The formulaic phrases referring to Troy in the Iliad have not received enough attention until now: Milman Parry emphasized the epithets for heroes, but was not as confident in regard to epithets for objects and places. In his first dissertation, he actually considered some generic epithets for cities, [1] and gives a list of them in a note, [2] but the combination of epithets with proper city-names did not particularly interest him. [3] A close examination of the formulaic epithets for cities will attempt to show the system of epithets used for Troy and to determine whether it corresponds to the law of economy, as does the system of epithets used with the names of the epic heroes and gods demonstrated by Parry. We shall try to show how the metrical distinction between the names Τροίη and ῎Ιλιος determines the choice of the epithets and their placement in the verse, and we shall conclude with observations on the importance of the space between the Achaean ships and the city walls as the theater of war. While William M. Sale's 1987 article, "The Formularity of the Place-Phrases in the Iliad," is very interested in epithets for cities, is very accurate, and will be often quoted here, it may appear surprising that he does not check the system of formulaic epithets, though he still intends in this paper to defend Parry. The author seems to have ignored-not without good reason, in my opinion-a paper by C. M. Bowra published in 1960 (the same date as Lord's Singer of Tales) in the Journal for Hellenic Studies, under the title "Homeric Epithets for Troy," which does not even mention Parry, nor German scholars such as Düntzer, whose importance in the analysis of fixed