Common People and Leaders in Iliad Book 2: The Invocation of the Muses and the Catalogue of Ships

Abstract

This paper closely examines and interprets the contribution of the "Catalogue of Ships" to the Iliad . It adopts three perspectives: (1) the placement of the Catalogue within Iliad 2, including the action that precedes and the Invocation of the Muses, (2) the content and arrangement of content within the twenty-nine entries of the Greek Catalogue, and (3) the use of poetic figuration in the Catalogue. Each perspective yields evidence suggesting a democratic commemoration that privileges the common soldiers and the communities back home as a whole rather than an aristocracy of military leaders.