In ancient Greek myth, heroes were humans, male or female, of the remote past, endowed with superhuman abilities and descended from the immortal gods themselves. In the Trojan war, the Greek heroes (according to Homer) were:
- Achilles - son of the mortal Peleus and the nymph Thetis. He is the major hero of Homer's epic The Iliad.
- Ajax - There are two men of this name, the greater and the lesser. The greater is the son of Telamon, who is also father of the best Greek bowman, Teucer. After Achilles' death, Ajax wants his armor thinking he deserves it as the second greatest of the Greek warriors.
- Odysseus - King of Ithaca, Trojan War fighter and strategist - he came up with the idea for the famous Trojan Horse. He is the main character of The Odyssey.
Other major Greek figures include:
- Agamemnon - Leader of the Achaean (Greek) forces and the brother-in-law of the beautiful Helen, formerly of Sparta, now of Troy.
- Diomedes - An Argive leader on the Greek side; wounds Aeneas and Aphrodite; routs the Trojans until the son of Lycaon (Pandarus) hits him with an arrow.
- Menelaus - Helen's aggrieved husband and the brother of Agamemnon.
- Nestor - king of Pylos. Since he was much older than the others on the Greek side of the battle, he had lived a full life before Troy and was too old to serve as much more than an advisor to the Greeks. As a younger man, he had been involved in the main heroic expeditions, the quest for the Golden Fleece along with Jason's other Argonauts, and the great Calydonian Boar Hunt.
- Patroclus - Beloved friend of Achilles who borrows his armor to go lead the Myrmidons against the Trojans. He is killed in battle, which results in Achilles re-joining the fray to kill Hector.
