People · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
The Achaians
The Greek host of the Troy war
The poem's collective 'we': ten years fighting, ten more limping home.
The Greeks who sailed against Troy and the homeland they scattered back to — Achaians, Argives, or simply the Greeks, as the line runs. Odysseus, Agamemnon, Nestor and Menelaus all led their ships to the war; the suitors are the generation born too late for it. When the poem mourns its dead or counts its kings, these are the people it means.
Bonds
- Agamemnon king of The Achaians — commander of the whole host
- The Achaians enemies of Troy — ten years under its walls
Appears in
- Book I Visit of Athena to Telemachus
- Book II Departure of Telemachus from Ithaca
- Book III Interview of Telemachus with Nestor
- Book IV Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus
- Book V Departure of Odysseus from Calypso
- Book VIII Festivals in Honor of Odysseus
- Book IX The Ciconians, Lotus-Eaters, and Cyclops
- Book X Aeolus, the Laestrigonians, and Circè
- Book XI Visit of Odysseus to the Land of the Dead
- Book XII The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis
- Book XIII Arrival of Odysseus at Ithaca
- Book XIV Meeting of Odysseus and Eumaeus
- Book XV Return of Telemachus
- Book XVI Odysseus Discovering Himself to Telemachus
- Book XVII Return of Odysseus to His Palace
- Book XVIII Combat of Odysseus and Irus
- Book XIX Odysseus Recognized by Eurycleia
- Book XX The Last Banquet of the Suitors
- Book XXI The Bending of the Bow of Odysseus
- Book XXII Death of the Suitors
- Book XXIII Odysseus and Penelope After the Slaughter
- Book XXIV Conclusion
Scenes
- Athena pleads for Odysseus — Book I. Athena begs Zeus, plans to send Hermes
- Athena counsels a voyage — Book I. Athena urges Telemachus toward Pylos, Sparta
- Penelope silences the bard — Book I. Penelope asks Phemius for different song
- Telemachus asserts authority — Book I. Telemachus claims song, dismisses mother
- Antinoüs Blames Penelope — Book II. Antinoüs blames Penelope’s shroud trick
- Eurymachus Scoffs — Book II. Eurymachus mocks, Telemachus seeks ship
- Nestor Questions the Guests — Book III. Telemachus begs Nestor for Odysseus news
- The Fleet’s Quarrel — Book III. Nestor recalls Atreus brothers’ quarrel
- Fates of the Heroes — Book III. Telemachus hears murder, longs for vengeance
- A Warning on Fate — Book III. Nestor probes suitors, Athena warns
- The Full Tale of Murder — Book III. Nestor tells of Aegisthus, Menelaus’s voyage
- Peisistratus Confirms His Friend — Book IV. Peisistratus confirms him, talk draws tears
- Helen’s Drug and Tales of Troy — Book IV. Helen’s drug, Menelaus recalls Troy
- The Plea for Truth — Book IV. Telemachus describes suitors, begs news
- Fates of Ajax and Agamemnon — Book IV. Ajax drowns, Aegisthus kills Agamemnon
- Lament and Comfort — Book IV. Eurycleia confesses helping Telemachus
- The Fall of Troy Sung — Book VIII. Demodocus sings ambush, sack of Troy
- Aeolus’s Gift of Winds — Book X. Aeolus gives Odysseus bound winds
- Achilles Among the Dead — Book XI. Achilles’s ghost speaks, Ajax lurks
- Achilles’ Lament — Book XI. Achilles prefers poor life to death
- Ajax’s Silent Wrath — Book XI. Ajax’s ghost resents Achilles’s arms
- Nestor and Menelaus — Book XVII. Telemachus reports Odysseus on Calypso’s isle
- Achilles Meets Agamemnon — Book XXIV. Achilles greets shamefully slain Agamemnon
- Achilles’ Funeral Recalled — Book XXIV. Agamemnon recalls Achilles’s funeral games
The Achaians is named in 90 of the poem’s scenes; these are the twenty-four that carry the most of the name.