The Odyssey Character List:

Odysseus
The epic hero of The Odyssey, Odysseus is a fascinating character full of contradictions.
While he is intent on returning home to his faithful wife, Penelope, and his adult son he has
barely seen, Telemachus, Odysseus also willingly beds down with not one but two beautiful
goddesses during his travels and expresses little remorse for his infidelities - though he rails
against the suitors who are trying to capture his wife.
The contradictions extend to Odysseus' intellect. Blessed with great physical strength (which
he amply demonstrates, despite his years, at several moments), he has an equally keen mind that
bails him out of many dire straits. There is no better "improviser" or "strategist" in Greek
mythology, though the label attached is often "cunning" or "deceiver"; indeed, many Greeks saw
Odysseus' habit of lying as a vice and a weakness. His penchant for disguise complements his
ability to make up plausible stories about his background. Although Odysseus' ingenuity comes
across as his chief weapon, his Achilles' heel of sorts is the frequency with which he falls victim
to temptation and makes grave tactical errors, none more so than when adding insult to injury to
Polyphemus and revealing his true name. Still, Odysseus is aware of this flaw, and bids his men
to tie him up when they pass by the Sirens, the exemplars of temptation. By the end of his
journey, he has learned to resist temptation, willingly suffering abuse by the suitors to meet his
eventual goal of destroying them.

Despite his occasional gaffe, Odysseus is a courageous and just leader who inspires admiration
and respect from his shipmates and servants; the faithfulness of his dog and swineherd after
so many years says as much. The near-constant protection he enjoys from the goddess Athena
seems justifiable for a man who has endured so many hardships, and cast away so many luxuries,
to reunite with his beloved family.
Telemachus
Odysseus' son, Telemachus, undergoes a miniature odyssey of his own. A callow 20-year-old
afraid to challenge the suitors at the start of the poem, by the end, thanks in part to Athena's
grooming, he is an assured, mature young man ready to take on the suitors.

During his short journey to learn about the father he does not know, Telemachus is the
beneficiary of "xenia," the Greek term for hospitality. He repays the favor to others who need
help and is a respectful traveler. Though he has not inherited his father's gift for cunning, The
Odyssey ends with the promise that Telemachus will one day make a fine ruler of Ithaca.
Penelope
The beautiful wife of Odysseus, Penelope has always given critics difficulty. Does she refrain
from expelling the suitors only because she fears their retribution, as she claims, or does she in
some ways enjoy the attention? Though she weeps for Odysseus nightly, she does not even
force the suitors to act with proper decorum.

However, her faithfulness to her husband does remain steadfast, and she even shares his
proclivity for trickery, promising to remarry once she has finished weaving a shroud for
Laertes, but unraveling it each night (the suitors catch on after a few years). Penelope is also
fiercely protective of Telemachus, and speaks out against the suitors when she hears of their
plans to murder him. After Odysseus' disguised arrival, Penelope's loyalty to her husband is
more evident, as is her sadness over his presumed death.
Athena
Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and battle (and of the womanly arts, though this is
barely touched upon), Athena is Odysseus' most powerful ally. Frequently appearing throughout
The Odyssey in disguise, she offers instructions, encouragement, and magical protection to
Odysseus and Telemachus, whom she grooms in the ways of a prince. Yet she also tests
Odysseus at times; when he is disguised as a beggar, she provokes the suitors to abuse him to
see, ostensibly, if Odysseus will give in to temptation and fight back. She also does not
intervene in the climactic battle until the end, once Odysseus has proven his mettle.
The suitors
Led by the manipulative Antinous, the hotheaded Eurymakhos, and the rational, somewhat
decent Amphinomos, the suitors, numbering over one hundred, ungratefully live off Odysseus'
estate in their pursuit of the beautiful and wealthy Penelope. They revel nightly with Odysseus'
food and his willing female servants and bully around Telemakhos, defying the sacred Greek
value of "xenia" (hospitality). Homer's unsympathetic portrait of them ensures that the
audience enjoys the suitors' extremely violent end.
Poseidon
God of the sea, Poseidon is Odysseus' central antagonist for the middle section of The
Odyssey. Enraged over Odysseus' blinding of his Cyclops son Polyphemus, Poseidon is directly
responsible for most of Odysseus' troubles at sea.
Servants of Odysseus
Odysseus' servants are split into two camps according to loyalty. His swineherd Eumaeus and old
nurse Eurkyleia epitomize the loyal servants, while the siblings Melanthius and Melantho lead
the backstabbing group that sides with the suitors.

The Story:

"The Odyssey" is an epic poem written by Homer in 700 B.C. This poem begins where "The
Iliad" left off, which is after the Trojan War ends. It follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he
makes his journey back home. The war lasted ten years, and his trip home takes him another ten
years because of all the obstacles that he encounters. As with many heroes, Odysseus has
people who assist him and people who oppose him. During this time the Greek gods felt free to
intervene in the lives of humans, so Athena would often help Odysseus on his journey while
Poseidon constantly tried to steer his ship off course.

When Odysseus sailed away from Ithaca, he left behind his wife, Penelope, and his young
son, Telemachus. With Odysseus being gone for so many years, men in Ithaca thought that
Penelope should choose a new husband because Odysseus may never return. Therefore, these
suitors moved into the palace and ate Odysseus's food and drank his wine while continually
asking Penelope to choose one of them to marry. Frustrated by this behavior, Telemachus
wanted the suitors to leave, but he was too young to force them. Instead he decided he would
journey off in search of information about his father to find out if he was dead or alive.
Telemachus ends up meeting King Nestor who encourages him to speak to Menelaus, which he
does.

Eventually, the story jumps back to Odysseus who has been held captive by Calypso, a nymph
for seven years. When she is finally ordered by Zeus to release him, Calypso helps Odysseus
build a raft and sends him off. He winds up on the land of the Phaecians. King Alcinous's
daughter Nausciaa finds Odysseus washed up on the shore and bathes, clothes, and feeds him.
Odysseus does not reveal his true identity to her. When Odysseus meets King Alcinous and is
asked to tell the story of how he got there, he reveals who he is and begins his story.
 First, a bad wind pushed him to where the Cicones lived whom Odysseus's men initially
fought well against, but after they became drunk and stopped listening to Odysseus, many of
them perished. The rest escaped and wound up at the home of the Lotus Eaters. These gentle
people gave the men a flower that mellowed them and made them never want to leave. Odysseus
had to physically drag them back to the ships so that they could continue on their journey.
Next, they approached the land of the Cyclops, which intrigued Odysseus, so he had some of his
men go with him to explore. They wound up trapped in the cave of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, so
Odysseus has to injur and trick the Cyclops in order to escape. Part of the trickery involved
giving the Cyclops a false name, which Odysseus chose to correct as he sailed away. He shouted
back his real identity so the Cyclops would know who had poked out his eye, but the yelling gave
away his location so that the Cyclops was able to hurl something at his ship and nearly capsize
the vessel.

Still recalling his tale to the Phaecians, Odysseus explains that next they met Aeolus, god of
the winds who put all the unfavorable winds in a bag and gave it to Odysseus. This helped
Odysseus's ship to sail directly to Ithaca; however, when Odysseus took a nap before landing at
home, the men thought he was hiding treasure from them, so they opened the bag and the ship
sailed immediately back to Aeolus, who wouldn't help them again. After that they ran into the
Laestrygonians, cannibals, who left only the men on Odysseus's ship alive. They wind up meeting
Circe, a goddess who turns the men into pigs before Odysseus convinces her to chance them
back. Then she tells Odysseus he needs to journey to the land of the dead to speak to the
prophet, Teiresias about his fate. Odysseus goes and learns that his mother has died from grief
waiting for his return and that he will someday make it home. He returns to Circe who gives him
advice on the next obstacles he will face. He must pass the Sirens, bird women who lure men to
their deaths by singing beautiful songs, but Circe tells him to stop his men's ears with wax so
that they cannot hear the music. Then he avoids Charybdis, a deadly whirpool, by going under
Scylla, a many headed snake. Finally, the men reach a land where they find Helios's cattle, which
Odysseus was told not to touch. When they become hungry, one of the men suggests
slaughtering the cattle, so Zeus comes down and kills everyone except Odysseus. Odysseus then
winds up with Calypso, which is a story he already told the Phaecians, so he ends there.

The Phaecians deliver Odysseus home to Ithaca with many gifts, but once they leave him
Poseidon kills the men for assisting Odysseus. At home Odysseus is met by Athena who explains
what he has missed while he was away and disguises him so that he can come up with a plan
before revealing to everyone that he has returned. Odysseus lodges with a swineherd named
Eumaeus where he is reunited with his son Telemachus. Odysseus then visits the palace to
observe the suitors, and the leader, Antinous, throws a stool at him.

After speaking with Penelope while he was still disguised, Odysseus and his son prepare for
battle. Penelope brings in Odysseus's bow and arrow for a contest to prove who she should
marry. The disguised Odysseus wins the contest then continues to shoot arrows as he and his
son kill all of the suitors with Athena's help. Odysseus finally reveals his true identity to his
wife, who doubts him at first but confirms to herself that he is her husband by testing his
knowledge of their bed. Then Odysseus visits his father Laertes, while Athena and Telemachus
ensure that the suitors' families will not seek revenge, and Odysseus reigns peacefully on the
throne once more.