Gods and Goddesses in Homer's Epic Poem The Iliad

The Iliad is an epic poem ascribed to the ancient Greek storyteller Homer, which tells the story of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. The Iliad is believed to have been written in the 8th century BCE; it is a classic piece of literature which is still commonly read today. The Iliad includes a dramatic series of battle scenes as well as many scenes in which the gods intervene on behalf of various characters (or for their own reasons). In this list, you'll find the major gods and personifications described in the poem, including some rivers and winds.

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List of Characters in 'The Iliad'

By N.S. Gill

• Aidoneus = Hades: god, king of the dead.
• Aphrodite: love goddess, Supports the Trojans.
• Apollo: god, sends a plague, son of Zeus and Leto. Supports the Trojans.
• Ares: god of war. Supports the Trojans.
• Artemis: goddess, daughter of Zeus and Hera, sister of Apollo. Supports the Trojans.
• Athena: goddess active in battle, daughter of Zeus. Supports the Greeks.
• Axius: river in Paeonia (in north-eastern Greece), also the river god.
• Charis: goddess, wife of Hephaestus.
• Dawn: goddess.
• Death: brother of Sleep.
• Demeter: goddess of grain and food.
• Dione: goddess, mother of Aphrodite.
• Dionysus: divine son of Zeus and Semele.
• Eileithyia: goddess of birth pains and labor pangs.
• Fear: goddess: accompanies Ares and Athena into battle.
• Flight: god.
• Folly: daughter of Zeus.
• Furies: goddesses of revenge within the family.
• Glauce: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Gygaea: a water nymph: mother of Mesthles and Ascanius (allies of the Trojans).
• Hades: brother of Zeus and Poseidon, god of the dead.
• Halië: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Hebe: goddess who acts as cupbearer to the gods.
• Helios: god of the sun.
• Hephaestus: god, son of Zeus and Hera, artisan god, crippled in his legs.
• Hera: divine wife and sister of Zeus, daughter of Cronos. Supports the Greeks.
• Hermes: divine son of Zeus, called "killer of Argus".
• Hyperion: god of the sun.
• Iris: goddess, the messenger of the gods.
• Leto: goddess, mother of Apollo and Artemis.
• Limnoreia: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Muses: goddesses, daughters of Zeus.
• Nemertes: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Nereus: sea god, father of the Nereids.
• Nesaea: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Night: goddess.
• North Wind.
• Oceanus (Ocean): god of the river surrounding the earth.
• Orithyia: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Paeëon: god of healing.
• Poseidon: major Olympian god.
• Prayers: daughters of Zeus.
• Proto: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Rhea: goddess, wife of Cronos.
• Rumour: a messenger from Zeus.
• Seasons: goddesses who look after the gates of Olympus.
• Sleep: god, brother of death.
• Strife: goddess active in war.
• Terror: god, son of Ares.
• Tethys: goddess; wife of Oceanus.
• Themis: goddess.
• Thetis: divine sea nymph, mother of Achilles, daughter of the old man of the sea.
• Thoë: a Nereid (daughter of Nereus).
• Titans: gods imprisoned by Zeus in Tartarus.
• Typhoeus: monster held captive underground by Zeus.
• Xanthus: god of the Scamander River.
• Zephyrus: the west wind.
• Zeus: King of the gods.