| A | B |
|---|
| Achaea | Collective name for mainland Greece. |
| Achaeans | Collective name for all the Greek people. |
| Acheron | A river in the underworld. |
| Aeaea | Island home of Circe. |
| Aegisthus | Seducer of Clytemnestra and murderer of Agamemnon. |
| Aeolia | Island ruled by Aeolus. |
| Aeolus | Master of the winds. |
| Agamemnon | Brother of Menelaus, supreme commander of all Achaea's armies and leader of the forces that battle Troy. |
| Alcinous | King of the Phaeacians. |
| Amphinomus | A suitor killed by Telemechus, and a favorite of Penelope. |
| Anticleia | Mother of Odysseus. |
| Antinous | One of the two leading suitors. |
| Aphrodite | Goddess of love. |
| Apollo | Patron of the arts and god or archery. |
| Ares | God of war. |
| Arete | Queen of Phaeacia, wife of Alcinous. |
| Argives | Alternate name for the Achaeans. |
| Argos | Dog of Odysseus. |
| Arnaeus (also Irus) | Beggar who fights Odysseus. |
| Athena | Goddess who befriends and protects Odysseus. |
| Calypso | Goddess nymph who holds Odysseus on her island for love. |
| Charybdis | Monster in the form of a giant whirlpool. |
| Cicones | Trojan allies attacked by Odysseus; they rally and nearly defeat Odysseus's men. |
| Clashing Rocks | Legendary and lethal rocks or cliffs, near Scylla and Charybdis. |
| Cronus | God, father of Zeus, who tries to eat his children. |
| Ctesippus | Suitor who threw the ox hoof at Odysseus; killed by Philoetius. |
| Cyclops | Cannibal clan of one-eyed giants; also a name for Polyphemus in particular. |
| Demeter | Goddess of the grain crops, sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone. |
| Demodocus | Blind singer of the Phaeacians. |
| Dionysus | Sone of Zeus, the god of ecstatic release, especially associated with wine. |
| Dolius | An old manservant, attached to Penelope. |
| Erebus | The underworld, land of the dead. |
| Eumaeus | Swineherd of Odysseus. |
| Eupithes | Father of Antinous, killed by Laertes. |
| Eurycleia | The old nurse of Odysseus and Telemachus. |
| Eurylochus | Odysseus's second in command. |
| Eurymachus | One of the two leading suitors, killed by Odysseus. |
| Eurynome | Housekeeper of Penelope. |
| Furies | Avenging spirits whose task is to exact blood for blood when no human avenger is left alive. |
| Halitherses | Ithacan elder with prophetic powers. |
| Helen | Wife of Menelaus; her abduction caused the Trojan War. |
| Helios | Sun God. |
| Hephaestus | God of fire and the forge. |
| Hera | Wife and sister of Zeus. |
| Hermes | One of the Olympian gods, he is the "messenger" god; "Giant Killer" |
| Ino | Sea nymph who saves Odysseus from drowning by throwing him her veil. |
| Lacedaemon | City and kingdom of Menelaus. |
| Laertes | Father of Odysseus. |
| Laestrygonians | Legendary clan of giant cannibals. |
| Lotus-eaters | People visited by Odysseus, they live on a plant whose fruit induces stupor and forgetfulness of home. |
| Medon | Herald of Odysseus in Ithaca. |
| Menelaus | Kind of Lacedaemon, brother of Agamemnon. |
| Mentes | One of Athena's assumed identities. |
| Mentor | Ithacan friend of Odysseus, often impersonated by Athena. |
| Muse | Goddess, one of nine who preside over literature and the arts; the sources of artistic inspiration. |
| Nausicaa | Daughter of Alcinous and Arete. |
| Nestor | King of Pylos, the oldest of the Achean chieftans; noted for his wisdom. |
| Odysseus | The "long-suffering" one. |
| Ogygia | Island home of Calypso. |
| Orestes | Son of Agamemnon who avenges his father's murder. |
| Penelepe | Loyal wife of Odysseus. |
| Persephone | Goddess of the underworld; daughter of Demeter and wife of Hades. |
| Phaeacians | People of Scheria who lavish Odysseus with gifts and who take him home. |
| Philoetius | Cowherd loyal to Odysseus. |
| Pisistratus | Son of Nestor who accompanies Telemachus to Sparta. |
| Polyphemus | Cyclops blinded by Odysseus; son of Poseidon. |
| Poseidon | God of the sea, brother of Zeus. |
| Proteus | The Old Man of the Sea; god who can change shape to avoid capture. |
| Scheria | Island of the Phaeacians. |
| Scylla | Man-eating monster that lives in a cliffside cavern opposite Charybdis. |
| Sirens | Enchantresses of the sea, whose song can tempt a sailor to his ruin. |
| Sparta | Capial city of Lacedaemon. |
| Styx | River in the underworld. |
| Telemachus | Son of Odysseus. |
| Theoclymenus | Prophet who hitches a ride to Ithaca with Telemachus. |
| Thrinacia | Mythical island of Helios. |
| Tiresias | Blind prophet of Thebes whom Odysseus must meet in Erebus. |
| Trojans | People attacked and eventually defeated by the Greek forces led by Agamemnon. |
| Zeus | King of the Gods. |
| Teiresias | Blind prophet, servant to Apollo |
