The Odyssey

Odysseus is the king of the small rocky island of Ithaca, famous among the Greeks less for his strength than for his quick mind and his talent for talking his way out of trouble. He left home twenty years ago to fight in the war at Troy, and long after the other surviving commanders have reached their own countries, he still has not come back. In this translation his name appears in its Roman form, Ulysses.

Penelope has run her husband's household alone for twenty years, raising their son and holding the estate together with no news of whether Odysseus is alive. A crowd of young noblemen has moved into her hall insisting she choose a new husband from among them, and she has spent years finding reasons to delay. She is patient, guarded, and far shrewder than the men pressing her realize.

Telemachus was an infant when his father sailed for Troy, so he has no memory of him at all and has grown up hearing his father described by strangers. He is intelligent and proud but has never been tested, and the noblemen crowding his house treat him as a boy who can safely be ignored. The story opens with him sitting unhappily among them, wishing someone would arrive and set his household right.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, skilled work, and clever strategy, and she has long admired Odysseus for having the sort of mind she values. She moves easily between the assembly of the gods and the world of people, often arriving among mortals in a borrowed shape rather than her own. In this translation she appears under her Roman name, Minerva.

Eumaeus manages the pig farms in the hills above the harbour, living in a rough steading he built himself well away from the main house. He was brought to Ithaca as a boy and raised in the royal household, and he has never stopped speaking of his long-absent master with affection. He is generous to strangers in a way that his betters in the great hall are not.

Antinous is the son of one of Ithaca's leading families and the most forceful of the young men who have installed themselves in Odysseus' hall. He eats the household's food, drinks its wine, and speaks to the family who own the house as though they were guests in it. Where the other suitors follow, he leads, and he does not bother to be polite about it.

Calypso is a nymph who dwells in a cave on the island of Ogygia, far from any human city. She is powerful, lonely, and used to having her own way on her island. Odysseus has been her unwilling guest for years when the poem first turns to him.

Circe is a goddess-enchantress who lives alone in a stone hall in a forest on the island of Aeaea. She is famous among sailors as a hostess whose welcome is not what it seems. She sings at her loom and knows the uses of every herb that grows.

Polyphemus is a Cyclops, a one-eyed giant who keeps sheep in a cave on a wild shore. He lives by his own law, far from the cities of men, and does not welcome guests. Odysseus and his crew come to his cave looking for hospitality.

Nausicaa is the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians, a seafaring people who live far from Ithaca. She is brave, courteous, and more practical than her years. She is among the first friendly faces Odysseus meets after being washed ashore.

Eurycleia is the old nurse who raised Odysseus and later Telemachus, still serving in the Ithacan household. She is loyal, sharp-tongued, and more devoted to the absent king than many of the younger servants. She knows every scar and habit of the family she has served.

Poseidon is the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, and he has a personal grudge against Odysseus. He is proud, implacable, and used to being feared. While Athena helps the Ithacan household, Poseidon works to keep its master from ever reaching home.

Argus is the dog Odysseus trained as a puppy before sailing for Troy. He has waited twenty years in the courtyard, neglected by the suitors and the servants. He is the first living creature of the household who still knows his master by sight.