Catalogue of Ships
Epic list of Achaean contingents in Iliad Book 2.
In Book 2 of Homer's Iliad, the Catalogue of Ships lists the Achaean army's contingents that sailed for Troy, naming each leader, their settlements, and ship count. A shorter catalogue of Trojan allies follows. A similar list appears in the Pseudo-Apollodoran Bibliotheca.
Quick Facts
- Number of contingents (iliad)
- 29
- Number of captains (iliad)
- 46
- Total ships (iliad)
- 1186
- Number of places described
- 164
- Number of contingents (apollodorus)
- 30
- Total ships (apollodorus)
- 1013
Facts from the source article.
Historical background
Debate since antiquity over the Catalogue of Ships has centered on its historical credibility, whether Homer composed it, and whether it reflects a pre-Homeric document or memorized tradition from Mycenaean times or is a post-Homeric development. Some scholars note inconsistencies between the Catalogue and the rest of the Iliad, and the odd way it is inserted, suggesting it was a later addition. Wilhelm Dörpfeld observed that in the Odyssey Odysseus's kingdom includes Ithaca, Same, Dulichium, and Zacynthus, while the Catalogue lists Ithaca, Same, Zacynthus, Neritum, Krocylea, and Aegilips. The separate debate over Homer's identity and authorship is called the Homeric Question. Before the mid-twentieth century the consensus held that the Catalogue was not by the Iliad's composer, though it was made artful, and that its material is essentially Mycenaean or sub-Mycenaean, with disagreement on later additions. If accurate, it summarizes the geopolitical situation in early Greece between the Late Bronze Age and the eighth century BCE. Following Milman Parry's theory of oral poetry, some scholars like Denys Page argue it is a pre-Homeric recitation incorporated by Homer. Edzard Visser's recent study concludes the Catalogue is compatible with the Iliad in verse improvisation techniques, that the name order is meaningful, and that geographical epithets show concrete knowledge transmitted by heroic myth. W. W. Minton places it among similar enumerations in Homer and Hesiod, suggesting part of its purpose was to impress the audience with the performer's memory.
Catalogue
The Greek Catalogue in the Iliad names 29 contingents led by 46 captains, who together brought 1,186 ships. If each Boeotian ship carried 120 men, the total force numbered 142,320. These troops came from 164 places, most of which were inhabited during the Late Bronze Age, and are identified by various ethnic names. The entire army is referred to as Danaans, Argives, Achaeans, or sons of the Achaeans.
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