Let g be a complex semisimple Lie algebra, τ a point in the upper half-plane, and ∈ C a deformation parameter such that the image of in the elliptic curve C/(Z + τ Z) is of infinite order. In this paper, we give an intrinsic definition of the category of finite-dimensional representations of the elliptic quantum group E ,τ (g) associated to g. The definition is given in terms of Drinfeld half-currents, and extends that given by Enriquez-Felder for g = sl 2 [14]. When g = sln, it reproduces Felder's RLL definition [24] via the Gauß decomposition obtained in [14] for n = 2 and [31] for n ≥ 3. We classify the irreducible representations of E ,τ (g) in terms of elliptic Drinfeld polynomials, in close analogy to the case of the Yangian Y (g) and quantum loop algebra Uq(Lg) of g. A crucial ingredient in the classification is a functor Θ from finitedimensional representations of Uq(Lg) to those of E ,τ (g), which is an elliptic analogue of the monodromy functor constructed in [33], and circumvents the fact that E ,τ (g) does not admit Verma modules. Our classification is new even for g = sl 2 . It holds more generally when g is a symmetrisable Kac-Moody algebra, provided finite-dimensionality is replaced by an integrability and category O conditions.