Odyssey Characters and Settings: Gods, Monsters, and Mythical Locations

Circe

Powerful Sorceresses; Would have let Odysseus stay in her mansion; Clever; Wanted Odysseus for her husband; Terrible goddess with lovely hair; Spoke language of men; bewitched men into wolves and lions by giving them poisonous drugs; Turned Odysseus' men into pigs but turned them back at Odysseus' request; Slept with Odysseus.

Aietas

Circe's sister; Murderous.

Helios

Sun god who demands that Odysseus' ship be sunken; Father to Aietas and Circe.

Perse

Mother of Aietas and Circe; Daughter of Oceanos.

Cyclopians

Come from land of Cyclops, One-eyed giants; Violent and lawless tribe; Live on high mountains in hollow caves; Goggle-eyed; Don't care about gods; No laws; No farming; no politics; Each person rules over own house; No ships.

Maron Euanthides

Priest of Apollo who protected god of Ismaros: Gave Odysseus lots of gifts and special wine.

Polyphemos

Poseidon's son that Odysseus blinded; Cyclops; Killed Odysseus' men (ate them).

Telemos Eurymedes

A famous soothsayer who told Polyphemos that he would lose his sight at the hands of Odysseus; Curses Odysseus.

Atreus

King of Mycenas; Father of Agamemnon.

Aiolos Hippotadades

Lived in Aiolia; Friend of the Immoral gods; had a family of twelve; Divine keeper of winds.

Antiphates

Daughter of the chief of the Laistygonians; Who points them to her father's home; Strong.

Laistrygonian King

Grabbed one of the men and prepared to eat him.

Laistrygonians

People of Telepylos who were cannibals and killed most of all of Odysseus' men; Great inhuman wretches like giants.

Eurylochos

Odysseus assigned him as the captain for one of the groups of men; Excellent man; Stayed outside of Circe's house since he suspected it was a trap; Doubted going back but did anyways.

Polites

The nearest and dearest of all of Odysseus' companions and the most trusty; Suggested that the men go in the house to speak to the women.

Hermes

Messenger of gods; Ariphontes; Golden rod; Gave Odysseus a Moly follower to protect him from Circe; Had told Circe that Odysseus would come to her one day.

Hades

God of underworld.

Persephoneia

Hades' wife.

Teiresias

The blind Theban seer or prophet that Odysseus must ask direction from in the Underworld.

Erebos

God of darkness and shadow.

Elpenor

The youngest of all of them; not so valiant in war; slept on roof and was drunk and jumped off causing him to break his neck and die.

Ciconians

People that Odysseus attacked; They called for help of neighboring island killing many of his own people.

Mount Neriton

Mountain in Ithaca.

Dulichion

Island near Ithaca.

Zacynthos

Island in Greece; Woody.

Troy

Site of Trojan War; Virgin Fortress; Illiam; Ilion.

Ismaros

Ancient city in Greece; Home of the Ciconians; Place where Odysseus destroyed and killed men; Ciconian city; Thrace.

Cape Malea

Rounds it after leaving Ismaros (and resting at another island) but is blown off course.

Cythera

An island in Greece where he drifted to on his way home because of the winds.

Country of the lotus-eaters

Get their food from flowers; After nine harsh days on sea this is where he landed; Odysseus' men ate the lotus flowers which made them want to stay on the island.

Land of the Cyclopes; Sicily

Island where the Cyclopes live.

Ithaca

Rough land that nurtures fine men.

Alolia

Next stop after Cyclops; Had a brazen, unbreakable wall around it; Home to Aiolos; Stayed for a month; Came back after getting thrown off track: Kicks them off Island second time.

Laistrygonian Telepylos

Island they visited after Alolia; Land of Laistrygonians; A place where a man who doesn't sleep can earn double wages.

Artacie

A spring in Telepylos that Antiphates ran down.

Aiaia

Island where Circe lived.

House of Circe

In the middle of thick bushes and trees; Built with shaped stones in a clearing; Around it were wolves and lions who were really men who she bewitched giving them a poisonous drug; Odysseus and his men live there for one year.

Underworld

House of Hades; where Odysseus must go after leaving land of Aiaia; North Wind will take them there.

Acheron

River which is a branch of the river Styx in which two streams flow into it, The Pyriflegethon blazing with fire and Cocytos resounding with lamentation.