Odyssey Characters
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chubbycheeks21 on April 15, 2012
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58 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Achaeans | collective name for Greek people including citizens of Ithaca |
| Aeaea | island home of Circe |
| Aeigisthus | son of Thyestes, seducer of Clyemnestra and murderer of Agamemnon, killed by Orestes |
| Aeolus | master of the winds and father of Cretheus |
| Agamemnon | king of Mycenae, husband of Clytemnestra, murdered by her and Aegisthus; brother of Menelaus, supreme commander of all Achaea's armies and leader of the largest contingent at Troy |
| Alcinous | king of the Phaeacians, husband of Arete, father of Nausicaa |
| Amphinomus | a suitor killed by Telemachus and a favorite of Penelope |
| Anticleia | daughter of Autolycus, wife of Laertes, mother of Odysseus |
| Antinous | son of Eupithes, one of two leading suitors |
| Arete | queen of Phaeacia, wife of Alcinous, mother of Nausicaa |
| Argos | dog of Odysseus |
| Athena | goddess, defender of Archaeans. Patron of human ingenuity and resourcefulness whether by handicrafts or skill in human relations such as possessed by Odysseus, her favorite of the Greeks. |
| Calypso | goddess- nymph daughter of Atlas, makes her home on the island of Ogygia- loves Odysseus and captures him for years, making him fall in love with her at night |
| Cicones | Trojan allies, living in Thrace, to the North of Troy |
| Clytemestra | queen of Argos, wife of Agamemnon, lover of Aegisthus and mother of Orestes |
| Charybdis | monster in form of giant whirlpool, located across from Scylla |
| Circe | goddess and enchantress of Aeaea, who changes men to swine. Sleeps with Odysseus |
| Cyclops | a cannibal clan of 1 eyed giants, also a name for Polyphemus in particular |
| Demodocus | blind singer of the Phaecians- Homer is portraying himself |
| Elpenor | companion of Odysseus- died by falling off Circe's roof |
| Eumaeus | swineherd of Odysseus, loyal to Odysseus |
| Eurycleia | The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they were babies. Eurycleia is well informed about palace intrigues and serves as confidante to her masters. She keeps Telemachus's journey secret from Penelope, and she later keeps Odysseus's identity a secret after she recognizes a scar on his leg. |
| Eurylochus | Comrade of Odysseus on the voyage home from Troy; one who told Odysseus that their comrades were turned into swine by Circe; also provoked men to eat Helios' cattle |
| Eurymachus | A manipulative, deceitful suitor. His charisma and duplicity allow him to exert some influence over the other suitors. Killed by Odysseus |
| Helen | Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Her abduction from Sparta by the Trojans sparked the Trojan War. Her beauty is without parallel, but she is criticized for giving in to her Trojan captors and thereby costing many Greek men their lives. She offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find his father. |
| Helios | sun god- Odysseus' crew eats his cattle |
| Hermes | Messenger of the Gods; god of commerce, speed, thieves, and trade. Tells Calypso to let Odysseus go |
| Ino | nymph; gives Odysseus a sash to keep him from drowning; Odysseus is hesitant because she might be tricking him |
| Ismarus | Thracian city, home of the Cicones |
| Irus | Ithacan beggar who frequents the gatherings of Penelope's suitors at the palace. He loses a boxing match to the disguised Odysseus. |
| Ithaca | The island kingdom of Odysseus. Off the west coast of mainland Greece. |
| Laestrygonians | legondary clan of giant cannibals |
| Laertes | Odysseus's father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca. In despair and physical decline, Laertes regains his spirit when Odysseus returns and eventually kills Antinous's father. husband of Anticleia |
| Melanthius | The brother of Melantho. Melanthius is a treacherous and opportunistic goatherd who supports the suitors, especially Eurymachus, and abuses the beggar who appears in Odysseus's palace, not realizing that the man is Odysseus himself. Is later violently killed for helping the suitors |
| Melantho | Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus's palace. Like her brother, she abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing that the man is Odysseus. She is having an affair with Eurymachus. She is hung with other maids by Odysseus for being unloyal |
| Menelaus | King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen, he helped lead the Greeks in the Trojan War. He offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in Book 4. |
| Mount Olympus | Home of the gods |
| Mentor | son of Alcimus, Ithacan friend of Odysseus, often impersonated by Athena |
| muse | goddess, daughter of Zeus preside over literature and arts and are the sources of inspiration |
| Nausicaa | The beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa discovers Odysseus on the beach at Scheria and, out of budding affection for him, ensures his warm reception at her parents' palace. |
| Nestor | King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like Odysseus, Nestor is known as a clever speaker. Telemachus visits him in Book 3 to ask about his father, but Nestor knows little of Odysseus's whereabouts. |
| Odysseus | Son of Laertes and Anticleia, husband of Penelope and father of Telemachus. A cunning, shrewd and eloquent hero. Came up with the idea of the Trojan horse which led the Greeks to victory against Troy. "Man of many wiles". |
| Ogygia | The island of Calypso where Odysseus is kept for seven long years |
| Orestes | son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who eventually avenged his father's murder by killing Aegisthus |
| Penelope | Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. She spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever and steadfastly true to her husband. |
| Phaecia | island kingdom ruled by king alcinous, the phaecians are ship builders and traders |
| Philoetius | Odysseus's chief cowherd. He helps Odysseus fight the suitors. |
| Polyphemus | One of the Cyclopes (uncivilized one-eyed giants) whose island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them, but Odysseus blinds him through a clever ruse and manages to escape. In doing so, however, Odysseus angers Polyphemus's father, Poseidon. |
| Poseidon | God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus's mortal antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to return Odysseus to Ithaca. |
| Scylla | Man eating monster that lives across from Charybdis in a cave. Odysseus chooses to go past her so he will only lose 8 men. |
| Sirens | sea nymphs whose beautiful and mysterious music lures sailors to steer their ships toward dangerous rocks |
| Sisyphus | a king in ancient Greece who offended Zeus and whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill each time the boulder neared the top it rolled back down and he was forced to start again |
| Sparta | capital city of Lacedaemon, the home of Menelaus and Helen |
| Tantalus | Suffered the fate of never being able to satisfy his thirst or hunger, though he is trapped in water and there is a tree with fruit hanging in arms reach that recedes whenever he tries to eat from it. He was punished because he had excessive pride (Hubris). schemed to trick the gods into doing something wrong to prove he is as good as them. Took his child (Pelops), chops him up, cooks him into a stew, and invites all the gods to his house for dinner and serves them the stew. The gods are not allowed to eat human flesh, and if he knows something that god didn't know (that they're eating human flesh) then he would be "worthy" of being on Olympus. None of the gods fall for the trick instead of the goddess Demeter. |
| Telemachus | Odysseus's son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story. He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks the poise and confidence to oppose them. His maturation, especially during his trip to Pylos and Sparta in Books 3 and 4, provides a subplot to the epic. Athena often assists him. |
| Thrinacia | mythical island of Helios, the sungod, where he pastured his sacred cattle |
| Tiresias | A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades. He is blind. |
| The Underworld | Hades domain where all the souls of the dead go and receive their eternal sentence. |
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