One of the three names the poem gives to the Greeks, alongside Achaeans and Argives. All three apply to the whole army and appear on everyone's lips: Chryses asks Apollo to make the Danaans pay for his tears, Menelaus rebukes the Achaeans for keeping silent before Hector's challenge, and Hera does not accept that the Argives flee and leave Priam the glory of Helen.
Where It Appears
- Book I: The Plague and the Wrath
- Book II: The Dream and the Catalog of the Ships
- Book VII: The Duel of Hector and Ajax
Quotes
alas, what will become of me? It will be a great evil if I flee, out of fear of the crowd; worse still if I am taken alone, for the son of Cronus has put the other Danaans to flight. But why does my heart tell me these things? I know that the base men keep away from war, and that he who distinguishes himself in combat must stand firm, whether he is wounded or wounds another.