver urn.

Divine Intervention and Fate (Moira)

Throughout the war the Olympian gods take sides, disguise themselves as mortals, heal or rescue favored warriors, and physically fight one another, yet remain bound by an overarching fate decreed by Zeus, who alone can override destinies but generally permits them to unfold, as seen in his lament over the fated death of his son Sarpedon.

The Duel of Paris and Menelaus

An attempted resolution to the war in which Paris and Menelaus fight one-on-one for possession of Helen while both armies watch in a truce; Paris is on the verge of defeat but is spirited away by Aphrodite, leaving the war unresolved.