The Odyssey

Odysseus

the King of Ithaca and a "man skilled in all ways of contending,"

Penelope

Queen of Ithaca / Loyal Wife

Telemachus

Prince of Ithaca / Son

Laertes

Former King / Father

Athena

known as the "Hope of Soldiers," is the primary catalyst for the hero’s success

Poseidon

The "Earth-Shaker" serves as the formidable divine antagonist

Zeus

the "Thunderer" and king of the gods, acts as the arbiter of fate and justice

Hermes

The messenger god who delivers the command for Odysseus’ release to Calypso and provides the "Moly" herb

Aeolus

King of the winds who grants Odysseus a leather bag made from ox-hide containing all unfavorable winds, though the crew’s "foolishness" undoes the gift

Helios

The sun god who demands vengeance from Zeus after the crew feasts on his cattle

Calypso

defined by the seven-year enforced detention of Odysseus on Ogygia, where she offers immortality but is eventually compelled to release him by Zeus’ command

Circe

initially transforms the crew into swine, she eventually becomes a guide, directing Odysseus to the Underworld

Eumaeus

"old and faithful" servant who provides Xenia to the disguised Odysseus

Philoetius

loyal servant who prays for his master's return and fights alongside him

Eurycleia

loyal nurse who recognizes Odysseus by the "scar from the wound the wild boar's white tusk gave him"

Eurynome

Provides domestic care, bathing the returned King and preparing the great bed

King Alcinous

Phaeacian royals who provide critical hospitality. Provides the ship and treasures that return him to Ithaca

Antinous

"blacker-hearted" ringleader. He physically assaults the disguised Odysseus with a "stool"

Eurymachus

leading suitor who attempts to bargain for his life by blaming the deceased Antinous for all "rash actions

Amphinomus

suitor who attempts to rush Odysseus but is struck between the shoulders and killed by Telemachus

Leodes

A minor suitor and seer who is the first to fail at the bow, correctly predicting it would "break the heart and spirit" of the men

Eurylochus

responsible for the opening of the Bag of Winds (Bk X:1-55) and leads the slaughter of Helios’ cattle

Elpenor

died on Circe's island after falling from her roof in a drunken stupor

Perimedes

assists in lashing Odysseus to the mast with more rope to prevent his escape during the song of the Sirens

Polyphemus

"prodigious" giant and son of Poseidon. His blinding by Odysseus initiates the hero's ten-year struggle against the sea

Tiresias

blind prophet in the Land of the Dead who warns Odysseus to avoid the "kine" of Helios and foretells a "gentle" death in old age

Theoclymenus

seer who predicts the suitors' doom in a vision where the "walls and paneling are soaked with blood" and the court is "filled with ghosts"

Sirens

Creatures who lure sailors with a "haunting song"

Scylla

six-headed monster who "whisks" men away

Charybdis

whirlpool described as a "cauldron seething over intense fire"

Achilles

A godlike Greek hero of the Trojan War; Odysseus encounters his ghost in Hades.

Agamemnon

King of the Greeks at Troy; his ghost tells Odysseus of his "pitiful death" at the hands of his wife and her lover.

Lotus-Eaters

A race of people whose primary food, the lotus flower, causes those who eat it to lose all desire to return home.

Menelaus

The King of Sparta; Telemachus visits him seeking news of Odysseus.

Ismarus

The first stop after Troy. Odysseus and his men storm the city, but the crew's "mutinous" behavior and refusal to leave quickly allows the Cicones to counterattack

The Island of the Cyclopes

Odysseus and twelve men explore the cave of Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant and son of Poseidon. Odysseus blinds him with a sharpened olive-tree stake and escapes by hiding under the giant's sheep

Aeolia

King Aeolus hosts the crew for a month and gives Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds except the favorable West Wind

Telepylus

here they encounter giant cannibals led by King Antiphates. Laestrygonians destroy all of Odysseus’s ships except his own by pelting them with massive rocks from the cliffs

Aeaea

ship reaches the home of the enchantress Circe. She turns half the men into swine, but Odysseus—aided by the god Hermes and a magic herb called moly

The Land of the Dead

Odysseus travels here to consult the blind prophet Tiresias

The Sirens

to hear their "haunting song" safely, Odysseus is tied to the mast while his crew’s ears are plugged with beeswax

Scylla and Charybdis

Odysseus must choose between the six-headed monster and the violent whirlpool

Thrinacia

Trapped by a month of gales, the starving crew ignores Odysseus’s warnings and slaughters the sacred cattle of Helios

Ogygia

Odysseus is held captive here by the nymph Calypso for seven year

Scheria

helped by Princess Nausicaa and King Alcinous. Alcinous provides him with a ship and gifts to return to Ithaca