Deaths in the Iliad: a Classics Infographic
As requested: buy this as a poster in the UK! Or buy this as a poster in the US!
NEW: go here to find out exactly how useless Paris is!
EDITED: this got viewed about 250,000 times before anyone noticed that, on the first graph, I’d accidentally put Hektor’s book 22 death (the only one) in the book 21 column. Good spot!
ALSO EDITED: I’ve made reference to the fact that Patroclus kills, in a blink-and-miss-it reference, 27 un-named Trojans just before Hektor kills him. Aside from the 12 Thracians under Rhesus (Book 10), and the 12 Trojan princes slaughtered by Achilles over the pyre of Patroclus, these are the only unnamed kills. It is most likely that the reference is simply there for emphasis of Patroclus’ aristeia (BADASS emphasis!), and could even have been added later. It doubles his stats, but in a throwaway and almost meaningless manner, and these deaths are sometimes left off lists of deaths in the Iliad. Kudos to Max Ehrenfreund for the request.
Here’s a clickable link to Ian Johnston’s work on the Iliad: a lovely translation that’s perfect for first-time readers, a list of the speeches (invaluable to students), and of course the list of deaths which formed the basis of this Infographic along with my own research.
You can buy his Iliad translation, as paperback or Ebook. It’s available on Amazon but I know he’ll get an actually-decent cut of the cost if you buy it direct from Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/homer/the-iliad-translated-by-ian-johnston/paperback/product-2351622.html
(He’s done the Odyssey too!)
My illustrated Odyssey, books 5,6,7,9,10 and 12 (old UK GCSE set books) and some of the new chapters, are available to buy and download instantly: CLICK HERE .
Greek Myth Comix 
This is one of the most epic infographics of all times. And it is not just because Iliad is one of my favorite books. This is particularly because I owned a very particular edition that was published in the beginning of the 90s, which contained a lot of images of fights that really helped me to immerse into the story. The book got lost when we moved, but I recently found it in one of the antique stores, and bought it for my kids. I will also show them this article and I’m sure they are gonna love it.
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Dear John,
that’s so lovely of you to take the time to say, thank you. I’m really glad you’ve enjoyed it and that you’ll be sharing it with your kids! The best thing each year of my teaching life has been being able to read the Iliad anew with each new yeargroup, and seeing how they react to it. It’s always amazing!
Did you manage to find what edition of the Iliad you were thinking of? It sounds really intriguing.
Jenks.
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Very nice graphic. But unfortunately, Agamemnon’s name is mispelled. It is Ἀγαμἐμνων, with an omega.
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And a Merry Christmas to you too 😉
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Well, actually Ἀγαμέμνων, with an acute accent, not a smooth breathing, over the epsilon. The comix got that part right.
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TTTRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
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