Achaeans here, a collective name for all Greeks, including Ithacans.
Achilles famed warrior, hero of Homer’s Iliad.
Ajax (4.560) the Greek warrior whose offense at Athena’s temple resulted in Odysseus’ wanderings; not to be confused with the Great Ajax, whom Odysseus defeated in the contest for Achilles’ armor.
ambrosia food of the gods, thought to grant immortality.
Aphrodite goddess of love and beauty, daughter of Zeus.
Apollo god of archery and patron of the arts.
Ares god of war, lover of Aphrodite.
Argive another term for Greek.
Argo ship of the Argonauts.
Argos here, a region in the northeastern Peloponnesus.
Artemis virgin goddess of the hunt and moon, twin sister of Apollo.
bellwether a ram, usually castrated, that wears a bell around its neck and is followed by the other sheep.
brine sea water, salt water.
buckler a small, usually round shield that is carried or worn on the arm or shoulder.
Cauconians people living to the southwest of Pylos.
cauldron a large kettle or vat.
Centaur a mythological creature that is part man, part horse.
Cephallenians Fagles and Knox (p. 525) point out that the term is used to refer to all of Odysseus’ subjects, but specifically residents of an island west of Ithaca that is part of his kingdom.
charlatan an impostor, fraud or fake.
Cnossos a major city on Crete.
Creon king of Thebes, successor to Oedipus.
Crete an island in the Mediterranean off the southeastern coast of Greece.
Cronus a primordial god who ruled the world until dethroned by his son Zeus.
Ctimene Odysseus’ younger sister.
Cyprus an island in the Mediterranean off southern Turkey.
Cythera a Greek island located between the Peloponnesus and Crete.
