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Penelope

Wife of Odysseus and the protagonist of the story. She is also the chief narrator. Penelope is known for her cleverness and resents that this quality does not mean as much to men as beauty. For this reason, Penelope also resents her beautiful cousin, Helen. Married to Odysseus at age fifteen, Penelope feels affection for her husband but is lonely in his kingdom of Ithaca with no female companions. Telling her story from the Underworld, Penelope hopes to dispel the notion that all women should be as patient and devoted a wife as she, since she herself did not embody these qualities.

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The Twelve Maids

The young women who are Penelope’s trusted servants. The Maids, as a chorus, narrate some of the chapters. They provide their perspective on the events told by Penelope. The Maids are all very young and beautiful, though only one is referred to by name, Melantho of the Pretty Cheeks. They live a life of suffering, having to serve other people instead of doing as they please. While trying to help Penelope deceive the Suitors, the maids are either raped or seduced by them and are eventually murdered by Odysseus and Telemachus.

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Odysseus

Penelope’s husband, ruler of Ithaca, and a legendary hero. Odysseus is known for his deceit and storytelling abilities. He shows affection toward Penelope when they are first married, though she later realizes he was only acting toward her as she wanted him to. Odysseus is credited with the Greeks’ victory in the Trojan War and then spent years on his journey back to Penelope. After killing the maids, Odysseus is haunted by them for the rest of his life and in the Underworld, where he attempts to escape them by being reborn over and over again.

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Helen

Penelope’s cousin, wife of King Menelaus, and the mythical Helen of Troy. Helen is known for her great beauty and, from Penelope’s point of view, her indulgent vanity and condescension. While married to King Menelaus, Helen ran off with Paris, a prince from Troy, which instigated the Trojan War. Even in the Underworld, Helen takes advantage of her beauty and mocks Penelope for her jealousy.

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Eurycleia

Odysseus’s maid when he was a baby. Penelope finds Eurycleia irritating because she behaves as the sole authority on Odysseus. However, Eurycleia is the only one to show Penelope how things are done in Ithaca, for which Penelope is grateful. Always loyal to Odysseus, Eurycleia ultimately points out Penelope’s Maids as disloyal to Odysseus, who then kills them. Penelope believes Eurycleia was jealous of her bond with the Maids.

Telemachus

The son of Penelope and Odysseus, born one year before Odysseus leaves for the Trojan War. As Telemachus grows up, he is rude and disrespectful toward his mother, fearing that she will throw away his inheritance by marrying one of the Suitors. Telemachus is grateful for his father’s return and works with him to kill the Suitors and the Maids.

The Suitors

The men who install themselves in Ithaca’s palace while Odysseus is away, hoping to persuade Penelope to marry one of them. Though they often try to flatter Penelope and confess their love for her, she knows they are only after her wealth.

Antinous

The first Suitor killed by Odysseus. Penelope sees him in the Underworld, where he mocks her and confirms that none of the Suitors found her attractive.

Anticleia

Odysseus’s mother, who is very cold to Penelope.

Laertes

Odysseus’s father. Penelope tells the Suitors she must finish weaving his funeral shroud before she can choose one of them to marry.

Icarius

Penelope’s father. Icarius tries to have Penelope drowned as a baby, though Penelope never learns why. After the attempted drowning, Icarius seems to make up for the extreme guilt he feels by bestowing Penelope with affection. 

The Naiad

Penelope’s mother and a water nymph, or spirit. Though she is often cold, her advice to Penelope about flowing around obstacles as water does inspires Penelope to deceive the Suitors.

Tyndareus

Penelope’s uncle and father of Helen. He may have conspired to help Odysseus win the race for Penelope’s hand in marriage.

Actoris

The elderly maid Penelope brings with her when she sails to Ithaca.

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