Books I-X Flashcards
venerable leader of the Pylians and the oldest and wisest Greek chieftain
Nestor
grandson of Bellerophon; cousin and squire of Sarpedon
Glaucus
main gates of Troy from which non-combatants observe the battles
Scaean gates
king of the Myrmidons; father of Achilles
Peleus
son of Lyacon; famous Trojan archer
Pandarus
messenger of the gods, especially of Zeus
Iris
daughter of Chryses; prize of Agamemnon
Chryseis
“Odysseus has done many a good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better turn than when he stopped this fellow’s mouth from prating further. he will give the kings no more of his insolence.”
the Greeks about Thersites
physician of the Greeks from Thessaly; son of Asclepius, a famous healer
machaon
“Mighty son of Tydeus, why ask me of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when spring returns the forest buds forth with fresh ones. Even so it is with the generations of mankind, the new spring up as the old are passing away.”
Glaucus to Diomed
son of Priam; augur of the Trojans
Helenus
brother of Peleus; father of Ajax the Great; from Salamis
Telamon
son of Zeus and Electra; ancestor of the Dardanians and the Trojans
Dardanus
son of Eumedes; scout of the Trojans
Dolon
another name for the river Scamander
Xanthus
nickname for Hector’s son, Scamandrius; means “king of the city”
Astyanax
“Would I were as sure of being immortal and never growing old, and of being worshipped to Athene and Apollo, as I am that this day will bring evil to the Argives.”
Hector to the Trojan army
elderly counselor to Priam and the Trojans; a whirring “cicada”
Antenor
ugliest of the Greeks; an endless talker
Thersites
“Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles first fell out with one another.”
Homer’s appeal to the Muse
“It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you had gone out elsewhere, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine cup to your lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt. I had infinite trouble with you, but I knew that heaven vouchsafed me no offspring of my own, and i made of son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might protect me.
Phoenix to Achilles
son of Nestor; leading fighter of the men of Pylos; friend of Achilles
Antilochus
surrogate father to Achilles; cursed to have no children
Phoenix
priest of Apollo who asks Agamemnon to give his daughter back
Chryses
Achilles’ grandfather; his father Zeus made men of ants for him - Myrmidons
Aeacus
older friend and squire of Achilles; son of Menoetius
Patroculs
the chief river god who flows through the plain below Troy
Scamander
Achilles’ prize; daughter of Briseus
Briseis
“Young men’s minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon both sides.”
Menelaus to both armies
lowest abyss under the earth; a place of punishment/torment
Tartarus
father of Aeneas by Aphrodite
Anchises
king of the Thracians
Rhesus
phalanx
battle formation of tightly grouped warriors, long spears, and overlapping shields
older friend and squire of Achilles; son of Menoetius
Patroclus
“I did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day I led my band of Trojans to Ilium in Hector’s service, and if ever I get home again to set my eyes on my native place, my wife, and the greatness of my house, may someone cut my head off then and there if I do not break the bow and set it on a hot fire-such pranks as it plays me.”
Pandarus to Aeneas
Ithacan and faithful servant of Odysseus; a herald of the Greeks
Eurybates
“My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live forever; whereas If I go home my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of you, then, I say, ‘Go home, for you will not take Ilium.’ Zeus has held his hand over her to protect her, and her people have taken heart.”
Achilles to the embassy
“Think not, Dolon, for all the good information you have given us, that you shall escape now you are in our hands, for if we ransom you or let you go, you will come some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as a spy or as an open enemy, but if I kill you and make an end of you, you will give no more trouble.”
Diomed to Dolon
