Exam 1 // The Odyssey: Characters Flashcards
God of wind; tries to help Odysseus return home.
Aeolus/Aiolus
A Greek warrior, son of Peleus, godlike & glorious, died at Troy, vulnerable only in one spot—his heel.
Achilles
A king of Mycenae and leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Agamemnon
Son of Agamemnon who avenged his father’s murder by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus by killing them both.
Orestes
King of the Phaeicians; offers Odysseus a ship to carry him home after he is cast upon the shore after leaving Kalypso’s island.
Alkinoos/Alcinous
Odysseus’ mother.
Antikleia
King or prince; wooer of Penelope; tried to trap and kill Telemakhos; the ringleader of the group of suitors besieging Penelope (according to Eurymakhos, another suitor).
Antinoos/Antinous
One of Odysseus’ crew; eaten by the Cyclops Polyphemos
Antiphus
“Grey-eyed” goddess of war; special protector of Odysseus; sometimes offended by his arrogance.
Athena
“dire beauty and divine. . .fathered by Helios the light of mortals on Perse, child of the Ocean stream. . . .the goddess. . . .prepared a meal. . .and amber honey mixed with . . wine” turning Odysseus’ shipmates all into swine in body but still human in mind.
Circe/Kirke
blind poet in the court of the Phaecians; sings of the siege of Troy and of Odysseus’ heroism; his song so moves Odysseus that he reveals his identity and tells the story of his attempts to return home.
Demodokus
swineherd on Ithaca who assists in the slaughter of the suitors thronging around and pressuring Penelope; in the poem, does not recognize Odysseus at first; in the film is shown as a shepherd.
Eumaeus/Eumaios
a herald of Odysseus’; “round-shouldered, woolly-headed”; stayed beside Odysseus and was preferred by Odysseus over the officers.
Eurybates
nurse to Odysseus from childhood; also nurse to Telemakhos and trusty servant of Penelope; bought by old King Laertes for 20 oxen, admired but never “bedded” by him.
Eurykleia
one of the suitors; tries to talk Odysseus out of the slaughter; offers restitution of herds and property. In the film, seduces the serving girl Melanthe.
Eurymakhos
a god; angered by Odysseus’ crew for they had killed the “kind(cattle) of Helios”; the wrath of Helios and Zeus leads to the drowning of the crew for their disrespect.
Helios
god of fire and of metalworking; fashioned the urn that held Achilles’ cremated remains mixed with those of his dear friend Patroklus.
Hephaistos/Hephaestos
messenger god; also guide of the dead to the underworld and god of the marketplace, trickery, and swindling.
Hermes
a water goddess or nymph who keeps Odysseus from drowning as he tries to reach the land of the Phaecians; she gives him a magic belt that conveys protection.
Ino
beautiful goddess who offers Odysseus immortality if he will stay with her and not return to his home and family in Ithaca.
Kalypso/Calypso
father of Odysseus, father-in-law for whom Queen Penelope says she must weave a burial shroud because of his age and his royal stature. He himself occupies a rocky hillside farm to which Odysseus and his faithful friends travel as a place of protection at the end of The Odyssey.
Laertes
serving girl in the film who falls in love with one of Penelope’s suitors and informs him that Penelope is taking apart the weaving of the shroud each night; she dies trying to open the doors of the great room where the slaughter occurs. Apparently not actually in Homer’s poem, but serves a purpose in the film.
Melanthe
goatherd in Homer’s poem who helps the throng of suitors by scaling the wall and bringing arms and shields to them stolen from Odysseus’ storeroom; punished brutally—his ears and nose are hacked off and his genitals pulled off and fed to the dogs.
Melanthios
a king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen of Troy; character in Homer’s poem who tells Telemakhos that his father is stranded on Calypso’s island.
Menelaus
