Ship catalog
The ship catalog ( Greek νεῶν κατάλογος , neōn katalogos) in the 2nd song of the Iliad by Homer describes the troops of the Greeks ( Achaeans ) gathered for the conquest of Troy with the number of ships, the names of the leaders and the places of origin of the warriors in the form of a list .
source
This catalog has only survived in the epic Iliad by the poet Homer in Canto 2 in verses 494 to 759, which is the oldest surviving European poem from the 8th century BC. Was created.
Further ship catalogs on the Trojan War, some with slightly different information, can be found in the library of Apollodorus (Epitome 3,11-14), in Hyginus Mythographus ( Fabulae 97), in Dictys Cretensis (1,17) and in Dares Phrygius (14th chap .).
Contents of the catalog
landscape | Verses | Ships | warrior | leader | places |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boeotia | 494-510 | 50 | 120 each | Peneleos , Leïtos, Arkesilaos , Klonios , Prothoënor | Hyrie, Aulis , Schoinos, Skolos, Eteonos, Thespaia, Graia , Mykalessos, Harma, Eilesion, Erythrai, Eleon , Peteon, Hyle, Okalea , Medeon , Kopai, Eutresis , Thisbe , Koroneia , Haliartos , Plataiai , Glisas, Onchestothebai , Arne , Mideia, Nisas, Anthedon |
Northwestern ( Minysh ) Boeotia | 511-516 | 30th | Askalaphos , Ialmenos | Orchomenos , Aspledon | |
Phocis | 517-526 | 40 | Schedios, Epistrophos | Kyparissos, Python, Krissa , Panopeos, Daulis , Anemoreia, Hyampolis , Lilaia | |
Lokris | 527-535 | 40 | Ajax (the Lokrer) | Kynos , Kalliaros, Opus, Bessa, Skarphe, Augeiai, Thronion, Tarphe | |
Abanter | 536-545 | 40 | Elephenor | Euboia , Chalkis , Eretria , Histiaias, Kerinthos, Dion, Karystos , Styra | |
Athens | 546-556 | 50 | Menestheus | ||
Salamis | 557-558 | 12 | Aiax | ||
Argolis | 559-568 | 80 | Diomedes , Sthenelos , Euryalus | Argos , Tiryns , Asine , Hermione , Troizen , Eïónes, Epidauros , Aigina , Mases | |
Western Argolis, Corinthia | 569-580 | 100 | Agamemnon | Mycenae , Corinth , Kleonai , Orneia, Araithyreas, Sikyon , Hyperesia , Gonoëssa, Pellene , Aigion , Helike | |
Lacedaemon | 581-590 | 60 | Menelaus | Pharis, Sparta , Messene , Bryseiai, Augeiai, Amyklai , Helos, Laas , Oitylos | |
Messenia , Triphylia | 591-602 | 90 | Nestor | Pylos , Arene, Thryos, Aipy, Kyparisseeis , Amphigeneia, Pteleos, Helos, Dorion | |
Arcadia | 603-614 | 60 | Agapenor | Pheneos , Orchomenos , Rhipe, Stratie, Enispe, Tegea , Mantinea , Stymphalos , Parrhasia | |
Elis | 615-624 | 40 | Amphimachus, Thalpios, Diores, Polyxeinos | Buprasion, Elis, Hyrmine, Myrsinos, Olenion, Alision | |
Ionian islands | 625-630 | 40 | Meges | Dulichion , Echinen (probably the Echinaden ) | |
Ionian islands | 631-637 | 12 | Odysseus | Ithaca , Kefalonia , Neritos , Krokyleia, Aigilips , Zakynthos , Same | |
Aitolia | 638-644 | 40 | Thoas | Pleuron, Olenos, Pylene, Chalkis, Kalydon | |
Crete | 645-652 | 80 | Idomeneus , Meriones | Knossos , Gortyn , Lyktos , Miletus, Lykastos, Phaistos , Rhytion | |
Rhodes | 653-670 | 9 | Tlepolemos | Lindos , Ialysus , Kamiros | |
Syme | 671-675 | 3 | Nireus | ||
Kos | 676-680 | 30th | Pheidippos , Antiphos | Nisyros , Karpathos , Kasos , Kos, Kalydnai | |
Pelasgic Argos | 681-694 | 50 | Achilles | Alos, Alope, Trachis , Phthia , Hellas | |
Phylake | 695-710 | 40 | Protesilaos , Podarkes | Phylake, Pyrasus, Iton, Antron, Pteleos | |
Pherai and Iolkos | 711-715 | 11 | Eumelos | Pherai, Boibe, Glaphyrai, Jolkos | |
Methone (Thessaly) | 716-728 | 7th | 50 each | Philoctetes | Methone, Thaumakia, Meliboia, Olizon |
Hestiaiotis (northwestern Thessaly) | 729-733 | 30th | Podaleirios , Machaon | Trikka , Ithome, Oichalia | |
Tymphaia | 734-737 | 40 | Eurypylos | Ormenion, Hypereia, Asterion, Titanos | |
Perrhaibia | 738-747 | 40 | Polypoites | Argissa, Gyrtone, Orthe, Elone, Oloosson | |
Enienen, Peraebi | 748-755 | 22nd | Guneus | Kyphos, Ainiena, Gonos, Dodona (Thessaly), on the Titaresios river | |
magnesia | 756-759 | 40 | Prothoos | on the Peneios river , on the Pelion |
So Homer gives a force of 1,186 ships. Twice he mentions the strength of the crew with 120 and 50 men, so that taking into account larger and smaller ships, assuming an average of 80 warriors per ship, one comes to the very considerable number of 94,880 warriors.
Reality of the traditional places
In its orderly, almost bureaucratic form, the ship catalog gives the impression of a traditional list. The question of whether the catalog from around 1200 BC The event of the Trojan War to be assigned to a certain BC or the political-geographical situation of Homer's time in the 8th / 7th centuries. Century BC Reflects this is the subject of ongoing scientific discussion. The creation of the catalog in the Mycenaean period presupposes an oral or written tradition of around 400 years. Many place names in the catalog can already be found in linear B tables . At the same time, the catalog shows places that were no longer considered to be inhabited at the time of Homer. Places in Thessaly, central and western Greece, the Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands and Crete as well as the islands of the Dodecanese are named. The Cyclades and places in mainland Asia Minor were not taken into account. For Joachim Latacz , the catalog of place names indicates that they originated in Mycenaean times.
Not Mycenae , but Thebes is mentioned in the first position in the catalog, although Agamemnon of Mycenae was the leader of the Greek armed forces. The departure port of Aulis is also on Theban territory. However, in recent research, Thebes is subordinate to Mycenae, at least with regard to its external contacts.
Being mentioned in the ship's catalog probably increased the prestige of a polis also in later times, so that even in the unpublished time, mutual social control against changes in this catalog by less influential Greek states can be assumed. For Birgitta Eder , the catalog represents a “mixture of mythical geography and geographical reality”. In the end, she considers the time of origin of the Homeric ship catalog to be unanswerable.
Reality of the Trojan War
The war against Troy occupies a large space in Greek mythology. For the ancient Greeks, the war against Troy was undoubtedly a historic event . The scholar Eratosthenes of Cyrene calculated the conquest of Troy to be 1184 BC. BC and thus classified it in the time frame of early Greek history between myth and documented history.
literature
- Edzard Visser : Homer's Catalog of Ships . BG Teubner, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1997, ISBN 3-519-07442-7 ( books.google.de ).
- Birgitta Eder : Once again: The Homeric ship catalog . In: Christoph Ulf (ed.): The new dispute over Troy. A balance sheet . CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50998-3 , p. 287-308 ( online [accessed May 13, 2015]).
Web links
- Homer: Iliad, Canto 2. Dream, temptation, ship catalog. gottwein.de, August 14, 2003, accessed on May 14, 2015 (German translation after Johann Heinrich Voß , edited by Egon Gottwein).
References and comments
- ↑ 10 ships of each of the 4 leaders, Homer: Iliad , 2nd Canto, verse 618.
- ↑ After Protesilaos was the first to be killed on the beach at Troy, Podarkes followed him.
- ↑ Joachim Latacz: Troy and Homer. The way to solve an old riddle. Koehler & Amelang, Munich et al. 2001, p. 275 f.
- ↑ Birgitta Eder: Considerations on the political geography of the Mycenaean world, or: Arguments for the supraregional importance of Mycenae in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. In: Geographia Antiqua. Volume 18, 2009, pp. 5-46, here p. 26 ( online ).
- ↑ Birgitta Eder: Once again: The Homeric ship catalog. In: Christoph Ulf (ed.): The new dispute over Troy. A balance sheet. CH Beck, Munich 2003, pp. 287-308, here p. 307.
- ↑ Birgitta Eder: Once again: The Homeric ship catalog. In: Christoph Ulf (ed.): The new dispute over Troy. A balance sheet. CH Beck, Munich 2003, pp. 287-308, here p. 308.
- ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War I, 10.