Question: Who Were the Achaeans or Akhaians Mentioned in the "Iliad" and "Odyssey"?

Answer:

In the Iliad and Odyssey, attributed to Homer, the Greeks, in general, are referred to by various terms, including Achaioi 'Achaeans/Akhaians'. Homer also uses the term Achaean to refer specifically to people from the region of Achilles' homeland, in south Thessaly. The term Achaean may also refer to the people who are called Mycenaeans, like the followers of Agamemnon.


Achaeans may be connected with the Hittite Akhkhiyawas/Ahhiyawas.

• _{"Achaeans" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Timothy Darvill. Oxford University Press, 2008.}
• _{"Achaea" The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996.}
• _{"The Achaeans"
  William K. Prentice
  American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1929), pp. 206-218}
• _{"Ahhiyawa and Troy: A Case of Mistaken Identity?"
  T. R. Bryce
  Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 26, No. 1 (1st Qtr., 1977), pp. 24-32}