Main Characters in the Odyssey
BOOK 9
Who are they?
Calypso
A sea goddess who lives on the island of
Ogygia
Visual
She tries to keep Odysseus on the island and
stop him from going home
Alcinous
The king of the Phaeacians
Odysseus tells King Alcinous his adventure
stories
Father of Odysseus
Laertes
father and son
Circe
A goddess and enchantress
who lives on the island of Aeaea
She has mystic powers and turns men into
pigs
Zeus
The chief of the Greek gods and goddesses
Father of Athena and Apollo
Inhabitants of a land Odysseus visits
Lotus Eaters
The men ate the flower and did not want to
return to the ship
Odysseus forces the men to return to the
ship
Cyclopes
Polyphemus
Poseidon
A group of one-eyed giants
Odysseus and his men poke the eye out of
Polyphemus – the one eyed giant
using a 6 foot stake
The god of the sea,
earthquakes,
and
horses;
father of the Polyphemus who battles
Odysseus
Book 10
Tiresias of Thebes
A blind prophet whose spirit
Odysseus visits in the underworld
Book 12
Sirens
Creatures, part woman and part bird,
whose songs lure sailors to their deaths.
Scylla
6 headed sea monster
who devours sailors
Charybdis
Helios
A dangerous whirlpool of water
personified as a female sea monster
The sun god
who pastures his cattle
on the island of Thrinacia
Books 21-23
Telemachus
The son of Odysseus
son of Odysseus
Muse
Odysseus
goddesses
of
music,
poetry, and literature
Main Character = Odysseus
conquers many difficulties to achieve his
goal
to return to his wife and homeland