Characters from Greek Legend

When you're reading the literature and history of Ancient Greece, there are a few names that should be as familiar to you as Shakespeare, the Bible, Kennedy, or Hitler. Below you will find a list of such major names from legend for quick reference.

Related features on this site are listed beneath each description.

The first alphabetical group consists of heroes from before the Trojan War; then come Trojan War names beginning with Achilles. After the Trojan War heroes come the legendary non-humans.

Also see my ranking of the Top Heroes in Greek Mythology.

Atalanta

A rare item in Greek mythology - a woman hero. Atalanta was the lone woman on the quest for the Golden Fleece and the Calydonian Boar Hunt.

Atalanta's Race with Meleager
Golden Fleece

Bellerophon

Bellerophon was a Greek hero who rode on the winged horse Pegasus; killed the Chimera monster, and tried to fly Pegasus to Olympus.

Cadmus

Cadmus was sent on a vain quest to find his sister Europa. He settled in Boeotia and founded the city of Thebes, instead.

Hercules

Hercules or Heracles (Herakles) was a strong man and son of Zeus, who performed 12 labors; his nemesis was Hera.

Hercules Labors Gallery
Who Was Hercules?
Hercules' Women and Children
Hercules' Labors: Sources
Hercules and Eurystheus
Amazons
Jason's Angels
A Goddess for Men
Olympics
Homeric Geography
Banned Books
Odyssey Bk XI

Jason

Jason was the Argonaut leader who captured the golden fleece and married the witch Medea.

Jason's Angels
Medea
The Olympics
Medea in "Jason and the Argonauts"
Medea Murders the Children
Medea, a Victim and Victimizer (With Poll)

Perseus

Perseus was the Greek hero who decapitated Medusa; founded Mycenae. His biological father was Zeus who impregnated Perseus' mother Danae in a shower of gold.

Perseus Profile
A Goddess for Men

Theseus

Theseus was the Athenian hero who volunteered to be one of the victims of the Minotaur. With the help of one of the Minotaur's half-sisters, Theseus put an end to the Minotaur and found his way out of the labyrinth, built by Daedalus (of wax-wings fame), in which the Minotaur had been hidden. Theseus reorganized the country of Attica.

Achilles

Achilles is the quintessential Greek hero. During the Trojan War, Achilles was the Greek's best warrior; his nymph mother held him by his heel when she dipped him in the River Styx making him immortal everywhere but there.

Heroic Behavior Then
Amazons
Ghost Stories
Achilles Basics
Achilles' Genealogy
Homeric Questions
Olympics
A Goddess for Men
Jason's Angels
Quotes
Odyssey Bk XI

Agamemnon

Agamemnon was a Mycenean king, the brother-in-law of the infamous Helen, and the leader of all the Greek forces who went to Troy (to fight the Trojan War) for the purpose of recovering Helen for her Greek husband, Menelaus.

Agamemnon Article
Homeric Questions
Homeric Questions
Odyssey Bk XI
Oresteia
Children of Agamemnon
Iphigenia
Orestes
Aegisthus
Cassandra
Aerope
Aulis

Don't Stop Here! More People in Greek Legend on the Next Page =>

Continued From Page 1 of the Greek Legend Who's Who

Trojan War Heroes — Image ID: 1624208 The heroes of Troy. (1882). NYPL Digital Gallery

This group of names you should know from Greek myth and legend is in two parts for heroes, divided chronologically, with a third part for names that do not belong to legendary heroes. The first alphabetical group consists of heroes from before the Trojan War. These are on page one. Next come Trojan War names beginning with Achilles, some of which are on page one and some on this, page two. After the Trojan War heroes come the legendary non-humans. Also see my ranking of the Top Heroes in Greek Mythology.

Ajax

During the Trojan War, Ajax was the second best Greek warrior. When he was denied the honor of the armor of the dead Achilles, he tried to kill the Greek leaders but was driven mad, instead.

Hector

Hector was a son of King Priam of Troy and the best warrior of the Trojans in the Trojan War. He killed Patroclus and was killed by Achilles.

Amazons
Homeric Questions

Helen of Troy and Menelaus

Helen and Menelaus on at Attic red-figure crater from c. 540-440 B.C. at the Louvre. — Helen and Menelaus on at Attic red-figure crater, by the Menelaus Painter from c. 540-440 B.C. at the Louvre. Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.

Helen of Troy known as the face that launched a thousand ships for starting the Trojan War. Helen was married to King Menelaus of Sparta when Paris took her.

Homer

The blind bard believed to have written at least one if not both of the Iliad and Odyssey.

Homeric Questions
Quotes
The Odyssey
Greek Tragedy

Iliad

Set in the tenth year of the Trojan war the Iliad tells the story of Achilles' wrath. It ends with Achilles returning Hector's body.
Iliad Summary/Notes/Study Guides, Homeric Questions, Ghost Stories, Heroic Behavior, Quotes.

Odysseus

Odysseus was the cunning Greek who devised the Trojan Horse; subject of the Odyssey.

Odyssey

Odyssey The 10-year return voyage taken by Odysseus from the Trojan War to Ithaca.

Paris

Paris (aka Alexander) was a Trojan prince who took Helen from Menelaus.

Don't Stop Here! More Names to Know From Greek Legend on the Next Page =>

Patroclus

Patroclus was responsible for Achilles' rejoining the battle of the Trojan War, at first by proxy and then for revenge. While Achilles was still refusing to fight for the Greeks, he let his friend Patroclus wear his armor and lead his troops. The Trojans, who thought Patroclus was Achilles, killed him. To avenge the death of Patroclus, Achilles rejoined the battle.

Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse was a device conjured by Odysseus to get the Greek troops inside the Trojan Walls. The Trojans took the horse as a gift not knowing it was filled with warriors. After the Trojans welcomed the gift into their city, they celebrated what they thought was the departure of the Greeks, but while they slept, the Greeks poured forth from the horse's belly and destroyed Troy.