Characters in the Odyssey Flashcards
Who is Odysseus?
The protagonist and King of Ithaca
Who is Penelope?
Wife of Odysseus and Queen of Ithaca
Who is Telemachus?
Son of Odysseus
Who is Athena?
Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom
Who is Poseidon?
God of the sea and the hero’s main antagonist
Who is Antinous?
The most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors
Who is Calypso?
A nymph who falls in love with the hero
Who is Polyphemus?
Cyclops that imprisons Odysseus
Who is Circe?
A beautiful witch-godess who keeps Odysseus on an island for a year
The protagonist and King of Ithaca
Odysseus
Wife of Odysseus and Queen of Ithaca
Penelope
Son of Odysseus
Telemachus
Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom
Athene
God of the sea and the hero’s main antagonist
Poseidon
The most arrogant of Penelope’s suitors
Antinous
A nymph who falls in love with the hero
Calypso
Cyclops that imprisons Odysseus
Polythemus
A beautiful witch-godess who keeps Odysseus on an island for a year
Circe
Among the dozens of suitors, the only decent man seeking Penelope’s hand in marriage
Amphinomus
The aged and loyal servant who nursed Odysseus and Telemachus when they were babies
Eurycleia
The loyal shepherd who, along with the cowherd Philoetius, helps Odysseus reclaim his throne after his return to Ithaca
Eumaeus
Is well informed about palace intrigues and serves as confidante to her masters
Eurycleia
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.
Eurycleia
The brother of Melantho
Melanthius
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.
Melanthius
Sister of Melanthius and maidservant in Odysseus’s palace
Melantho
She is having an affair with Eurymachus
Melantho
The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia
Calypso
The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus’s crew into swine when he lands on her island
Circe
Odysseus’s aging father, who resides on a farm in Ithaca
Laertes
A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld.
Tiresias
Meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11
Tiresias
