The Achaeans (Ancient Greek: Ἀχαιοί”the Achaeans” or “of Achaea”) constitute one of the collective names for the Greeks in Homer’s Iliad (used 598 times) and Odyssey. The other common names are Danaans (Δαναοί Danaoi used 138 times in the Iliad) and Argives (Ἀργεῖοι Argeioi; used 182 times in the Iliad) while Panhellenes (Πανέλληνες Panhellenes, “All of the Greeks”) and Hellenes (Ἕλληνες Hellenes) both appear only once all of the aforementioned terms were used synonymously to denote a common Greek civilizational identity. In the historical period, the Achaeans were the inhabitants of the region of Achaea, a region in the north-central part of the Peloponnese. The city-states of this region later formed a confederation known as the Achaean League, which was influential during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
In some English translations of the Iliad, the Achaeans are simply called the Greeks throughout.
Source: Wikipedia
