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.1. Atalanta
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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.
2. Bellerophon
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Bellerophon was a Greek hero who rode on the winged horse Pegasus; killed the Chimera monster, and tried to fly Pegasus to Olympus.
3. Cadmus
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Cadmus was sent on a vain quest to find his sister Europa. He settled in Boeotia and founded the city of Thebes, instead.
4. Hercules
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Hercules or Heracles (Herakles) was a strong man and son of Zeus, who performed 12 labors; his nemesis was Hera.
5. Jason
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Jason was the Argonaut leader who captured the golden fleece and married the witch Medea.
6. Perseus
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Perseus was the Greek hero who decapitated Medusa; founded Mycenae. His biological father was Zeus who impregnanted Perseus' mother Danae in a shower of gold.
7. Theseus
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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.
8. Achilles
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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
- The Lesser Share
- A Goddess for Men
- Jason's Angels
- Quotes
- Odyssey Bk XI
9. Agamemnon
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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.
10. Ajax
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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.
