(Click the character infographic to download.) Odysseus is brave, strong, handsome, wily, loyal, pious—and did we mention handsome? He's basically begging for a "hey girl" meme. ("Hey girl. I may...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Shmoop has a secret. Odysseus may be the Odyssey's hero, but we actually think Telemachos is more interesting. Sure, Odysseus is the strongest, braves...

(Click the character infographic to download.) The other Greek wives must have hated Penelope. She's like an ancient Greek Martha Stewart, without the pesky insider trading scandal: the perfect hos...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Zeus' daughter Athene may be the patroness of warfare but she's also the goddess of wisdom, so it's no surprise that she likes a hero with some brains...

Eumaios is Ithakan swineherd who takes Odysseus in when he returns home in the guise of a beggar, and he shows us that it's not just kings who can be hospitable—even swineherds know how to treat...

Sometimes spelled Eurylochus. One of the Ithakans traveling with Odysseus on the way back from Troy. He is a cautious man, refusing to enter Circe’s hall even when accompanied by armed men. H...

Telemachos meets this guy, the King of Pylos, while he's searching for news of his father. Nestor provides another great example of good Greek hospitality, plying the Ithakan Prince with gifts...

Sometimes spelled Amphinomus. The good suitor, relatively speaking: his "heart saddened within him, shaking his head, for in his spirit he saw the evil" (18.153-54). Penelope seems to recognize...

Sometimes spelled Eurymachus. One of the not-so-nice suitors. He even plots to kill Telemachos and then deceives Penelope about it.

Agamemnon is a Greek king and Menelaos' brother. His unfaithful wife Klytaimestra (Clytemnestra) teamed up with her lover Aigisthos to kill him when he came back from fighting the Trojan War. In...

Sometimes spelled Alcinous. King of the Phaiakians, husband of Arete, father to Nausikaa. He's a super hospitable guy, who offers Odysseus passage home:this stranger, I do not know who he is, com...

A Phaiakian prince, the son of Alkinoös and Arete. He wins the boxing match during the athletic games, before Odysseus beats everyone at everything. He challenges Odysseus in the games, saying t...

Sometimes spelled Nausicaa. The Phaiakian princess, daughter of Alkinoös and Arete. Nausikaa finds Odysseus, and she who brings him to the palace (somewhat indirectly) to ask for help from the Q...

Menelaos' wife and instigator of the entire Trojan war. Although we don't hear about it in the Odyssey, her story would have been common knowledge among Homer's audience. Here's the deal: Helen w...

A King of Sparta and husband to Helen; he's the second man Telemachos visits in his search for Odysseus, and he's the one who confirms the boy's father is still alive and on Kalypso's island. Lik...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Sometimes spelled Polyphemus. The specific one-eyed monster that the Ithakans encounter on their way home. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Poly...

An island god we hear about in Menelaos' tale to Telemachos; he reveals to the King how to escape the island he's stuck on (namely, by traveling to Egypt and sacrificing to Zeus).

Sometimes spelled Tiresias. The blind prophet whose help Odysseus seeks in the Underworld.For more on this guy, check out Shmoop's guide to Tiresias.

Sometimes spelled Aeolus, Eolus or Aeolos. God of the winds; he helps Odysseus and his men in Book X, before he realizes there is no hope for the Ithakans and sends them packing: "O least of livi...

(Click the character infographic to download.) The sorceress of the island Aiaia. She turns Odysseus' men into pigs, seduces him, and then finally sends them on their way with directions to the U...

God of the sun and master of some really awesome cattle that no one was allowed to touch, much less kill and eat. When Odysseus' men do just that, Helios demands revenge, basically by holding his...

Sometimes spelled Hephæstos. Aphrodite's crippled blacksmith husband. Luckily, he married a beautiful goddess. Unluckily, she cheats.For more on this guy, check out Shmoop's guide to Hephaestus.

(Click the character infographic to download.) Sometimes spelled Calypso. The goddess who holds Odysseus hostage for purposes of sex. On the one hand, she sure is hospitable: she invites Hermes t...

Sometimes spelled Peisistratus or Pisistratus. Nestor's son. He accompanies Telemachos to Sparta to see King Menelaos. Unlike Telemachos, he's super good at speaking in public. Check out the way...

Sometimes spelled Theoclymenus. The hitchhiker fugitive seer who grabs a ride with Telemachos on his way out of Sparta and conveniently prophesies good fortune for Telemachos: "Telemachos, not wi...

Elpenor is the guy who wandered up to Circe's roof and fell to his death before the men departed. Odysseus talks to him in the underworld, where Elpenor asks for a proper burial: "I ask that you...

Odysseus' father. For some reason, he seems to live in a shack at the outskirts of Ithaka, although he also apparently has a nice farm. Mostly, he mourns for Odysseus and then for Telemachos. As...

An Ithakan augur and loyal to Odysseus. In Book II, he interprets the two vicious eagles as a sign that Odysseus is coming home soon.

Mentor can be confusing in the Odyssey since the name either refers to Mentor, the elderly Ithakan, or Mentor, Athene in yet another guise. (Imagine how much easier everyone's life would be if th...

Odysseus' nurse when he was a little boy. She's still around in the palace working as a servant (and trying to keep Telemachos from running off) when Odysseus returns and she recognizes her maste...

Sometimes spelled Melanthius. The Ithakan goatherd. Unlike many of the other, loyal servants we meet, Melanthios sides with the suitors and insults beggar Odysseus. On the one hand, he arms the s...

Sometimes spelled Phemius. The resident bard in Ithaka. We first meet him as he saddens Penelope by singing of the Trojan war. Later, he is spared from the slaughter because he has been loyal to...