Key Characters and Places from The Odyssey

Flashcards covering key characters and places from The Odyssey.

Aeolus

Keeper of the winds; gives Odysseus a bag of winds.

Alcinous

King of the Phaeacians; helps Odysseus return home.

Anticleia

Odysseus's mother; meets him in the Underworld.

Antinous

Leader of the suitors; violent and arrogant.

Apollo

God associated with prophecy, music, and archery.

Ares

God of war; caught in an affair with Aphrodite.

Argos

Odysseus’s loyal dog who dies after seeing him again.

Athena

Goddess of wisdom; Odysseus’s protector and guide.

Calypso

Nymph who keeps Odysseus captive for seven years.

Charybdis

Whirlpool monster; deadly obstacle for sailors.

Cicones

Allies of Troy; attack Odysseus’s men after they raid.

Cimmerians

Mythical people living in darkness near the Underworld.

Clytemnestra

Wife of Agamemnon; betrays and kills him.

Cyclopes

Race of one-eyed giants; Polyphemus is one of them.

Demodocus

Blind bard who sings at Alcinous’s court.

Elpenor

Odysseus’s crewman; dies by falling from Circe’s roof.

Eumaeus

Loyal swineherd who helps Odysseus.

Eupeithes

Father of Antinous; seeks revenge for the suitors’ deaths.

Eurycleia

Loyal nurse who recognizes Odysseus by his scar.

Eurymachus

Another leading suitor; manipulative and deceitful.

Helen

Wife of Menelaus; her abduction caused the Trojan War.

Hephaestus

God of fire and metalwork; husband of Aphrodite.

Hermes

Messenger god; helps Odysseus on several occasions.

Irus

Beggar at Odysseus’s home; fights Odysseus in disguise.

Laertes

Odysseus’s aging father.

Melanthius

Disloyal goatherd; sides with the suitors.

Melantho

Disloyal maid; betrays Penelope.

Menelaus

King of Sparta; offers Telemachus information about Odysseus.

Mentor

Old friend of Odysseus; often impersonated by Athena.

Nausicaa

Princess who helps Odysseus when he washes ashore.

Nestor

King of Pylos; wise counselor from the Trojan War.

Odysseus

Hero of the epic; clever, resilient, and determined.

Orestes

Son of Agamemnon; avenges his father's murder.

Penelope

Faithful wife of Odysseus; known for her cleverness.

Pisistratus

Nestor’s son; accompanies Telemachus to Sparta.

Phaeacians

Seafaring people who help Odysseus return to Ithaca.

Phemius

Bard in Ithaca who is forced to entertain the suitors.

Philoetius

Loyal cowherd who helps Odysseus fight the suitors.

Polyphemus

Cyclops blinded by Odysseus.

Poseidon

God of the sea; Odysseus’s enemy after harming Polyphemus.

Proteus

Shape-shifting sea god; reveals how to leave Egypt to Menelaus.

Scylla

Six-headed monster; devours sailors passing by.

Sirens

Creatures whose songs lure sailors to their doom.

Telemachus

Son of Odysseus and Penelope; matures during the story.

Theoclymenus

Prophet who joins Telemachus’s journey.

Thrinacia

Island of the Sun god; sacred cattle live here.

Tiresias

Blind prophet in the Underworld who guides Odysseus.