The Odyssey Test Flashcards
Odysseus
Main character, king of Ithaca, son of Latres, “man who has borne so much pain” “the great tactian”
reward is getting home to his family,
- arrogance causes pain, loses his crew
- hero of Troy
Penelope
Wife of Odysseus, daughter of Icarius
- plagued by suitors, but does not want to marry any of them
- is eventually convinced that she must marry one of them so she says she will marry the first one that can shoot an arrow through twelve axes
Telemachus
Son of Odysseus and Penelope, goes on parallel journey to find out information on his father with the help of Athena
- not very confident,
- gains confidence by the end
- reward is proving his worth as his father’s son
Circe
the “bewitching queen of Aeaea” witch who curses men, turns some of Odysseus’ men into pigs
- odysseus tells her stories of his home, she tells him stories of the heroes who passed through her island
- tells him to go to the underworld for a prophecy
Eumaeus
“the loyal swineherd”
- stayed loyal to odysseus while he was away
- odysseus and telemachus stayed with him when they had first gotten to ithaca
- helps odysseus and telemachus battle the suitors
Calypso
- goddess/nymph
- home is on Ogygia
- keeps odysseus hostage because she wants a husband
- finally lets him go because the gods force her to
Polyphemus
- the cyclops
- son of poseidon
- traps and eats odysseus and his men
- odysseus tells him his name is “nobody”
- odysseus stabs him in the eye
- then escapes under his sheep
- as they are sailing away odysseus taunts the cyclops, finally telling him his name is odysseus
- cyclops then asks poseidon to make his journey horrible or kill him
Athena
- Pallas Athena
-goddess of wisdom, war, strategy in war - helps both odysseus and telemachus
- symbols are owl + olive branch
- helps odysseus and telemachus fight the suitors
Antinous
- son of Eupithes
- one of two leading suitors
- wants to kill telemachus
- the first one that odysseus kills with the bow
Laertes
- father of odysseus
- former king of Ithaca
- distraught while his son is away
Melanthius
- the disloyal goatherd
- is disloyal to odysseus and supports the suitors
- gives the suitors weapons
- the swine and cowherds string him up to the ceiling while they battle, then kill him after
Eurycleia
- the nurse of odysseus and telemachus
- keeps telemachus’ journey a secret and odysseus’ identity a secret when she recognizes the scar on his leg
Nausicaa
- daughter of Alcinous
- finds odysseus on Phaeacia
- bathes him, takes him to just outside of the city and tells him to go to the palace
Poseidon
- the divine antagonist
- wants to make odysseus’ journey as hard as possible because of what he did to the cyclops
- sends storms and monsters and trials
- was angry when odysseus wasn’t tried on Phaeacia
- so he makes mountains on their port, barring their sea access
Menelaus
- husband of Helen, brother of Agamemnon
- leader of the Argive army
- gives Telemachus advice on what to do with the suitors (story of Orestes)
- tells him stories of Odysseus
Man’s Flaws (Odysseus’)
Arrogance and pride,
- Odysseus telling the cyclops his real name
- showing off in games on Phaeacia
- lets go of this when dealing with suitors, humiliates himself as the beggar
Man’s Attributes (Odysseus’)
- courage
- loyalty to his men (kind of to his wife)
Heroism
- Heroes are regarded with great respect
- Odysseus is seen as a great hero and earns a lot of respect for it, from his son, wife, and people he meets on his journey
- however the suitors do not respect him
Love
- odysseus loves his family
- his family loves him
- shows he loves them as they are his reward
Resilience
- Odysseus is resilient on his journey, he does not give up even after all of the trials he goes through
- his family is resilient as they do not give up hope that he is alive
- the swineherd and cowherd are resilient as they believe he is alive
Family
- family is very important to the ancient greeks
- characters introduce themselves with their father’s names
- guests are asked where they are from and who their family is
- also shown with odysseus’ family being his reward
Women and their roles
- women are supposed to be faithful, while their husbands are not
- they are also seen as “whores” or temptresses
- penelope is faithful
- calypso is a temptress
- maids that sleep with the suitors are whores and temptresses
