The next long section is known as the Catalogue of Ships. This section mentions every Greek captain and his contingent. The army comes from Crete to Thrace and Thessaly to Argos . This sort of a catalog of names and places is a literary technique used frequently in ancient oral and written traditions. Since the Iliad was recited all over Greece, all of Greece is mentioned in this section.
Every warrior has a tangible geographic origin.
Many of these warriors had actual hero cults in their home cities during the classical age. With the naming of the last Greek contingent, Iris arrives in the guise of a Trojan, calling the Trojan leaders to gather their troops. Iris points out the activity in the Greek camp and addresses Priam and Hector . Hector calls up the Trojan Troops and they gather on a mound outside the city. The next section names the leaders of the Trojans and their allies and the places from where they have come.