The Composition of the Forces

The Trojan War was the greatest armed enterprise ever conducted in Greek Mythology, and to the ancient Greeks- history itself. As they were fighting real wars against the Persians, and later, the terrible Peloponnesian War against one another, they could look back to the epics and say that they were not alone in these vast armed enterprises that went far beyond the squabbles of one city-state, or polis with another.

The armed parties taking part in this Aegean world war are described in detail in Book II of the Iliad. There are a total of 1,196 ships. Each ship had a crew of 120, except for Philoctetes/Medons' contingent, which had 50 to a ship. With other information given to us by Homer, an order of battle for both sides can more or less be constructed.

Greek Order of Battle:

Left Flank

Salaminians - Giant/Talemonian Ajax (12 ships, 1,440 men)

Cretans - Idomeneus (80 ships, 9,600 men)

Phylaceans, etc. - Podarces (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Locrians - (Little/Oilean Ajax 40 ships, 4,800 men)

Phocians - Schedius & Epistrophus (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Boeotians - Leitus & Penelos (50 ships, 6,000 men)

Aspledonians - Ascalaphus & Ialmenus (30 ships, 3,600 men)

Euboeans - Elephenor (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Athenians - Menestheus (50 ships, 6,000 men)

Mycenaeans - Agamemnon (100 ships, 12,000 men)

Center:

Cephallenians (including Ithacans) - Odysseus (12 ships, 1,440 men)

Argives/Tirynians - Diomedes (80 ships, 9,600 men)

Lacedaemonians (including Spartans) - Menelaus (60 ships 7,200 men)

Pylians - Nestor (90 ships 10,800 men)

Arcadians - Agapenor (60 ships, 7,200 men)

Buprasions - Thalpius, Amphimachus, Diores, & Polyxinus (40 ships, 4,800 men, each leading 10 ships personally).

Dulichions, etc. - Meges (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Aetolians - Thoas (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Rhodians - Tlepolemus (9 ships, 1,080 men)

Symeans - Nireus (3 ships, 360 men)

Nisyruseans, etc. - Antiphus & Phidippus (30 ships, 3,600 men)

(The original leader of this contingent was Protesilaus, who was the first Greek casualty of the war, the first off the ships being prophesied to die.)

Pheraens - Eumelus (11 ships, 1,320 men)

Methonians, etc. - Philoctetes/Medon (7 ships, 350 men)

(Philoctetes was wounded before he got to Troy at first. He would later be retrieved after the events of the Iliad.)

Triccans, etc. - Asclepius (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Ormenions, etc. - Eurypylus (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Argissans, etc. - Polypoetes (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Cyphusians - Guneus (22 ships, 2,640 men)

Magnesians - Prothous (40 ships, 4,800 men)

Right Flank

Myrmidons - Achilles (50 ships, 6,000 men)

That gives us a total number of approximately 143,030 men fighting for the Greeks. The relative positions of each unit are taken from Homer's descriptions as well as logical deduction:

- Homer constantly mentions the two Ajaxes fighting side by side, so it seems likely that they would have occupied adjacent positions on the Greek line, with the Little Ajax to Giant Ajax's immediate right.

- We do not know the exact positions of these two units, but Homer mentions that the Phocians occupied positions to the left of the Boeotians. From this point forward I'll simply go with Homer's order, since there's no reliable information as to exactly where each unit was.

- Homer seems to imply in Book 14 that Agamemnon's fleet is just upward of Odysseus' in the very center, meaning Agamemnon would occupy the center-left.

- Homer states Diomedes' fleet is next to Odysseus' in Book 14.

About the Trojans Agamemnon says the Greeks outnumber them by over ten-to-one, not including their allies. This implies that the Trojans would then have less than 14,303 men. The allies are said to be far lower in number than the Trojans.

We can complete a rough picture by the description given at the end of Book 8, where the Trojans are described as having 1000 campfires, around which 50 men stood. Obviously that equals 50,000 men for the Trojans and their allies. If we subtract that from the roughly 14,303 men that are Trojans, that equals 35,697 men that the Trojan allies have brought to the war between them.

The relative positions of the Trojan units are described in Book 10:

Trojan/Allied Order of Battle:

Left Flank:

Mysians - Chromis & Ennomus

Lycians - Sarpedon

Phyrgians - Ascanius

Center:

(Presumably, the remaining units, most prominently the Trojans themselves, would be here.)

Trojans - Hector (>14,303 men)

Dardanians - Aeneas

Zeleans - Pandarus

Apaesians, etc. - Adrestus & Amphius

Percotians, etc. - Asius

Cicones - Euphemes

Pahplagonians - Pylaemenes

Halizonians - Odius & Epistrophus

Ascanians - Ascanius & Morys (they join the battle the day during the events of Book 13. Homer describes them coming the day before, so they first arrived around the events of Book 8).

Right Flank:

Carians - Nastes

Paeonians - Pyraechmes

Maeonians - Mesthles & Antiphus

Leleges and Cauconians (a new unit that seems to be first mentioned in Book 10)

Pelasgians - Hippothous

Thracians - Acamas & Pirous (At least over 12 ships and 1,440 men as revealed in Book 11. Also note that this unit is described as occupying the furthest point on one of the flanks in Book 10, but nothing is mentioned as to which one. Strangely, the leader, King Rhesus, seems to be different from the two that are mentioned in Book 2.)

The Amazons under Penthesilea would later join the Trojans after the events in the Iliad, and Memnon would also later bring his contingent of Ethiopians.

Regardless of the exact details, the amount of soldiers in this war was truly gargantuan and obviously stretches the line of credibility. There's no way that in approximately 1,200 B.C. such a large force could be supplied for any length of time, much less ten years. In fact, armies of over 100,000 were rare in the West until the beginning of the 19th century.

Obviously any military action at what we believe to have been Troy would have been far smaller. Thucydides' assertion that Homer exaggerated the Trojan Wars' importance appears here to be verified. But truly from the standpoint of the Ancient Greek consciousness, the Trojan war dwarfed any they fought against the Persians or each other. To them the expedition against Troy was history and an example they would do well to remember. Book II first allows you to peer into that viewpoint.