Five Key Characters in Homer's Odyssey and Their Roles
The Odyssey is shaped by characters beyond Odysseus, including Telemachus, Penelope, Athena, Poseidon, and Calypso. Telemachus searches for his father and asserts his identity. Penelope uses a weaving ruse to delay suitors and tests Odysseus with their bed. Athena persuades Zeus to free Odysseus and orchestrates his return. Poseidon, angered by Odysseus blinding his son Polyphemus, causes storms. Calypso offers immortality, but Odysseus chooses mortality and home.
Key facts
- Telemachus visits Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta for news of Odysseus.
- Penelope weaves a shroud by day and unravels it by night for three years.
- Athena appears to Telemachus disguised as Mentor.
- Poseidon is the god of the sea and father of Polyphemus.
- Calypso lives on the island of Ogygia.
- Odysseus blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus.
- Penelope tests Odysseus by asking to move their bed built from an olive tree.
- Hermes is sent by Zeus to order Calypso to release Odysseus.
Entities
Artists
- Angelica Kauffmann
- Antonio Zucchi
- Henry Fuseli
- Giuseppe Bottani
- Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Arnold Böcklin
- Jan Brueghel the Elder
Institutions
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Nostell Priory
- British Museum
- Sotheby's
- National Gallery, London
- Kunstmuseum Basel
- Bardo National Museum
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Chiusi
Locations
- Ithaca
- Pylos
- Sparta
- Mount Olympus
- Ogygia
- New York
- West Yorkshire
- London
- Basel
- Switzerland
- Tunis
- Chiusi