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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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King of the winds; gives Ody a bag of winds, sadly Ody’s nosey crew opens up the bag that they think is full of riches and it blows then right back to Aeolus’ island.
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Aeolus
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Brother of Menelaus; he fough in the Trojan War; was later on murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Augisthus. 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.
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Agamemnon
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King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom of Scheria. Alcinous hears the story of Odysseus's wanderings and provides him with safe passage back to Ithaca.
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Alcinous
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The suitor that doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut and Ody shoots him with an arrow through the neck. The most arrogant of Penelope's suitors. Antinous 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.
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Antinous
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Goddess of wisdom; a ally of Ody that tries to help him to get back to Ithica. She is disguised throughout half the story. 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.
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Athena
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The goddess who held Ody captive for 7 years. She wanted to make him her husband. But then Hermes came along and forced me to let him go. The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia. Calypso holds him prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger god, persuades her to let him go.
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Calypso
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The whirlpool monster that sucks down ships and water then spews them back up three times a day.
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Charydbis
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The goddess of the Aeaean Island. She falls in love with Ody and hosts him and his men for a year. The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus's crew into swine when he lands on her island. With Hermes' help, Odysseus resists Circe's powers and then becomes her lover, living in luxury at her side for a year.
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Circe
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The wife that murders her husband in cold-blood.
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Cytemnestra
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First person that odysseus talks to in the House of Death. He makes one small request of Ody.
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Elpenor
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Ody’s loyal swineherd. Even though his master has been gone for 20 years, he still misses him and considers his son his own family. 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, Eumaeus gives the man food and shelter.
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Eumaeus
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The nurse that cared for both Ody and his son. Even though he is old, he is clever and keeps Ody’s household in line. The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they were babies. Eurycleia is well informed about palace intrigues and serves as confidante to her masters. She keeps Telemachus's journey secret from Penelope, and she later keeps Odysseus's identity a secret after she recognizes a scar on his leg.
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Eurycleia
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God of the underworld.
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Hades
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The cause of the Trojan War. Her husband still loves her even though she caused so much trouble. Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Helen's 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.
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Helen
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Sun god who is mad that Ody’s men ate his cattle.
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Helios
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Messenger of the gods.
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Hermes
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The greek who decided to write this story down so that generations to come would be able to enjoy it.
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Homer
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Ody’s father, waiting all these years, wasting away in grief. Odysseus's aging father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca. In despair and physical decline, Laertes regains his spirit when Odysseus returns and eventually kills Antinous's father.
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Laertes
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These people are giants and cannibals. They throw rocks and Ody’s ships, destroying much and killing many.
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Laestrygonians
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Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus's palace. Like her brother, Melantho abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing that the man is Odysseus. She is having an affair with Eurymachus.
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Melantho
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The second king to host Telemachus on his journey. He reveals to him that his father is still alive. 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.
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Menelaus
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Goatherd. The brother of Melantho. A treacherous and opportunistic goatherd who supports the suitors, especially Eurymachus, and abuses the beggar who appears in Odysseus's palace, not realizing that the man is Odysseus himself.
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Menlanthius
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Gone for a long time on journey. Comes home to his family and gets his rightful throne back. The protagonist of the Odyssey. Odysseus fought among the other Greek heroes at Troy and now struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. Odysseus is the husband of Queen Penelope and the father of Prince Telemachus. Though a strong and courageous warrior, he is most renowned for his cunning. He is a favorite of the goddess Athena, who often sends him divine aid, but a bitter enemy of Poseidon, who frustrates his journey at every turn.
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Odysseus
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Weaves at the loom all day, but at night, she undoes all the work that she has done. Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. Penelope spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever and steadfastly true to her husband.
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Penelope
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The Cyclops that feasted on Ody’s mean and was blinded by “nobody”. One of the Cyclopes (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them, but Odysseus blinds him through a clever ruse and manages to escape. In doing so, however, Odysseus angers Polyphemus's father, Poseidon.
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Polyphemus
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God of sea who throughout the story has a deep dislike for Ody and prevents him from going home since he blinded the Cyclops. God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus's mortal antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to return Odysseus to Ithaca.
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Poseidon
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The old man of the sea who always tells the truth. He has the ability to change shape into anything that he chooses.
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Proteus
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One of the dangers Ody encounters on his journey home.
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Scylla
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Another terror of the sea that Ody has to face
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Sirens
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Ody’s son who is immature and annoying at first, but by the end of the book he is a man. Odysseus's son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story. He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks the poise and confidence to oppose them. His maturation, especially during his trip to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, provides a subplot to the epic. Athena often assists him.
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Telemachus
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The reason Ody comes to the house of death in the first place. He wanted his advice. A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades.
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Tiresius
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God of the underworld. King of gods and men, who mediates the disputes of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is occasionally depicted as weighing men's fates in his scales. He sometimes helps Odysseus or permits Athena to do the same.
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Zeus
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