GLOSSARY from HOMER'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
GODS and IMMORTAL-ISH BEINGS:
PEOPLE:
PLACES:
THINGS:
- Athena: Greek goddess of wisdom, war, inspiration and courage; of the Greek gods, she is the biggest supporter of Odysseus; loves owls
- Hermes: Greek messenger god; can pass between the worlds of the living and the dead; wears an awesome hat with wings on it
- Zeus: King of the Greek gods; god of the sky; carries around a mean thunderbolt which he's not afraid to use
- Poseidon: Greek god of the sea; Earth-shaker; dad of the cyclops; a real pain in Odysseus' backside.
- Polyphemus: a giant cyclops; the son of Poseidon; favorite hobbies include eating men for lunch and eating men for dinner; also eating men for breakfast
- Aeolus: keeper of the winds; lives on the floating island of Aeolia; has twelve sons and daughters; loves to hear stories
- Beta: an early reader of Homer's story; daughter of Aeolus
- The Twelve Children of Aeolus: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Digamma, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda
- Circe: a powerful sorceress who lives on the island of Aeaea; possibly the daughter of Helios; often turned her enemies or those who offended her into animals; don't offend her
- Charon: the creepy ferryman who shuttles dead people across the River Styx into the Underworld
- Tiresias: a prophet of the Greek god Apollo; dead and now resides in the Underworld; transformed into a woman for seven years
- Sirens: three killer mermaids; used to be best friends with Persephone before she was taken away to the Underworld; sing songs to make men jump to their death
- Scylla: a terrifying monster with six heads; she always strikes at least once
- Charybdis: an equally terrifying monster who lives under the sea and creates a whirlpool to suck down anything that crosses her path
- Helios: Greek Titan; personification of the sun; has an island where his golden cattle live; still undetermined if the cattle give golden milk
- Calypso: a sea nymph who lives alone on the island of Ogygia; possibly the daughter of the Titan Atlas; fell in love with Odysseus and wanted him to stay with her forever and ever and ever
PEOPLE:
- Homer: the main character of our story; also the fabled poet/author of The Odyssey and The Iliad
- Odysseus: a Greek hero during the Trojan War; King of Ithaca; the genius behind the Trojan Horse
- Dory (Doryclus): Homer's best friend; a slave from Ionia
- Elder Pachis: Homer's teacher back in Ionia
- Demetrios: an irritating kid at Homer's school back in Ionia; son of the mayor of Ionia
- Lysandra: a cute girl from Homer's school back in Ionia
- Polites: Odysseus' shipmate and dearest friend
- Eurylochus: a relative of Odysseus through marriage; annoys the heck out of Odysseus
- Cicones: the people of the island of Ismaros
- Old Lady Tessa: a (possible) witch who lives on the island of Ismaros; likes poetry
- The Flower Children: the people of the Island of the Lotus Eaters
- Laestrygonians: the people of the Island of Lamos; they also happen to be cannibals
- Elpenor: one of Odysseus' men who fell off a roof and died
- Phaeacians: the people of the island of Scherie
- Demodocus: story-teller from the Phaeacian Pentathlon
- King Alcinous: King of the Phaeacians
- Penelope: Odysseus' wife; possibly the most patient woman in the world
- Telemachus: Odysseus' son; newborn when Odysseus set out for the Trojan War
- King Telamon: King of Ionia
- Ajax: son of King Telamon; Greek hero from the Trojan War
- Helen: the woman held responsible for starting the Trojan War
- Other guys on the ships: Fish, The Guy Who Hangs out with Fish, Cupcake, Spitter, Rum, Moronios, Pork, Ear, Skinner, Taylor, Lefty
- Other People from the Trojan War: Agamemnon, Nestor, Peisistratus, Menelaus, Achilles, Cassandra, Clytemnestra
PLACES:
- Ithaca: the island where Odysseus is king
- Ionia: Homer's homeland
- Troy: the place where the ten-year-long Trojan War between the Trojans and the Spartans happened; the Trojans didn't win
- Ismaros: the island of the Cicones
- The Island of the Lotus Eaters: where the Flower Children live
- Aeolia: the floating island of Aeolus
- Lamos: the island of the Laestrygonians
- Telepylus: the city of the Laestrygonians
- Aeaea: the island of Circe
- The Underworld: where all the dead people go
- River Styx: the river in the Underworld that all the dead people entering must cross
- Thrinacia: the island of Helios where the sacred golden cattle are kept
- Ogygia: the island of Calypso
- Scherie: rhymes with cheery (also dreary); the island of the Phaeacians
THINGS:
- Trojan Horse: the huge wooden horse that Odysseus and his men hid inside to sneak into the city of Troy; helped win the war
- Trojan War: a crazy ten-year-long war started because some Trojan prince named Paris stole Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus
- The Scroll: the piece of papyrus that Homer recorded his story on; respect the Scroll
- Dactylic Hexameter: a pretty cool form of poetry; see "HOMER'S SUPER SIMPLE GUIDE TO DACTYLIC HEXAMETER" for more information
- Mead: a really gross old-person drink; not recommended
- Holy Moly: the herb given to Odysseus by Hermes to keep him from falling under Circe's spell
- Pentathlon: a contest featuring five events
