Characters (Homer The Odyssey)

Athena

-Odysseus' primary supporter among gods/goddesses

-serves as mentor for Telemachus

Agamemnon's Ghost

-killed by his wife(Clytemnestra) and her lover(Aegisthus)

-serves as a warning for Odysseus/what kind of homecoming with Odysseus have?

Polythemus

-3rd Adventure

cyclops

-does not show xenia

-Odysseus+men stuck in his cave

-Odysseus tricks him into thinking his name is me tis(no man) in order to escape

-reveals name to him at the end because he wants glory(makes Poseidon mad)

Circe

-6th Adventure

-uses her magic to turn Odysseus' men into swines

-gives him advice on how to get to the underworld(warns about Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis) to learn how to get back home

Nestor

-King of Pylos

-Tells Telemachus the story of Agamemnon's nightmarish homecoming

-Tells Telemachus to go to Menelaus(spartan who may have more news about Odysseus)

Menelaus

-King of Sparta+Helen's husband

-Tells Telemachus that Odysseus is alive and being held on Calypso's island(was told by god Proteus)

The Lotus-Eaters

-Odysseus' 2nd adventure

-group of people on an island that want to share their fruit with visitors(causes them to forget their desire to return home)

-unique because they pose no physical/violent threat to Odysseus

Poseidon

-shows that gods in the poem do not always act justly(capricious)

-

Hermes

-messenger of the gods

-helps Odysseus protect himself form Circe by giving him an herb

-brings word to Calypso from Zeus that Odysseus must be allowed to go home

Achilles' Ghost

-"better to be a slave among the living than a king of the dead"

-fame+glory which is everything for Homeric warriors while they are alive is meaningless to the dead

Scylla

-6 headed monster

-eats 6 of Odysseus' men

Charybdis

-deadly whirlpool

Calypso

-name means "to conceal" or "cover" or "hide"

-kept Odysseus on her island for 7 years(gilded cage)

-offers him immortality->Odysseus says no would rather return home

Phaeacians

-live on Scheria

-have civilized public life

-where Odysseus meets Nausicaa

Princess Nausicaa

-Odysseus convinces her to take him to her palace with help of Athena

-Knows that all strangers come from/protected by Zeus(fathers kingdom=just+civilized)

King and Queen of Scheria

-Nausicaa's parents

-show Odysseus xenia(provide him safe passage back to Ithaca)-> in return Odysseus shares his stories with them

-helping Odysseus makes Poseidon mad(he cuts off commerce to Phaeacians Island)

Demodocus (the Bard)

-sings three songs about the Trojan War

-Odysseus moved by song about Trojan Horse ->cries and reveals identity to King Alcinous and Queen Arete->turning point in his journey home

Eumaeus

-Odysseus' loyal servant/swineherd

-son of king but sold into slavery

-shows Odysseus(disguised as beggar) xenia when he first returns home

Melanthius

-Odysseus' disloyal slave

-disrespectful/kicks Odysseus(disguised as beggar)

-gets dismembered(limbs supposed to serve master->robbed of this when he is disloyal)

Argos

-Odysseus' hunting dog

-not tricked by Odysseus' disguise

-dies(protects Odysseus' identity)

Eurycleia

-Odysseus' old nurse

-recognizes Odysseus from scar on leg(from boar) while washing feet

-snitches on 12 disloyal slave girls->leads to them being hung

Antinous

-one of the main suitors

-helps plot Telemachus' murder

-first suitor to be killed(Odysseus shoots an arrow through his throat during archery contest)

Laertes

-Odysseus father

-Penelope is weaving his shroud to delay suitors

Eupeithes

-father of one of the dead suitors

-accuses Odysseus of killing "all the best" (referencing suitors)

Telemachus

-son of Odysseus+Penelope(duh)

-travels seeking information about his father with help of Athena

-develops responsibility+maturity throughout poem

-helps Odysseus plan Suitors death

-his decision to hang the 12 slave girls