Catalogue of Ships
conceptThe extensive listing of Greek contingents and their leaders in Book 2 of the Iliad, naming 29 contingents, 46 captains, and 1,186 ships sailing to Troy.
The Myth
The Catalogue of Ships appears in Book 2 of Homer's Iliad, after Agamemnon tests the army's morale and Odysseus rallies them with the sceptre of authority. The catalogue lists every Greek contingent that sailed to Troy: Agamemnon brought 100 ships from Mycenae; Diomedes brought 80 from Argos; Odysseus brought only 12 from Ithaca; Achilles brought 50 from Phthia with his Myrmidons; Ajax the Great brought 12 from Salamis. The Boeotian contingent is listed first and most extensively. Helen, whose abduction by Paris triggered the war, was the prize Menelaus sought to recover. The catalogue preserves geographical knowledge of Mycenaean Greece, listing places that had vanished by Homer's time but were confirmed by archaeology. Nestor of Pylos, the eldest commander, brought 90 ships. The Cretan contingent under Idomeneus was the third largest, reflecting Minoan-era power.
Parents
Homer (author)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Catalogue of Ships was long dismissed as poetic filler until archaeologists discovered that its geography matches Mycenaean-era settlement patterns, not Homer's own time (8th century BC). Place names that had been abandoned for centuries appear correctly located. This means the Catalogue preserves genuine Bronze Age information transmitted orally for 400+ years — making it a military database encoded in hexameter verse, and one of the most remarkable feats of oral memory in human history.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
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Diomedes (Aristeia)
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Myrmidons
conceptThe ant-born warrior people of Phthia led by Achilles to Troy, famed for their discipline and...
Cretan Bull (Labour)
conceptThe seventh labour of Heracles: capturing the monstrous bull of Crete, either the one Poseidon sent...
Ship of Theseus
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Achilles
heroThe greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the...
Agamemnon
heroAgamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife...
Ajax the Great
heroAjax son of Telamon was the tallest and strongest of the Greek warriors at Troy, a tower of a man...
Ajax the Lesser
heroAjax son of Oileus was a fast, fierce, impious warrior whose assault on Cassandra in Athena's...
Argo (Ship)
placeThe Argo was the ship built by Argus for Jason's quest — the first long-voyage ship in Greek myth,...
Cretan Bull
creatureThe magnificent bull sent by Poseidon to Minos that became the father of the Minotaur, later...
Diomedes
heroDiomedes was the only mortal in the Iliad to wound two Olympian gods in a single day.