Ship catalog

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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

Places of origin of the Greeks before Troy

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

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

  1. 10 ships of each of the 4 leaders, Homer: Iliad , 2nd Canto, verse 618.
  2. After Protesilaos was the first to be killed on the beach at Troy, Podarkes followed him.
  3. Joachim Latacz: Troy and Homer. The way to solve an old riddle. Koehler & Amelang, Munich et al. 2001, p. 275 f.
  4. 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 ).
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War I, 10.