Who’s Who in the Odyssey (from goecities.com)

Gods and Goddesses

[Roman names are given in brackets]

Apollo:

Son of Zeus and Leto; favors the Trojans.

Ares [Mars]:

Son of Zeus; favors the Trojans.

Athena [Minerva]:

Daughter of Zeus; favors Greeks.

Hades:

Son of Cronus; ruler of the underworld of the dead.

Poseidon [Neptune]:

Son of Cronus; king of the sea; favors the Greeks.

Zeus [Jupiter, Jove]:

Son of Cronus [Saturn]; king of the gods and ruler of the sky; arbiter of human destiny.

Lesser Divinities

Aeolus:

Keeper of the winds.

Calypso:

Daughter of Atlas; island nymph on Ogygia.

Circe:

Goddess of the wild; enchantress.

Proteus:

Old man of the sea, one of the gods deposed by Zeus.

Family and Household of Odysseus

Laertes:

Son of Arceisius; aged father of Odysseus.

Mentor:

Friend and steward of Odysseus.

Odysseus [Ulysses]:

King of Ithaca.

Penelope:

Loyal wife of Odysseus.

Telemachus:

Son of Odysseus and Penelope.

Persons Met by Telemachus on his trip to the Mainland

Helen:

Daughter of Zues and Leda; wife of Menelaus, brought back from Troy.

Menelaus:

Son of Atreus; king of Sparta, returned from Troy.

Nestor:

Son of Neleus; aged king of Pylos, returned from Troy.

Moster and Other Inhuman Beings

Antiphates:

King of the cannibal Laestrygonians.

Charybdis:

A whirlpool which draws vessels to their doom.

Polyphemus:

Son of Poseidon; giant Cyclops and ogre.

Scylla:

Six-headed monster and man eater.

Two Sirens:

Fatal beguilers of men with their singing.

Spirits of the Dead in the House of Hades

Achilles:

Son of Peleus; hero of the Iliad.

Agamemnon:

Son of Atreus; king of the Greeks at Troy.

Ajax:

Greater Ajax; son of Telamon, killed at Troy.

Anticleia:

Daughter of Autolycus; wife of Laertes and mother of Odysseus.

Epicaste:

Also called Jocasta; mother and wife of Oedipus, king of Thebes.

Patroclus:

Son of Menoetius; comrade of Achilles.

Shade of Heracles [Hercules]:

Son of Zues; heroic laborer for mankind.

Sisyphus:

Spirit tormented in punishment.

Tantalus:

Spirit tormented in punishment.

Teiresias:

Blind prophet of Thebes.