Odyssey Characters

Front 1

Telemachus

Back 1

Son of Odysseus and Penelope, the prince struggles to gain his own maturity while attempting to deal with the problems of the palace.

Front 2

Odysseus

Back 2

The central figure in the epic, he employs guile as well as courage to return to Ithaca, defeat the suitors, and resume his proper place as king.

Front 3

Penelope

Back 3

Wife of Odysseus and mother of their son, Telemachus, she is shrewd and faithful in fending off the suitors.

Front 4

Circe

Back 4

A goddess-enchantress who turns some of Odysseus’ crew into swine, she reverses the spell and becomes Odysseus’ lover for a year, advising him well when he departs.

Front 5

Calypso

Back 5

A goddess-nymph, she holds Odysseus captive for seven years, sleeping with him, hoping to marry him, and releasing him only at Zeus’ order.

Front 6

Zeus

Back 6

King of the gods, he is somewhat unpredictable but usually supports wayfaring suppliants, hospitality, and his daughter Athena in her concern for Odysseus.

Front 7

Nestor

Back 7

King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like Odysseus, he is known as a clever speaker. Telemachus visits him in Book 3 to ask about his father, but he knows little of Odysseus’s whereabouts.

Front 8

Helen

Back 8

Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Her abduction from Sparta by the Trojans sparked the Trojan War. Her beauty is without parallel, but she is criticized for giving in to her Trojan captors and thereby costing many Greek men their lives. She offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find his father.

Front 9

Menelaus

Back 9

King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen, he helped lead the Greeks in the Trojan War. He offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in Book 4

Front 10

Agamemnon

Back 10

Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon’s spirit in Hades. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war. He was later avenged by his son Orestes. Their story is constantly repeated in the Odyssey to offer an inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and Telemachus.

Front 11

Cyltemnestra

Back 11

During his absence during the Trojan War, Agamemnon's wife, took a lover, Aigisthos. Upon Agamemnon's return, she kills him and his slave-mistress, Cassandra. The son, Orestes, kills his mother and her lover for destroying the family they had. For doing this, Orestes is held up by Athena to Telemakhos as a hero. The morale is that the destruction of the family should not go unpunished.

Front 12

Poseidon

Back 12

God of the sea and father of Polyphemus, he seeks revenge on Odysseus for blinding his son.

Front 13

Nausikaa

Back 13

The daughter of Alcinous, the King of Phaecia. She is the first to meet Odysseus when he reaches Phaecia. She guides him to the city and advises him to approach her mother Arete if he wishes to get help to return home

Front 14

Arete

Back 14

Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and mother of Nausicaa. Arete is intelligent and influential. Nausicaa tells Odysseus to make his appeal for assistance to Arete.

Front 15

Antinoos

Back 15

The most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors. He leads the campaign to have Telemachus killed. Unlike the other suitors, he is never portrayed sympathetically, and he is the first to die when Odysseus returns

Front 16

Alkinoos

Back 16

King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom of Scheria. He hears the story of Odysseus’s wanderings and provides him with safe passage back to Ithaca.

Front 17

Eurymachus

Back 17

A manipulative, deceitful suitor. Eurymachus’s charisma and duplicity allow him to exert some influence over the other suitors.

Front 18

Eurymaios

Back 18

The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philoetius, helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his return to Ithaca. Even though he does not know that the vagabond who appears at his hut is Odysseus, he gives the man food and shelter.

Front 19

AThena

Back 19

Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. She often appears in disguise as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus.

Front 20

Polyphemos

Back 20

Also known as “the Cyclops,” the one-eyed cannibal giant who traps Odysseus and a scouting party in his cave and is blinded when they escape.

Front 21

Demodokos

Back 21

The divine minstrel at Alcinous' palace. Upon hearing his songs of the heroes of Troy, Odysseus begins to cry.

Front 22

Eurykleia

Back 22

Faithful old nurse to Odysseus (as well as Telemachus), she identifies her master when she recognizes an old scar on his leg.

Front 23

Aiolos

Back 23

Keeper of the winds. He resides on a floating island along with his large family. After the adventure with the Cyclops, Odysseus and his men stay with him for a whole month and then are sent on their way to Ithaca. He gives Odysseus a bag of winds that his men foolishly open, causing them to be driven back to his island.

Front 24

Eurylokhos

Back 24

The most vociferous of Odysseus' crew. He plays a significant part in the Circe and Thrinacian isle episodes but perishes in the sea with the rest of the crew when Odysseus' ship is destroyed.

Front 25

Laertes

Back 25

Odysseus’ father, the old king lives humbly and in solitude on a small farm where he mourns the absence of his son; once reunited with Odysseus, he is restored to dignity.

Front 26

Teursias

Back 26

The blind seer of Thebes, he meets Odysseus in the Land of the Dead, warns him of impending dangers, offers advice, and foretells a later quest and a long life.

Front 27

Antikleia

Back 27

The blind seer of Thebes, he meets Odysseus in the Land of the Dead, warns him of impending dangers, offers advice, and foretells a later quest and a long life.

Front 28

Atreus

Back 28

One of the five sons of Nestor at Gerenia, who help his father in looking after the guest,Telemachus.

Front 29

Elpenor

Back 29

The youngest of Odysseus' crew. When Odysseus and his men are about to leave Circe's isle in order to descend into the underworld, he falls from the roof of Circe's dwelling and dies. His soul meets Odysseus in the underworld and asks for a burial.

Front 30

Akhilles

Back 30

A hero of the Trojan War. His soul meets Odysseus in the Hall of Hades and says that he would prefer to be a serf in the land of the living than a great prince in the land of the dead.

Front 31

Melanthios and Melantho

Back 31

Odysseus’ disloyal goatherd and an insolent palace maidservant, these two are representative of those who serve their master poorly, and each is rewarded with a grisly death.

Front 32

Hermes

Back 32

Messenger of the GOds who informs Calypso that Zeus wanted him to let Odysseus leave the island.

Front 33

Scylla

Back 33

snatched and killed six of his men, one for each head. Odysseus urged his men to row for their lives; not stopping to fight this monster

Front 34

Charybdis

Back 34

swallows the sea in a whirlpool, then spits it up again. Odysseus has to chose whether to sail near Scylla or this other monster.

Front 35

Sirens

Back 35

The song of the sirens bewitched men and drew them in to the island where they would be smashed against the rock and shipwrecked. Circe advised Odysseus to gave all the men wax to plug up their ears and then asked them to tie him to the mast. He made them promise that however much he pleaded, shouted or asked to be set free they were not to untie him. They did as they were told.

Front 36

Iros

Back 36

A well-known beggar in Ithaka who confronts Odysseus dressed as a beggar. Odysseus beats him up.

Front 37

Autolykos

Back 37

Odysseus'grandfather who was known as a greta theif and was w/ him when O. got his scar on his foot.

Front 38

Mentor

Back 38

Another Ithacan who is loyal to Odysseus. When Odysseus departed, he had given charge of his house to this man. Athena often disguises herself as this character in order to aid Odysseus and Telemachus.

Front 39

Mentes

Back 39

In the first Book, Athena encourages Telemachus to go in search of news about his father. She does this in the guise of Mentes, ruler of the Taphians.

Front 40

Amphinomos

Back 40

One of the suitors that is basically good at heart. A minor plotline in the Odyssey is how he becomes trapped in his fate with the other suitors.

Front 41

The prophecy

Back 41

The prophecy said that Odysseus must travel until he meets a people who know nothing about the sea, don't use salt, don't know about ship, have purple cheeks and shapely oars which are wings of ships. Then when he meets a man who says that Odysseus' oar is for winnowing and that he must plant it and offer gifts to Poseidon. Then return to Ithaca and offer holy hecatombs to all the gods. After all this he will be assured a long happy life

Front 42

Atlas

Back 42

Titan; Father of Kalypso

Front 43

Neleus

Back 43

Fatherof Nestor; former king of Pylos

Front 44

Tyro

Back 44

a queen who talked w/ Odysseus in the land of the dead.

Front 45

Aigsthos

Back 45

Lover Kltemnestra, murderer of Agamemnon and murdered by Orestes

Front 46

Proteus

Back 46

The old man of the sea

Front 47

Aias

Back 47

Son of Telamon, who quarreled w. Odysseus over Achilleus' armor.

Front 48

Neoptolemos

Back 48

SOn of Achilleus

Front 49

Pesistratos

Back 49

SOn of Nestor who accompanies Telemachus to Sparta.

Front 50

Eurymakhos

Back 50

One of the 2 leading suitors who attacked Odysseus

Front 51

Ikarios

Back 51

The father of Penelope