Home > Catalogue of Ships
Map of Homeric Greece The famous Catalogue of Ships (νεων κατολογος) is recorded as a part of Book II (verses 494–760) of Homer's Iliad. It lists the names of all the allies who came with the Greeks to lay siege to Troy along with the names of their leaders and the number of ships they brought with them. It is followed by a similar, though shorter, list of the Trojans' allies.
The Catalogue provides a rare summary of the geopolitical situation in the region although its reliability is disputed. Some argue that it dates from the time of the Trojan War in the mid 13th century BC, while others contend that it dates from the time of Homer himself in the 8th century BC and is an attempt to transfer later information back five centuries. An intermediate theory is that the catalogue originated through a process of accretion during the poem's oral transmission and reflects gradual inclusion of the homelands of local sponsors by individual singers.
1 The Catalogue
The Catalogue lists 28 contingents accounting for a total of 1186 ships, corresponding to a force of some 100.000 to 140.000 men. It contains 50 toponyms and 150 ethnonyms.
- 1. (II.494) Boeotians: 50 ships with 120 men each
- 2. (II.511) Minyans: 30 ships
- 3. (II.517) Phocia ns: 40 ships
- 4. (II.527) Locrians of Euboea led by Ajax the Lesser: 40 ships
- 5. (II.536) Abantes : 40 ships
- 6. (II.546) Athenians: 50 ships, together with 12 ships of SalamisSalamis Island is the name of an island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, near Athens, Greece, where the Battle of Salamis was fought in 480 B. Salamis, Cyprus is an ancient city on the east coast of Cyprus. Salamis class cruiser (Gundam is a warship led by Ajax the Great
- 7. (II.559) AchaeansThis article is about the ancient people of the Achaeans. See AchaeaMud for the MUD created by Iron Realms Entertainment. The Achaeans (also Akhaians Greek ) is the collective name given to the Greek forces in Homer's Iliad. An alternative name, used inte of ArgosArgos ( Greek: , rgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnesus near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. The region of Argos was called the Argolid. It was a major stronghold of Mycenaean times, but the pre-Greek name of its acropoli and TirynsTiryns is a Mycenaean site in the Peloponnesian peninsula in Greece. Tiryns was a hill fort with occupation ranging back seven thousand years. It reached its height between 1400 and 1200 BC. Its most notable features were its palace, its cyclopean tunnels, led by DiomedesThe Mares of Diomedes belonged to a different Diomedes. In Greek mythology, Diomedes ("god-like cunning") was the son of Tydeus and Deipyle and a favored hero of Athena. He was one of the Epigonoi and later became King of Argos, succeeding his grandfather: 80 ships
- 8. (II.569) forces led by AgamemnonAgamemnon ( Greek: ) ("very resolute"), one of the most distinguished of the Greek heroes, was the son of King Atreus of Mycenae (or Argos) and Queen Aerope, and brother of Menelaus. Another account makes him the son of Pleisthenes (the son or father of A, from MycenaeMycenae (in Ancient Greek Mykaenai or Μυκηναι, pronounced roughly Moo-kair-nigh in Modern Greek Mikenes or Μυκενες), is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90km sout and Corinth: 100 ships
- 9. (II.581) Lacedaemonians, led by Menelaus: 60 ships
- 10. (II.591) forces from Pylos led by Nestor: 90 ships
- 11. (II.603) Arcadians: 60 ships
- 12. (II.615) Elians: 40 ships
- 13. (II.625) Dulichium : 40 ships
- 14. (II.631) forces of Ithaca led by Odysseus: 12 ships
- 15. (II.638) Aetolians: 40 ships
- 16. (II.645) Cretans led by Idomeneus: 80 ships
- 17. (II.653) Rhodians: 9 ships
- 18. (II.671) Symians: 3 ships
- 19. (II.676) Nisyrians : 30 ships
- 20. (II.681) Myrmidons of Argos led by Achilles: 50 ships
- 21. (II.695) Phulacians: 40 ships
- 22. (II.711) Boebians : 11 ships
- 23. (II.716) Meliboeans: 7 ships with 50 archers each
- 24. (II.734) Oechalia ns: 30 ships
- 25. (II.738) Ormenians : 40 ships
- 26. (II.748) Elone ans: 40 ships
- 27. (II.756) Enienes : 22 ships
- 28. (II.760) Magnetes: 40 ships
