Characters in the Odyssey

Achaeans

Greeks

Alcinous

King of the island of Phaeacia where Odysseus is shipwrecked at the end of his journey

Antinous

One of Penelope’s suitors

Argos

Odysseus’ dog

Cicones

allies of the Trojans and enemies of the Greeks

Erebus

place of darkness in the Underworld

Eumaeus

Oddyseus’s swineherd

Eurcleia

Oddyseus’s nurse

Eur’ylochus

member of Odysseus’s crew

Eurymachus

one of Penelope’s suitors

Laertes

Odysseus’s father

Laestrygonians

cannibals who lived on a distant island

Lotus

People who live off the intoxicating lotus plant

Menelaus

greek king and husband of Helen, whose kidnapping by the Trojans set off the Trojan War

Odysseus

King of Ithaca, hero of the Trojan War

Main character in The Odyssey

Penelope

Wife of Odysseus

Perimedes

a member of Odysseus’s crew

Phaeacia

island kingdom ruled by Alcinous

Philoeteus

Odysseus’s cowherd

Pieria

a location in central Greece not far from Olympus

a favorite location of Hermes

Pylos

home of Nestor, a soldier who fought with Odysseus in the Trojan War

Teiresias

blind prophet

Telemachus

Son of Odysseus and Penelope

Telemus

wizard who foretold Polpemus’s’s future

Thrinakia

island filled with grazing farm animals owned by Helios, the sun god

Athena

goddess of wisdom and protector of Odysseus

Calypso

sea nymph who holds Odysseus captive on her island for seven years

Charybdis

female monster who lives underwater and forms a deadly whirlpool

Circe

goddess and sorceress who lives on the island of Aeaea

Cyclopes

one-eyed giants

Hades

god of the Underworld

Helios

sun god

Hermes

messenger god

Muse

goddess of epic poetry

Persephone

daughter of Zeus whom Pluto kidnapped

Polyphemus

the Cyclops who eats some of Odysseus’s crew

son of Poseidon god of the sea and earthquakes

Scylla

six-headed female sea monster

Sirens

group of singing nymphs who lure men to their deaths

Zeus

ruler of all the gods