Homer - The Iliad
Index OP
Ocalea
A Boeotian city, near modern Aliatos.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Ocean, Oceanos
The river encircling the world, the Ocean, personified as a sea-god, son of Earth and Air, and husband of Tethys his sister. Oceanus and Tethys are also the Titan and Titaness ruling the planet Venus. Some say from his waters all living things originated and Tethys produced all his children.
BkVII379 BkXIX1 BkXXIII192 The sun rises from its stream.
BkVIII438 The sun sets in its stream.
BkXIV135 Homer makes Oceanus and Tethys the source of gods and mortals. Their quarrel is presumably a metaphor for the conflict of sea and shore.
BkXIV292 Hera pretends to be about to visit Oceanus and Tethys.
BkXVIII368 Eurynome was his daughter.
BkXVIII468 The constellation of the Great Bear never dips below the horizon, that is into Ocean’s stream, in northern latitudes.
BkXX1 Ocean alone does not attend the gathering of divinities, thus remaining neutral.
Ochesius
An Aetolian.
BkV767 The father of Periphas.
Odius, a Greek herald
BkIX162 A member of the embassy to Achilles.
Odius
Leader of the Halizones, Trojan allies.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkV1 He is killed by Agamemnon.
Odysseus (Ulysses)
The son of Laertes (son of Arceisius) and husband of Penelope, he is, after the Trojan War, the hero of the Odyssey.
BkI101 One of the leaders of the Greeks at Troy.
BkI428 Sent to carry Chryses’ daughter to the island of Chryse.
BkII155 Athene encourages him to prevent the Greeks sailing. Symbolising Mind, she is the enabling intellect, and he the most cunning of the Greeks.
BkII211 He puts down Thersites, who symbolises rebellion.
BkII278 He reminds the troops of Calchas’ prophecy at Aulis.
BkII394 He assists Agamemnon in sacrificing to the gods.
BkII581 He leads the contingent to Troy from the Ionian Islands.
BkIII181 Helen points him out to Priam. His noted eloquence.
BkIII245 He assists at the sacrifice before the duel.
BkIII310 He marks out the ground for the duel.
BkIV326 Agamemnon urges him to fight.
BkIV473 He kills Democoon in revenge for the death of his friend Leucus.
BkV519 He urges on the Greeks.
BkV590 He kills a number of Lycians.
BkVII161 He offers to fight Hector in single combat.
BkVIII53 He leaves the battlefield when Zeus displays his menace.
BkVIII212 BkXI804 His large-hulled black ship is beached in the centre of the Greek line. It is also a place of assembly and judgement, and site of the Greek altars to the gods.
BkIX162 BkIX606 BkXIX74 A member of the embassy to Achilles.
BkIX222 His speech to Achilles, urging him to rejoin the fight.
BkIX307 Achilles replies to him.
BkIX656 He returns to give the Achaeans Achilles’ reply.
BkX194 Diomedes selects him to join him in a foray.
BkX254 He arms and sets out to reconnoitre the Trojan camp, after praying to Athene.
BkX299 He detects Dolon leaving the Trojan camp.
BkX349 He and Diomedes capture Dolon.
BkX412 He questions Dolon.
BkX465 He looses the horses of the Thracian king Rhesus.
BkX515 He returns in triumph to the Greek camp with Diomedes.
BkIII181 His previous embassy to the Trojans.
BkXI299 He and Diomedes make a stand against the Trojan onslaught.
BkXI349 He protects the wounded Diomedes.
BkXI401 BkXI655 BkXVI1 He is wounded and rescued by Ajax and Menelaus.
BkXI762 While recruiting, he and Nestor had visited Peleus.
BkXIV1 He and other wounded generals are met by Nestor.
BkXIV82 He reproaches Agamemnon for counselling flight.
BkXIV352 Though wounded he re-enters the fight.
BkXIX1 He limps to the assembly.
BkXIX145 He argues for a delay before attacking the Trojans.
BkXXIII700 He wrestles with Telamonian Ajax.
BkXXIII740 He comes first in the foot-race.
Oechalia
A Thessalonian city, modern Ichalia.
Oedipus, Oidipodes
King of Thebes. He killed his own father Laius, and married his mother, Jocaste.
BkXXIII651 His funeral games mentioned.
Oeneus
A son of Portheus, brother of Agrius and Melas and husband of Althaea, by whom he became the father of Tydeus and Meleager, he was thus the grandfather of Diomedes. He was king of Pleuron and Calydon in Aetolia.
BkVI119 He had once entertained Bellerophon.
BkIX527 He offended Artemis, and was punished by her sending the Calydonian Boar to persecute Calydon.
BkX465 BkXIV82 The grandfather of Diomedes.
BkXIX282 He and the other generals try to comfort the grieving Achilles.
Oenomaus, a Greek
BkV703 Killed by Hector or Ares.
Oenomaus, a Trojan
BkXII80 He helps lead the attack on the Greek wall.
BkXIII468 He is killed by Idomeneus.
Oenops
See Helenus
BkV703 Father of Helenus, a Greek.
Oetylus
A city in Laconia, southwest of modern Itylo.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Oileus
A son of Hodoedocus and Laonome, grandson of Cynus, and great-grandson of Opus, was a king of the Locrians, and married to Eriopis, by whom he became the father of Ajax the Lesser, who is hence called Oïlides or Oïliades.
BkII681 BkXIII643 BkXV328 Father of Medon by Rhene.
BkXIII1 BkXIII136 BkXIV402 BkXXIII740 Father of Ajax the Lesser.
Oileus, a Trojan
Charioteer to Bienor.
Olen
The Olenian Rock, modern Skollis Mountain.
Olenus
A city of Aetolia.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Olizon
A city in Thessaly south of modern Milina southwest of Lafkos.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Oloosson
A Thessalian city north of modern Elassonia.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Olympus
The mountain in northern Thessaly supposed to be the home of the gods.
BkI22 Apollo descends from the mountain.
BkI188 Athene returns there after speaking with Achilles.
BkI357 BkI428 BkI488 etc. The home of the gods.
BkII484 BkXI218 BkXIV458 BkXVI101 The home of the Muses according to Homer.
BkV352 Aphrodite and Hades retire there when hurt.
BkXI1 The home of the immortals, where they live in houses built for them among the folds of the mountain.
BkXIV135 Hera sees the battlefield at Troy from Olympus.
BkXVIII78 The home of Hephaestus, the master-craftsman to the gods.
BkXX1 Zeus watches the battle from Olympus.
Onchestus
A Boeotian city, northeast of modern Mavrommati near Thespies.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Onetor
A Trojan priest of Idaean Zeus.
BkXVI569 The father of Laogonus.
Ophelestes, a Paeonian
BkXXI200 He is killed by Achilles.
Ophelestes, a Trojan
Opheltius, a Greek
A leading Greek warrior.
Opheltius, a Trojan
Opites
A leading Greek warrior.
Opoeis
A Locrian city, it lay southeast of modern Kyparissi village near Atalanti.
BkII484 Mentioned.
BkXVIII310 BkXXIII54 It was the home of Menoetius and Patroclus.
A city in Arcadia, it lay west of modern Orchomenos village near Levidi.
BkII581 Mentioned.
A Minyan town, it lay on the site of modern Orchemenos.
BkII484 Mentioned.
BkIX307 Noted for its wealth.
Oreithyia
Oresbius
A Greek from Hyle.
BkV703 Killed by Hector or Ares.
Orestes
The son of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, who returned from exile to avenge his father’s murder.
BkIX79 BkIX222 Mentioned, as at home in Argos.
Orestes, a Greek
BkV703 Killed by Hector or Ares.
Orestes, a Trojan
BkXII80 He helps lead the attack on the Greek wall.
Orion
A hunter from Boeotian Hyria, renowned for his beauty. He was loved by Eos and killed by Artemis, perhaps unintentionally, while swimming near Ortygia to escape the scorpion Apollo sent to attack him. The brightest constellation in the sky, it is an area of star formation in a nearby arm of the Galaxy centred on M42 the Orion Nebula, which marks Orion’s sword. He is depicted as brandishing a club and shield at Taurus the Bull. He was stung to death by a scorpion, and now rises when Scorpio sets and vice versa. His two dogs are Canis Major, which contains Sirius the brightest star in the sky after the sun, and Canis Minor, which contains the star Procyon, forming an equilateral triangle with Sirius and Betelgeuse the red giant in Orion.
BkXVIII468 The constellation appears on Achilles’ shield.
BkXXII1 Sirius the Dog-star is mentioned, its appearance in Aegean latitudes was associated with the dry ‘dog-days’ of August, and the harvest period. A misted rising indicated threat of pestilence and fever.
Ormenius, Ormenion
A city in Thessaly southwest of modern Ali Meria village, southwest of Portaria.
BkII681 Mentioned.
A son of Cercaphus, and grandson of Aeolus, he was believed to have founded the town of Ormenium, in Thessaly.
BkIX430 The father of Amyntor.
BkXII175 Killed by Polypoetes.
Orneiae
A city of the northern Argolid near Corinth.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Orsilochus, father of Diocles
The father of Diocles.
BkV519 Son of the river god Alpheus.
Orsilochus, son of Diocles
A son of Diocles.
Orsilochus, a Trojan
Orthaeus
A Trojan leader.
BkXIII788 He fights at the front.
Orthe
A Thessalian city.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Orus
A leading Greek warrior.
Ossa, Rumour
The personification of rumour or report, the Latin Fama. As it is often impossible to trace a report to its source, it is said to come from Zeus, and hence Ossa is called the messenger of Zeus.
BkII48 Mentioned.
Othryoneus
A Trojan ally from Cabesus.
BkXIII330 Killed by Idomeneus.
BkXIII723 Hector seeks for him in the front ranks and fails to find him.
Otreus
A king of Phrygia, whom Priam assisted against the Amazons.
BkIII181 Mentioned.
Otrynteus
See Iphition
BkXX353 The father of Iphition.
Otus, brother of Ephialtes
A son of Aloeus’ wife Iphimedeia by Poseidon: brother of Ephialtes. The Aloeidae were renowned for extraordinary strength and daring. They threatened the Olympian gods, and tried to pile Ossa on Olympus, and Pelion on Ossa. They also put the god Ares in chains, and kept him imprisoned for thirteen months; so that he would have perished, had not Hermes been informed of it by Eriboea, and secretly freed him.
BkV352 Mentioned.
Otus, leader of the Epeians
A Greek of Cyllene, a friend of Meges, and leader of the Epeians.
Paeeon, Paeon
A god of medicine. A god in Egypt (Thoth), and in Greece. Apollo later had the epithet of Paeon the Healer, taken from the earlier god.
BkV352 Apollo once healed Hades.
Paeon
See Agastrophus
BkXI299 BkXI349 A Trojan, father of Agastrophus.
Paeonia
The land of the Paeonians lay in the region of Thrace. In the time of Classical Greece, Paionia originally including the whole Axius River valley and the surrounding areas, in what is now the northern part of the Greek region of Macedonia, most of the Republic of Macedonia, and a small part of western Bulgaria.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkX412 Allied to Troy.
BkXVI257 Pyraechmes a leader of the Paeonians is killed.
BkXVII319 The land of Apisaon.
BkXXI136 The land of Pelegon and Asteropaeus.
BkXXI200 Achilles slaughters the Paeonian charioteers in the river-bed.
Paesus
A city in the Troad.
BkV590 Mentioned.
Pallas
The ‘Maiden’. An epithet of Athene.
Palmys
A Trojan leader.
BkXIII788 He fights at the front.
Pammon
A son of Priam.
BkXXIV200 His father berates him.
Pandarus
A son of Lycaon, a Lycian, commanded the inhabitants of Zeleia near Mount Ida, in the war.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkIV68 Athene seeks him out and rouses him to attack Menelaus.
BkV84 BkV767 He wounds Diomedes.
BkV166 He joins Aeneas in fighting Diomedes.
BkV239 He is killed by Diomedes.
Pandion
Squire to Teucer.
BkXII329 He helps defend the wall.
Pandocus
A Trojan.
Panope, Panopeia
Panopeus, a Greek
BkXXIII651 The father of Epeius.
Panopeus
A Phocian city, south of modern Agios Vlassios, near Cheronia.
BkII484 Mentioned.
BkXVII262 The home of Schedius.
Panthous
One of the elders at Troy, married to Phrontis, and the father of Euphorbus, Polydamas, and Hyperenor.
BkIII121 Mentioned.
BkXIII723 BkXIV402 BkXV379 BkXV514 BkXVI508 BkXVIII243 The father of Polydamas.
BkXVI777 BkXVII1 The father of Euphorbus, who wounds Patroclus.
Paphlagonians
Paphlagonia was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkV519 Pylaemenes leads the contingent at Troy.
BkXIII643 Harpalion, son of Pylaemenes, is killed.
Paris
A son of Priam, he took Helen to Troy.
BkIII1 He avoids Menelaus as the armies meet.
BkIII58 BkIII121 BkIII245 He accepts the challenge to fight Menelaus.
BkIII310 BkIV68 He fights Menelaus and is rescued by Aphrodite.
BkIII395 He and Helen are reconciled by Aphrodite.
BkV1 Phereclus built the fleet with which he carried off Helen.
BkVI237 BkVI312 BkVI494 BkVII1 BkXIII723 Hector rouses him to battle.
BkVII313 BkVII379 He proposes a gift to the Greeks in exchange for keeping Helen.
BkXI84 Antimachus hoped for gifts from him for opposing the return of Helen.
BkXII80 He leads the second company under Hector.
BkXIII468 He fights alongside Aeneas.
BkXIII788 He joins Hector at the front.
BkXXII90 BkXXIV718 His abduction of Helen was the cause of the war.
BkXXII247 Hector prophesies that Paris will kill Achilles with Apollo’s help, i.e. by means of a divinely-assisted arrow.
BkXXIV1 Paris had judged Aphrodite more beautiful than Hera or Athene, leading to their hatred of Troy, Priam and his race.
BkXXIV200 His father berates him.
Parrhasia
A city in Arcadia, it was southeast of modern Lykossoura village west of Megalopoli.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Parthenius
According to Strabo, the river Parthenius formed the western limit of Paphlagonia, which was bounded on the east by the Halys River.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Pasithea
One of the three Graces.
BkXIV224 Hera promises her in marriage to Hypnos, for his help.
Patroclus
Achilles’ beloved friend, whose death, at the hands of Hector, caused Achilles to re-enter the fight against the Trojans.
BkI285 He is mentioned for the first time, as the son of Menoetius.
BkI318 He hands Briseis over to the ambassadors.
BkVIII438 Zeus prophesies his death in battle.
BkIX162 BkIX606 He is present when Achilles receives the embassy from Agamemnon. He is described as Achilles’ dear comrade.
BkIX656 He carries out Achilles’ orders.
BkXI596 Achilles sends him to ask news of Nestor.
BkXI804 BkXII1 He tends Eurypylus’ wound.
BkXV1 Zeus predicts his death at Hector’s hands.
BkXV379 He goes to try and persuade Achilles to join the battle.
BkXVI1 BkXVIII368 BkXXII247 He persuades Achilles to let him fight in his armour.
BkXVI101 He arms for battle.
BkXVI155 BkXVI210 He prepares to lead the Myrmidons.
BkXVI257 He kills Pyraechmes and Areilycus.
BkXVI351 He kills Pronous, Thestor, Erylaus, Erymas, Amphoterus, Epaltes, Tlepolemus, Echius, Pyris, Ipheus, Euippus, and Polymelus.
BkXVI426 He kills Thrasymelus and then Sarpedon.
BkXVI508 BkXXIII799 He urges the Greeks to despoil Sarpedon’s body.
BkXVI569 He kills Sthenelaus.
BkXVI684 He kills Adrastus; Autonous, Echeclus, Perimus, Epistor, Melanippus, Elasus, Mulius, and Pylartes.
BkXVI726 He kills Cebriones and fights with Hector over Cebriones’ body.
BkXVI777 He is attacked by Apollo, wounded by Euphorbus and finally killed by Hector.
BkXVII1 BkXVII82 BkXVII140 BkXVII198 BkXVII262 BkXVII543 Ajax and Menelaus defend his corpse.
BkXVII319 BkXVII543 The Greeks and Trojans war over his corpse.
BkXVII384 BkXIX338 Only Patroclus, acting as charioteer to Achilles, had been able to fully master the immortal horses.
BkXVII481 Automedon partially avenges him, by killing Aretus.
BkXVII656 Menelaus hesitates to leave his corpse.
BkXVII722 His body is carried from the field by Menelaus and Meriones.
BkXVIII1 BkXVIII78 The news of his death reaches Achilles.
BkXVIII148 The Greeks finally retrieve his body.
BkXVIII310 The Greeks lament him.
BkXIX1 Thetis preserves his body.
BkXIX282 Briseis and Achilles grieve for him.
BkXXI1 Achilles takes twelve Trojan youths captive as a blood-price for Patroclus’ death.
BkXXI34 Achilles is determined to avenge him by killing Trojans.
BkXXII367 Having killed Hector in revenge, Achilles vows never to forget Patroclus.
BkXXIII1 Achilles and the Myrmidons mourn beside his bier.
BkXXIII54 His shade appears to Achilles in dream.
BkXXIII108 The Greeks build his funeral pyre.
BkXXIII192 The Greeks collect his ashes and build his funeral mound.
BkXXIII566 The Greeks perform games in his honour.
BkXXIII740 He had received a silver bowl in exchange for Lycaon.
BkXXIV1 BkXXIV468 Achilles continues to grieve for him.
BkXXIV552 Achilles asks his forgiveness for ransoming Hector’s corpse.
BkXXIV718 Achilles had dragged Hector’s corpse repeatedly round his barrow, and there is a suggestion here of an attempted resurrection ritual.
Pedaeon, Pedaeum
Pedeon was a city in the Troad.
BkXIII136 Home of Imbrius and his father Mentor.
Pedaeus
BkV1 A bastard son of Antenor, killed by Meges.
Pedasus, in Agamemnon’s realm
A city, Pidassos, in Messinia, near the coast east of the Pylian country.
BkIX79 BkIX222 Promised to Achilles by Agamemnon.
Pedasus, in the Troad
A town in the Troad it lay the banks of the river Satnioïs.
BkXXI34 Ruled by Altes, king of the Leleges.
Pedasus, a Trojan
Pedasus, a horse of Achilles
BkXVI101 A mortal horse captured by Achilles when he took Thebe.
BkXVI426 He is killed by Sarpedon.
Peiraeus
A son of Clytius of Ithaca, he was a friend of Telemachus in Homer’s Odyssey.
BkIV198 The father of Ptolemaeus.
Peirithous
Son of Ixion, king of the Lapithae in Thessaly and friend of Theseus, he married Hippodameia, the daughter of Butes.
BkI223 He fought the Centaurs at his marriage feast.
BkII681 BkXII80 BkXII175 Father of Polypoetes.
BkXIV292 Homer repeats the myth which has Zeus father Peirithous on Dia the wife of Ixion.
Peiros, Peiroos, Peirous
A son of Imbrasus of Aenus, he was a commander of the Thracians who were allied with Priam in the Trojan War.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkIV473 He kills Diores and is in turn killed by Thoas.
BkXX455 His son Rhigmus killed by Achilles.
Peisander, a Myrmidon
The son of Maemalus.
BkXVI155 Leader of a company of the Myrmidons.
Peisander
See Antimachus
A son of Antimachus.
Peisander, a Trojan
Peisenor
A Trojan leader.
BkXV379 The father of Cleitus.
Pelagon, a Lycian
He was a close companion to Sarpedon.
BkV590 He pulls the spear from Sarpedon’s wound.
Pelagon, a Pylian
BkIV250 A leader of the Pylian contingent at Troy.
Pelasgus, Pelasgians
The father of the Pelasgian people, apparently he gave his name to the pre-Hellenic inhabitants of Northern Greece and Macedonia as far as Thrace. Mythologically Pelasgus was the son of Phoroneus.
BkX412 Probably here an Anatolian tribe, they were allied to Troy.
BkXVI210 Zeus is described as a god of the Pelasgians, by Achilles.
BkXVII262 Hippothous, son of Lethus is a Pelasgian leader.
Pelegon
The Paeonian, he was son of the river-god Axius and Periboea.
BkXXI136 The father of Asteropaeus.
Peleus
The father of Achilles by Thetis, he was the son of Aeacus. Zeus chose him as the Nereid Thetis’ husband after the Fates prophesied that any son of hers would be more powerful than the father.
BkI1 BkI101 BkI188 BkI223 BkI357 BkVIII438 BkIX79 BkIX162 etc. BkIX656 BkX299 BkXV1 BkXV565 BkXVI1 BkXVIII1 BkXVIII310 BkXIX74 BkXX153 BkXXI136 BkXXIV349 The father of Achilles.
BkVII120 An example of a Greek hero. He is still living, but not at Troy.
BkIX222 BkXI762 His admonition to his son Achilles.
BkIX307 He was still alive at the time of the war, and ruling in Phthia.
BkIX430 He made Phoenix Achilles’ guardian.
BkXVI101 Cheiron gave him the ash spear that Achilles uses at Troy.
BkXVI155 His daughter Polydora.
BkXVI351 BkXVI777 BkXVII384 BkXXIII262 Achilles’ immortal horses were a gift of Poseidon to Peleus.
BkXVI569 He offered sanctuary to Epeigeus.
BkXVII140 BkXVII198 BkXVIII368 Achilles’ armour taken by Hector was a gift of the gods to Peleus, when he married Thetis.
BkXIX282 Achilles assumes he is still alive in Phthia.
BkXXII405 Priam mentions him, and assumes he is still living.
BkXXIII54 He had reared Patroclus in his own house.
BkXXIII108 He had made a vow to the River-god Sperchios.
BkXXIV1 Hera had married Thetis, her ward, to him.
BkXXIV468 Achilles is touched by Priam’s reference to his father.
Pelias
King of Iolcus, he was the son of Poseidon and Tyro, brother of Neleus.
Pelion
A mountain range in Thessaly in Northern Greece, the highest peaks of Pelion (Pliasidi 1548 m. and Pourianos Stavros 1610 m.) are in the northern part of the range.
BkII681 The Centaurs expelled from there by Peirithous. Home of the Magnetes.
BkXVI101 BkXIX338 BkXXI136 BkXXII131 Achilles’ spear is made from an ash tree from its summit.
Pellene
An ancient city near Corinth, it lay west of modern Pellini village.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Pelops
Peneius
The the main river of the Thessalian plain, flowing down from the Pindaros Mountains, to enter the Aegean Sea via the Vale of Tempe, cutting a path between Mount Olympos and Mount Ossa.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Peneleos
The son of Hippalcmus and Asterope, and one of the Argonauts, he is one of the leaders of the Boeotians in the war.
BkII484 Mentioned.
BkXIII81 He is roused by Poseidon.
BkXVII597 He is killed by Polydamas.
Penelope
The wife of Odysseus, and daughter of Icarius and the Naiad Periboa.
(See J R Spencer Stanhope’s painting- Penelope – The De Morgan Foundation)
Perrhaebi
A tribe of northern Thessaly, their most significant town was Oloosson.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Percote
A town or city it lay on the southern (Asian) side of the Hellespont, to the northeast of Troy.
BkVI1 Pidytes came from there.
BkXI299 Merops, a soothsayer, came from there.
BkXV514 Melanippus came from there.
Pereia
Probably a reference to the springs and district of Hypereia at Pherae, Admetus’ city.
BkII760 Mentioned.
Pergamus
The citadel of Troy.
BkIV473 Apollo watches the battle from there.
BkV431 Aeneas is taken there by Apollo for sanctuary.
BkVI494 Paris strides down from the citadel.
BkXXIV677 Cassandra, the priestess of Apollo, sees the returning Priam from there.
Pergasus
See Deicoon
The father of Deïcoön.
BkV519 Mentioned.
Periboea
A daughter of Acessamenus, she was the mother of Pelegon by the river god Axius.
BkXXI136 Mentioned.
Perieres
Perimedes
The Phocian father of Schedius.
BkXV514 Mentioned.
Perimus
A Trojan, the son of Megas.
BkXVI684 He is killed by Patroclus.
Periphas, an Aetolian
A son of the Aetolian Ochesius.
Periphas, a Trojan
The son of Epytus, he was herald to Anchises.
BkXVII319 Apollo disguises himself as Periphas.
Periphetes, a Trojan
Periphetes, of Mycenae
A Mycenean, the son of Copreus.
Persephone
The daughter of Zeus and Demeter, she was the wife of Hades. Abducted from Enna in Sicily, and raped by him, she was forced to remain in the Underworld for half the year. Her story formed the basis of the ritual worship at Eleusis, where she was revered as Kore, the Maiden.
BkIX430 The dread Queen of the Underworld.
BkIX527 Invoked by Althaea when cursing her son.
Perseus
The hero, he was the son of Zeus and Danaë.
BkXIV292 Mentioned.
BkXIX74 The father of Sthenelus.
Peteon
A Boeotian city, it lies east of modern Mouriki near Thiva.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Peteos
A son of Orneus, and father of Menestheus, he was expelled from Athens by Aegeus, and is said to have gone to Phocis, where he founded the town of Stiris.
BkII484 BkIV326 BkXII329 BkXIII643 Mentioned.
Phaenops
The son of Asius of Abydos, and a friend of Hector, he was the father of Xanthus, Phorcys, and Thoon.
BkV84 Xanthus and Thoon killed by Diomedes.
BkXVII262 Phorcys killed by Ajax.
BkXVII543 Apollo disguises himself as Phaenops.
Phaestus, a Maeonian
A Maeonian, the son of Borus.
Phaestus
The ancient city of southern Crete lies near the modern coastal resort of Matala, and the Bay of Mesara.
BkII645 Mentioned
Phalces
A Trojan leader.
BkXIII788 He fights at the front.
BkXIV458 Killed by Antilochus.
Pharis
A city in Laconia, west of modern Skoura, southwest of Goritsa.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Phausius
See Apisaon
BkXI543 Father of Apisaon.
Phegeus
A son of Dares, the Trojan priest.
Pheia
An ancient city, Ilia, in Elis in western Greece.
BkVII120 Site of a battle in which Nestor played a part.
Pheidas
BkXIII643 An Athenian repelling the Trojan attack.
Pheidippus
A son of Thessalus, the Heracleid, and brother of Antiphos, he led the warriors of the Sporades against Troy.
BkII645 Mentioned.
Pheneos
A city in Arcadia, south of modern Feneos near Goura.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Pherae, Pheres
A city in Thessaly, near modern Velestino.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Pherae
An ancient city (near modern Kalainai on the Gulf of Messinia) between Pylos and Sparta.
BkIX79 BkIX222 Promised to Achilles by Agamemnon.
Phereclus
A grandson of Harmon, he built the fleet of ships with which Paris carried off Helen.
BkV1 He is killed by Meriones.
Pheres
See Eumelus
A son of Cretheus and Tyro, and brother of Aeson and Amythaon; he was married to Periclymene, by whom he became the father of Admetus, Lycurgus, Eidomene, and Periapis. He was believed to have founded the town of Pherae in Thessaly.
BkII760 Father of Admetus.
Pherusa
Philetor
See Demuchus
BkXX455 The father of Demuchus.
Philoctetes
The son of Poias, he lit Heracles’ funeral pyre and received from him the bow, quiver and arrows that would enable the Greeks to finally win at Troy, and that had been with Hercules when he rescued Hesione there. Bitten by a snake on Lemnos he was abandoned there, on Odysseus’ advice. Odysseus subsequently brought Philoctetes and the weapon to Troy.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Phlegyes, Phlegyans
An unknown early Greek tribe, Strabo calls them Gyrtonians. The Gyrtonians were led in the Trojan War by Polypoetes according to Apollodorus.
BkXIII239 Mentioned.
Phobos, Panic
A personification of Panic or Rout, he was a son of Ares and Aphrodite, brother of Deimos, and one of the ordinary companions of Ares.
BkXV78 He harnesses Ares’ horses.
Phocians
Phocis was the region of ancient Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth and west of Boeotia.
BkII484 Their contingents at Troy.
BkXV514 BkXVII262 Schedius, a Phocian.
Phoebus
A familiar name for Apollo as the sun-god and so the sun itself.
Phoenix, father of Europa
Homer makes Phoenix the grandfather of Minos and Rhadamanthus, and therefore by inference the father of Europa their mother. She is usually described as a daughter of Agenor, King of Phoenicia, and Phoenix is her brother.
BkXIV292 Zeus seduced Europa in the form of a bull from the sea.
Phoenix
A son of Amyntor, he took part in the Calydonian hunt, and accompanied Achilles to Troy. His father had neglected his wife and taken a mistress. Phoenix yielded to his mother’s request to dishonour her rival. Amyntor cursed him, and he fled to Peleus, who made him king of the Dolopes, on the frontiers of Phthia, and guardian to Achilles.
BkIX162 BkIX222 Sent with the embassy to Achilles.
BkIX307 Achilles offers to give him passage home on his ship.
BkIX430 He tells his history, and advises Achilles to quench his anger.
BkIX606 Achilles refuses to listen to his advice.
BkIX656 He remains with Achilles, by the ships.
BkXVI155 Leader of a company of the Myrmidons.
BkXVII543 Athene disguises herself as Phoenix.
BkXIX282 He and the other generals try to comfort the grieving Achilles.
BkXXIII262 He acts as umpire in the chariot race.
Phorbas, a Trojan
A wealthy Trojan, owner of herds.
BkXIV458 The father of Ilioneus.
Phorbas, of Lesbos
BkIX656 The father of Diomede.
Phorcys
A son of Phaenops, and commander of the Phrygians of Ascania, he assisted Priam in the Trojan War.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkXVII198 Hector rouses him to battle.
Phradmon
See Agelaus
BkVIII212 Father of Agelaus.
Phrontis
The wife of Panthous.
BkXVII1 Mentioned.
Phrygia
Ancient Phrygia was a country in the western Anatolian plateau, the country around the sources of the Sakarya Nehri (river) within the triangle of the modern cities of Afyon, Eskisehir and Ankara.
BkIII181 Priam had visited Phrygia.
BkX412 Allied to Troy.
BkXVIII243 Trojan possessions sold there to help finance the war.
BkXXIV468 The Trojans rule was bounded by upper Phrygia.
Phthia, Phthie
Modern Fthii is a region of Greece, in Phthiotis Prefecture, on both sides of Othrys Mountain, in Thessaly, and near the Euboean Gulf. It was the homeland of the Myrmidones tribe, who took part in the Trojan War under Achilles. The birthplace of Achilles, and ruled by his father Peleus.
BkI148 Achilles in his anger threatens to return there.
BkII681 Its contingent to the war at Troy.
BkIX222 BkIX430 BkXVI1 BkXIX282 Achilles’ homeland. It is fertile with deep soil.
BkXIII643 The Phthians fight to repel the Trojan attack on the ships.
Phthires
Probably Latmos, Turkish Beşparmak Dağı, a mountain ridge running east-west along the the north shore of the former Latmian Gulf on the coast of Caria, it became part of Hellenised Ionia. The city of Latmus, located on the south slopes of Mount Latmus 25 kilometres east of Miletus was originally a port on the narrow gulf, as reported by Strabo.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Phylace
A city in Thessaly, founded by Phylacus, it lay northwest of modern Fylaki, northwest of Almyros.
BkII681 Mentioned.
BkXIII643 BkXV328 Medon’s place of exile.
Phylacus
See Iphiclus
A son of Deion and Diomede, was married to Periclymene or Clymene, the daughter of Minyas, by whom he became the father of Iphiclus and Alcimede. The founder of Phylace, in Thessaly.
BkII681 Mentioned.
BkXIII643 The grandfather of Podarces.
Phylacus, a Trojan
Phylas
BkXVI155 The father of Polymele.
Phyleus
A son of Augeias, he was expelled by his father from Ephyra, because he gave evidence in favour of Heracles. He then emigrated to Dulichium.
BkII581 Mentioned.
BkV1 BkX72 BkXIII643 BkXV514 BkXIX238 The father of Meges.
BkXXIII566 Once defeated in a spear-throwing contest by Nestor.
Phylomedusa
The wife of Areithous.
BkVII1 Mentioned.
Pidytes
BkVI1 A Trojan from Percote killed by Odysseus.
Pieria
The mountainous region containing Olympus, on the Greek mainland, bordered the north-eastern Aegean (Myrtoan Sea).
BkXIV224 Mentioned.
Pittheus
A son of Pelops and Dia, he was king of Troezene, father of Aethra, and grandfather and instructor of Theseus.
BkIII121 Mentioned.
Pityeia
A city in ancient Mysia, perhaps an ancient name for Lampsacus.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Placus
Mount Placus lay east of Mount Ida in Mysian Cilicia.
BkVI369 Mentioned.
BkXXII405 The city of Cilician Thebe lay below.
Plataea
A Boeotian city, north of modern Platees near Kapareli.
BkII484 Mentioned.
Pleiads, Pleiades
The Seven Sisters, the daughters, with the Hyades and the Hesperides, of Atlas the Titan. Their mother was Pleione the naiad. They were chased by Orion rousing the anger of Artemis to whom they were dedicated and changed to stars by the gods. The Pleiades are the star cluster M45 in the constellation Taurus. Their names were Maia, the mother of Hermes by Zeus, Taÿgeta, Electra, Merope, Asterope, Alcyone (the brightest star of the cluster), and Celaeno.
BkXVIII468 The constellation appears on Achilles’ shield.
Pleuron
A city of Aetolia northwest of modern Messolongi.
BkII581 BkXIII206 A city ruled by Thoas.
BkXIV82 Oeneus was once king of Pleuron.
BkXXIII566 Home of Ancaeus.
Podaleirius
A son of Asclepius and Epione or Arsinoe, he was brother to Machaon, with whom he led the Thessalians of Tricca against Troy.
Podarces
A son of Iphiclus and Astyoche, and a brother of Protesilaus.
BkII681 A leader of Thessalians at Troy.
BkXIII643 He fights to repel the Trojan attack, leading the Pththians.
Podarge
She was one of the Harpies, who were ‘the swift snatchers’, personified storm winds.
BkXVI101 BkXIX338 She conceived Achilles’ immortal horses, Xanthus and Balius, by the West Wind (Zephyrus).
Podargus, horse of Hector
BkVIII157 One of Hector’s horses.
Podargus, horse of Menelaus
BkXXIII262 One of Menelaus’ horses.
Podes
The son of Eëtion and a friend of Hector’s.
Polites
A son of Priam and Hecabe, and father of Priam the younger.
BkII760 Iris is disguised as him.
BkXIII526 Brother of Deiphobus whom he rescues from the fight.
BkXXIV200 His father berates him.
Polyaemon
See Amopaon
BkVIII273 A Trojan, father of Amopaon.
Polybus
A son of Antenor.
BkXI1 Mentioned.
Polyctor
BkXXIV349 A Myrmidon. Hermes pretends to be his son.
Polydamas
A son of Panthous and Phrontis, he was a Trojan leader, a friend of Hector, born on the same day as him, and brother of Euphorbus.
BkXI1 He is mentioned as a leader of the Trojans.
BkXII1 BkXII80 He proposes attacking the Greek wall on foot.
BkXII175 He interprets the eagle and snake omen as indicating retreat.
BkXIII723 He advises Hector to re-group.
BkXIII788 He fights at the front.
BkXIV402 He goes to aid the wounded Hector. He kills Prothoenor.
BkXIV458 He retreats before Ajax.
BkXV379 His friend Cleitus is killed.
BkXVI508 Glaucus seeks him on the battlefield.
BkXVIII243 BkXVIII310 BkXXII90 He advises a retreat to the city which is foolishly rejected by Hector.
Polydeuces, Pollux
One of the two Dioscuri, the sons of Leda and Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon, or of Leda and Zeus, he was consequently a brother of Helen. Castor was famous for his skill in taming and managing horses, and Pollux for his skill in boxing.
BkIII181 Mentioned.
Polydora
A daughter of Peleus and Polymela, was a sister of Achilles, and married to Borus, but loved by Spercheius the river-god by whom she became the mother of Menesthius.
BkXVI155 Mentioned.
Polydorus, a Greek
BkXXIII566 An Elian once defeated in a spear-throwing contest by Nestor.
Polydorus, son of Priam
The youngest son of Priam, his mother was Laothoe. He was a swift runner.
BkXX353 BkXXII1 He is killed by Achilles.
BkXXI34 He was the brother of Lycaon.
Polyidus, a Corinthian
A seer.
BkXIII643 The father of Euchenor.
Polyidus, a Trojan
A son of Eurydamas.
Polymele
A daughter of Phylas, she was married to Echecles, but became by Hermes the mother of Eudorus.
BkXVI155 The mother of Eudorus.
Polymelus
The son of Argeas.
BkXVI351 A Trojan killed by Patroclus.
Polyneices
The son of Oedipus and Iocaste, and brother of Eteocles and Antigone. After his father’s flight from Thebes, he and his brother Eteocles undertook the government of Thebes by turns. But, in consequence of disputes having arisen between the brothers, Polyneices fled to Adrastus, who then brought about the expedition of the Seven against Thebes.When many of the heroes had fallen, Eteocles and Polyneices resolved upon deciding the contest by a single combat, but both the brothers fell.
BkIV326 Mentioned.
Polyphemus
The son of Elatus, the Arcadian. Not to be confused with the Cyclops of that name.
BkI223 He fought at the marriage feast of Peirithous.
Polyphetes
A Trojan leader.
BkXIII788 He fights at the front.
Polyphontes, or Lycophontes
A son of Autophonus, a Theban, who, in conjunction with Maeon, lay in ambush, with fifty men, against Tydeus, but was slain by him.
BkIV326 Mentioned.
Polypoetes
A son of Peirithous and Hippodameia, he was one of the Lapithae, who joined the Greeks in the Trojan War.
BkII681 Mentioned.
BkXII80 BkXII175 He defends the Greek wall, killing a number of Trojans.
BkXXIII826 He wins the throwing contest.
Polyxeinus
A son of Agasthenes, grandson of Augeas, he was a commander of the Epeians in the war against Troy.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Portheus, Porthaon
A son of Agenor and Epicaste, was king of Pleuron and Calydon in Aetolia, and married to Euryte, by whom he became the father of Oeneus, Agrius, Alcathous, Melas, Leucopeus, and Sterope.
BkXIV82 Grandfather of Diomedes.
Poseidon
The god of the sea, earthquakes and other natural forces, he was a son of Cronos and Rhea. He shares dominion of the world with his brothers Zeus who rules the Earth and Heavens, and Hades who rules the Dead.
BkI357 He once attacked and bound Zeus.
BkII394 Mentioned.
BkII484 His sacred grove at Onchestus (mentioned by Pausanias, and in the Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo).
BkVII433 BkXXI383 BkXXI526 He objects to the Greeks building their defensive wall. He and Apollo built the walls of Troy for Laomedon.
BkVIII157 He resists Hera’s request to oppose Zeus.
BkVIII438 He unyokes Zeus’ horses.
BkXI655 The Pylians sacrified to Poseidon.
BkXI655 True father of the Moliones.
BkXII1 After the war he and Apollo erased all signs of the Greek camp.
BkXIII1 BkXIII81 He intervenes to rouse the Greeks.
BkXIII206 He grieves for his grandson Amphimachus and in the guise of Thoas rouses Idomeneus.
BkXIII239 BkXIII330 He re-enters the battle, favouring the Greeks.
BkXIII402 He aids Idomeneus.
BkXIII526 He protects Antilochus, as a son of Nestor.
BkXIII643 He supports Ajax and the Greek left.
BkXIV135 Disguised as an old man, he reassures Agamemnon.
BkXIV352 BkXIV458 Informed by Sleep that Zeus is resting he re-energises the Greeks, and turns the tide of war in their favour.
BkXV1 Zeus wakes and sees Poseidon among the Greeks. He issues commands which will force Poseidon to desist.
BkXV149 BkXV220 Poseidon withdraws from the battle.
BkXX1 He enters the war again on the side of the Greeks.
BkXX75 He dissuades Hera from over-agressive involvement in the war.
BkXX259 He rescues Aeneas, confirming Poseidon’s bi-partisan role in the war.
BkXXI200 BkXXI298 He goes to Achilles’ assistance.
BkXXIII262 Poseidon gave Peleus the famous horses that Achilles uses.
BkXXIII566 Menelaus proposes an oath in the name of the god of horses.
BkXXIV1 He approves of Achilles’ treatment of Hector’s corpse.
Practius
A city in Mysia.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Priam
The King of Troy at the time of the Trojan War, the son of Laomedon, and husband of Hecuba, by whom he had many children including Hector, Helenus, Paris, Polydorus, Deïphobus, Cassandra and Polyxena.
BkI1 BkI223 BkII1 BkII155 BkXII1 BkXX153 BkXXII131 etc. Troy, his city.
BkII760 Iris brings a message to the Trojans.
BkII811 BkXII378 BkXXII188 Father of Hector.
BkIII58 He is sought for as guarantor of a treaty.
BkIII121 His daughter Laodice.
BkIII245 BkIII310 He witnesses the sacrifice before the duel.
BkIV473 BkXI84 Father of Antiphus.
BkV84 His sons Echemmon and Chromius killed by Diomedes.
BkVI72 BkVII1 Father of Helenus.
BkVI237 His palace described.
BkVI440 Hector foresees his fall.
BkVII313 BkVII379 He orders an embassy to the Greeks.
BkVIII273 Father of Gorgythion by Castianeira.
BkXI489 His natural son Doryclus killed by Ajax.
BkXII80 BkXIII136 Deiphobus is his son.
BkXIII330 His daughter Cassandra.
BkXIII402 Aeneas resents the lack of honour shown him by Priam.
BkXIII136 His natural daughter Medesicaste.
BkXVI726 Cebriones was his natural son.
BkXX259 Zeus has turned against Priam and his children.
BkXX353 His sons Hippodamas and Polydorus are killed by Achilles.
BkXXI34 His son Lycaon by his wife Laothoe, daughter of Altes, is killed by Achilles.
BkXXI526 He orders the city gates opened to the fleeing army.
BkXXII1 He tries to persuade Hector to retreate within the city.
BkXXII405 He laments the death of Hector.
BkXXIV1 Hera, Poseidon and Athene are inimical to Priam because of the judgement of Paris (q.v.)
BkXXIV77 Zeus determines that he shall go and ransom Hector’s body.
BkXXIV141 Iris brings him Zeus’ message.
BkXXIV200 He berates his remaining sons, and prepares to go to the Greek ships.
BkXXIV281 He prays to Zeus and sets off for the ships.
BkXXIV349 Hermes guides him to Achilles’ hut.
BkXXIV468 He begs Achilles to release Hector’s corpse to him.
BkXXIV552 Achilles releases Hector’s corpse to him.
BkXXIV621 He retires to sleep.
BkXXIV677 BkXXIV718 He returns to Troy with Hector’s body.
BkXXIV776 He arranges the details of Hector’s funeral rites.
Proetus
A son of Abas and Ocaleia, he was twin-brother of Acrisius.
BkVI119 King of Argos, with his brother. His persecution of Bellerephon.
Promachus
Pronous
BkXVI351 A Trojan killed by Patroclus.
Protesilaus
A son of Iphiclus and Astyoche, and a brother of Podarces, he belonged to Phylace in Thessaly, and so called Phulakios, though this name may also be traced to his being a grandson of the Aeolid Phylacus. He led the warriors of several Thessalian cities against Troy, and was the first of the Greeks killed there.
BkXV653 Hector lays hand on his ships stern.
BkXVI257 The Trojans are driven back from his ship.
Prothoenor
A Greek, the son of Areilycus, he was one of the leaders of the Boeotians against Troy.
BkII484 Mentioned.
BkXIV402 BkXIV458 Killed by Polydamas.
Prothoon
A Trojan.
Prothous
A son of Tenthredon, commander of the Magnetes from Mount Pelion and the river Peneius.
BkII681 A leader of the Magnetes at Troy.
Protiaon
A Trojan.
BkXV379 The father of Astynous.
Proto
Prytanis
A Lycian.
Pteleos, in Nestor’s realm
A city in Messinia.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Pteleos, in Thessaly
A city in Thessaly south of modern Pteleos.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Ptolemaeus
The son of Peiraeus, and father of Eurymedon.
BkIV198 Mentioned.
Pylaemenes
A king of the Paphlagonians, and an ally of Priam in the Trojan War.
BkII811 Mentioned.
BkXIII643 The father of Harpalion, he appears to be still alive here despite his death in Book V.
Pylaeus
A son of Lethus, grandson of Teutamus, and brother of Hippothous, he led a band of Pelasgian auxiliaries from Larissa to the assistance of the Trojans.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Pylartes, a Trojan
Pylartes, a Trojan
A Trojan.
BkXVI684 He is killed by Patroclus.
Pylene
A city of Aetolia near modern Simos.
BkII581 Mentioned.
Pylon
A Trojan.
BkXII175 Killed by Polypoetes.
Pylos
The city in Elis (modern Pilos, in Messinia), in the western Peloponnese, was the home of Nestor the wise.
BkI223 BkII48 BkII581 BkVII120 BkXI655 The home of Nestor.
BkV352 This or another Pylas or Pylos, signifying ‘the gate’ of Hell to which Heracles descended?
BkV519 The River Alpheus ran through Elis, and Pherae was near Pylos.
BkIX79 BkIX222 Agamemnon promises cities on the border between his domains and Pylos.
BkXXIII262 Famous for its horses.
Pyraechmes
An ally of the Trojans and commander of the Paeonians.
BkII811 Mentioned.
Pyrasus, in Thessaly
A city in Thessaly, northwest of modern Nea Anchialos, with a sanctuary of Demeter.
BkII681 Mentioned.
Pyrasus, a Trojan
Pyris
BkXVI351 A Trojan killed by Patroclus.
Pytho
A Phocian city, ancient and modern Delphi.
BkII484 Mentioned.