The Trojan War (22 page)

Achaeans
Along with Argives and Danaans, one of the three main names used by Homer for the people we call Greeks.

Achilles
Mythical king of Phthia and heroic warrior whose rage is at the heart of the
Iliad.

Aeneas
Mythical figure, son of Anchises and goddess Aphrodite, kinsman of Priam, fights in Trojan War; rules in rebuilt, postwar Troy.

Agamemnon
Mythical king of Mycenae, and leader of Greek expedition against Troy.

Ahhiyawa
Powerful kingdom referred to by Hittite texts, probably to be identified with the land of Homer's Achaeans.

Ajax son of Oïleus of Locris
Mythical figure, an especially rough and impious Greek warrior at Troy, also known as “Lesser Ajax” and “Locrian Ajax.”

Ajax son of Telamon of Salamis
Mythical character, immensely strong if slow Greek warrior at Troy, also known as “Greater Ajax.”

Akkadian
Dominant language and culture of Mesopotamia, 2350–1900
B.C.
, and widespread in its influence throughout Bronze Age Near East.

Alaksandu
King of Wilusa, ca. 1280
B.C.
, made alliance with Hittites; his name recalls Homer's Alexander (Paris).

Amazons
Women warriors, referred to by Homer and in Greek myth, vaguely recalled by Iron Age women warriors of southern Russia.

Amenhotep II
King of Egypt, 1427–1392
B.C.
, victorious general in Canaan, Syria, and Mesopotamia.

Amenhotep III
King of Egypt, 1382–1344
B.C.
, reigned at height of New Kingdom's power.

Amyclae
Town in Laconia, site of Menelaion (shrine of Helen and Menelaus), possible site of Bronze Age palace.

Andromache
Mythical character, wife of Hector, afterward widowed and taken as war-prize by Greeks.

Antenor
Mythical figure, pro-Greek Trojan.

Antimachus
Mythical character, anti-Greek Trojan.

Apasa
Probably the later Ephesus, capital of kingdom of Arzawa.

Argives
See
ACHAEANS
.

Arzawa
Kingdom in western Anatolia.

Attarissiya
Raider from Ahhiyawa, cited in Hittite texts, who attacked Anatolia and Cyprus, ca. 1400
B.C.
; possibly to be identified with Atreus of Greek myth.

Aulis
Bronze Age (and later) harbor town in east-central Greece; according to Homer the embarkation point of the Greek expedition against Troy.

Be
ik Bay
Modern name of Trojan Harbor, about five miles southwest of site of city of Troy.

Boreas
North wind.

Briseis
Mythical princess of Lyrnessus, taken as war-prize by Achilles and appropriated by Agamemnon as compensation for Chryseis.

Bronze Age
Era, ca. 3000–1100
B.C.
, in which bronze was the primary metal for tools and weapons; iron was rare and expensive but it was known.

Cadmus
Mythical king of Thebes.

Calchas
Mythical Greek seer at Aulis and Troy.

Canaan
Region of city-states dominated by Egypt and contested by Hittites, stretching from modern Turkish-Syrian border to Gaza.

Cassandra
Mythical figure, daughter of Priam, minor character in Homer, but in Vergil the important but ignored prophetess of Troy's ruin.

Catalog of Ships
Lines in which Homer (
Iliad
2.484–787) lists all the captains, kings, and countries taking part in the Trojan War.

Chryseis
Mythical figure, daughter of priest Chryses of city of Chryse in southwestern Troad, taken as war-prize by Agamemnon.

cuneiform
Early writing system, widely used in ancient Near East.

Cycnus
Mythical character, king of town of Colonae on west coast of Troad, whose name recalls the historical figure Kukkunni, King of Wilusa.

Danaans
See
ACHAEANS
.

Dardanian Valley
Fertile region of middle Scamander River in Troad, mythical home of Aeneas.

Dardanians
Mentioned in Egyptian text as Hittite allies who sent chariots to fight at Battle of Qadesh.

Deïphobus
Mythical figure, Trojan prince who marries Helen after death of his brother, Paris.

Diomedes
Mythical king of Argos, the youngest and one of the doughtiest Greek warriors at Troy.

Dolon
Mythical figure, vain and incompetent Trojan spy, killed by Diomedes.

Eëtion
Mythical king of Thebes-under-Plakos and father of Andromache, killed by Achilles.

Epic Cycle
Ancient Greek epics
(Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, Sack of Ilium, The Returns)
describing Trojan War and aftermath: survives only in a few quotations.

Euphorbus
Mythical figure, son of Panthous, young Trojan warrior specially trained in chariot fighting, wounds Patroclus severely.

Eurypylus
Mythical figure, son of Telephus of Mysia, brings contingent to fight for Troy.

Gallipoli
Fertile peninsula opposite the Troad, on northern shore of the Dardanelles.

Gilgamesh
Popular ancient Near Eastern epic poem, ca. 2000
B.C.
or earlier, originally in Akkadian but often translated.

Glaucus
Mythical warrior, son of Hippolochus of Lycia, leading lieutenant of Trojan ally Sarpedon.

Hammurabi
Babylonian king (1792–1750
B.C.
), great warrior and codifier of law, conquered Mari.

Hattusha
City in central Anatolia, Hittite capital.

Hattushilish I
Great Hittite king, 1650–1620
B.C.

Hattushilish III
Hittite king (reigned 1267–1237
B.C.
), negotiated with Egypt and Ahhiyawa and fought western Anatolian rebel Piyamaradu.

Hector
Mythical figure, son of Priam and Hecuba; Troy's crown prince and greatest warrior.

Hecuba
Mythical character, wife of Priam and queen of Troy.

Helen
Mythical figure, wife of King Menelaus of Lacedaemon; ran off with Trojan prince Paris, sparking the Trojan War.

Helenus
Mythical character, brother of Hector and wise seer.

Hellenes
In Homer, refers only to inhabitants of part of Thessaly in central Greece, but in Iron Age name for all Greeks.

Hisarlik
“Fortified place” in Turkish, the modern-day name for the site of ancient Troy.

Hittites
Also known as Hatti, between 1600s and ca. 1180
B.C.
ruled an empire in Anatolia and Syria.

Ida
Mountain in southern Troad, sacred to inhabitants.

Idomeneus
Mythical character, king of Crete and great spearman, fought at Troy.

Ilion
Another name for Troy; in early Greek, it was Wilion, but the “W” later dropped out. Source of name of the epic poem the
Iliad.

Indo-European
Language group and culture of its speakers, spread in ancient times from India to Britain; includes Greeks, Trojans, and Hittites.

Iphigenia
Mythical character, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, victim of human sacrifice at Aulis.

Iron Age
First millennium
B.C.
, when iron replaced bronze as main medium for tools and weapons.

Ishtar
Near Eastern goddess of love, war, and fertility.

Ithaca
Island off western Greece, legendary home of Odysseus.

Iyarri
Anatolian god of war and plagues, known as an archer (“Lord of the Bow”), similar to Greek god Apollo.

Kukkunni
King of Wilusa at some date before ca. 1280
B.C.

Kurunta
Anatolian god, represented by stag; often a city's protector.

Lacedaemon
Southern Greek region later also known as Laconia, kingdom of Menelaus and Helen.

Laocöon
Mythical figure, anti-Greek priest of Troy, killed along with sons by sea monster.

Levant
Region of southwestern Asia roughly equivalent to today's Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.

Levirate marriage
Common ancient Near Eastern custom of a man marrying his deceased brother's widow.

Linear B
Bronze Age Greek writing system used by Mycenaean scribes.

Luwian
Indo-European language and culture of southern and western Anatolia, closely related to Hittite; possibly the language of Troy.

Lycia
Region of southwestern Anatolia, probably the same area as the “Lukka Lands” of Hittite texts.

Lyrnessus
In Homer, town in Troad conquered by the Greeks.

Machaon
Along with brother Podalirius, mythical physician in Greek army at Troy.

Madduwatta
Untrustworthy Hittite vassal in western Anatolia ca. 1400
B.C.

Mari
City-state in northwestern Mesopotamia (modern Syria), well documented in decades before being sacked by Hammurabi in 1757
B.C.

Megiddo
City in Canaan, site of major battle in 1479
B.C.

Melanippus
Mythical character, son of Hicetaeon, fled hometown of Percote on the Dardanelles when the Greeks came; fought for Troy.

Memnon
Mythical figure, prince of Aethiopia (possibly Nubia) and kinsman of Priam who brings contingent to fight for Troy.

Menelaus
Mythical figure, husband of Helen and king of Lacedaemon as well as brother of Agamemnon.

Miletus
City on Anatolia's Aegean coast, colonized by Minoans and Mycenaeans in turn.

Minoan
The people and culture of Bronze Age Crete, at its height ca. 1800–1490
B.C.

Mira
Western Anatolian state in Late Bronze Age; a successor state of Arzawa.

Murshilish II
Hittite king, 1321–1295
B.C.
, conquered kingdom of Arzawa.

Mycenae
Powerful city of mythical King Agamemnon; the adjective “Mycenaean” refers in general to Greeks and Greek civilization of the Late Bronze Age.

Mysia
Region in northwestern Anatolia bordering the Troad.