A Guide to the Odyssey: A Commentary on the English Translation of Robert Fitzgerald (59 page)

Nérikos: coastal town on Leukas conquered by Laërtês in his heyday.

Nêritos: one of Ithaka’s early residents, he built a spring house near Clearwater with Ithakos and Polýktor (the name is clearly related to Nêriton, on which, see under Neion, above).

Nestor: king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Khloris, husband of Eurydíkê, father of seven sons (i.e., Antílokhos) and two daughters. Already in
The Iliad
he is presented as old and wise, treasured for his advice, which he spiced with lengthy reminiscences of the deeds of his youth; yet he is still an active and effective member of the Greek fighting force. Also called Lord of Gerênia, q.v.

Nísos: father of the suitor Amphínomos, son of Arêtos (hence his patronymic, Aretíadês).

Noêmon: wealthy Ithakan, son of Phronios, keeps a dozen mares at pasture on the mainland at Elis (q.v.), lends his ship to Telémakhos (at the request of Athena disguised as Telémakhos). He unwittingly endangers Telémakhos’ safe return when his innocent but untimely question about Telémakhos tips off the suitors to their young opponent’s sea voyage.

Odysseus: son of Laërtês and Antikleía, husband of Penélopê, father of Telémakhos.

Ogýgia: island home of the nymph Kalypso.

Oidipous: son of Epikastê, whom he marries (see note on XI.315–16).

Oikhalía: locale near Trikka in Thessaly, home of Eurytos, but not otherwise identifiable.

Oikleiês: grandson of the seer Melampous, son of Antíphatês, father of the famous seer Amphiaraos, and thus part of the illustrious heritage of the seer Theoklýmenos.

Olympos: mountain in northeastern Greece, the country’s tallest (9,573’), legendary home of the Olympian gods.

Ops: father of Odysseus’ and later Telémakhos’ nurse, Eurýkleia, son of Peisênor 2, hence the patronymic “Peisonóridês.”

Orestês: son of Agamémnon and Klytaimnéstra; as avenger of his father’s death at the hands of his mother and her lover, Aigísthos, constantly presented in
The Odyssey
as a model for Telémakhos (for some of the later tradition associated with him, see under Hermionê, above).

Orion: legendary hunter, giant, famed for his beauty, loved by the goddess Dawn, who took him to Ortýgia; the gods, envious of her happiness, had Artemis kill him; also, a constellation named after him.

Orkhómenos: city in Boiotia northwest of Lake Copais, seat of the Minyai, famed for great wealth; by Homer’s time its historical and political importance already lay in the past.

Orménos: father of Ktêsios, grandfather of Eumaios.

Orsílokhos: according to the fiction of the disguised Odysseus, a courier, son of Idómeneus, whom the “Kretan” killed (XIII.332).

Ortílokhos: son of the river god Alpheios, father of Dióklês. Like Dióklês, he lived at Phêrai in Messênê, where he was host to Odysseus. (His name is often spelled Orsílokhos, which makes for confusion not so much with the “Kretan Orsílokhos”—the immediately
preceding entry—as with his own grandson of the same name, son of Dióklês, q.v., who appears in
The Iliad
. Already ancient scholars debated the point, trying, vainly, to use spelling to distinguish between the grandson and the grandfather, but the manuscripts did not cooperate.)

Ortýgia: literally “Quail Island.” It may (but then again may not) define two different islands in
The Odyssey:
(1) home of Dawn/Eos, which Fitzgerald identifies as Delos (V.130 [121]); (2) island near Eumaios’ home island, Syriê (XV.491). See the note on XV.491.

Ossa: mountain south of Olympos. The giants Otos and Ephialtês planned to pile another mountain, Pelion, on Ossa, in order to assault Olympos, hence the proverbial “to pile Pelion on Ossa.”

Otos: giant, son of Iphimedeia and Poseidon. With his brother Ephialtês, he constituted a threat to the Olympian gods—see Ossa—and hence, while still a youth, was shot down by Apollo.

Paian: god of healing and music, later associated with both Apollo and Asklepios.

Pallas: epithet of the goddess Athena, the word itself may mean “maiden.” Alternatively, “Pallas” may have been an earlier god worshiped at Athens whom Athena superseded.

Pandáreos: father of Aedon, grandfather of Itylos, q.v.

Panopeus: southwestern city in the region of Phokis (on the Greek mainland just north of the Gulf of Corinth), lying on the plain of the river Kephissos.

Paphos: city on the south coast of Kypros, frequented by and center of a cult to Aphroditê, q.v.

Parnassos: one of the highest and most important mountain ranges of Greece, it was frequently associated with Delphi, which lies on
its southern flank. It is prominent in
The Odyssey
as the site of the boarhunt described in flashback in
Book XIX
, during which the boy Odysseus received a notable wound.

Patróklos: dearest companion of Akhilleus; killed at Troy when he donned Akhilleus’ armor and led the Akhaians into battle; in
The Iliad
, it is his death that finally rouses Akhilleus to return to war and to slay Hektor.

Peiraios: Ithakan, son of Klytios, friend of Telémakhos; accompanies Telémakhos to Pylos and is Theoklýmenos’ host after their return to Ithaka, it being impossible for Telémakhos to guarantee fitting hospitality to Theoklýmenos in his own hall.

Peirithoös: hero, son of Ixion and king of the Lapiths. It was at his wedding with Hippodameia that the Centaur Eurytion’s misconduct led to the famous battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths. The hero Theseus aided Peirithoös, and the two friends began a whole career of adventures together, the most sensational being their descent to Hades in the attempt to take Persephonê to be Peirithoös’ wife. Heraklês freed Theseus, but Peirithoös was forced to remain. After seeing the phantom of Heraklês, Odysseus looked forward to seeing both Peirithoös and Theseus, but the press of shades forced him to flee.

Peisándros: one of the suitors of Penélopê, he gives her a gift in
Book XVIII
, son of Polýktor 2, slain by Philoítios.

Peisênor: (1) Ithakan herald; (2) father of Ops, grandfather of Eurýkleia.

Peisístratos: youngest son of Nestor, accompanies Telémakhos from Pylos to Sparta.

Pêleus: son of Aíakos, king of the Myrmidons, hero of many adventures, but most important for the Homeric poems as husband of the nymph Thetis and father of Akhilleus.

Pelias: son of Poseidon and Tyro, ruler of Iolkos, brother of Neleus, husband of Kretheus.

Pelion: mountain peak south of Otos, q.v.

Peloponnese or Peloponnesos: the entire southern portion of Greece south of the isthmus of Korinth (cut early on by a canal). The land connection notwithstanding, it was regarded as a virtual island already in ancient times; “Peloponnesos” means “Pelop’s island.” The two parts of Greece are distinct in many ways, and it is common to this day to use the phrase “Greek mainland” to mean that part of Greece north of the Peloponnese. The name itself is not used by Homer, for whom Argos comes closest to a designation of the region.

Penélopê: daughter of Ikários and Periboia or Polykástê (her mother’s name is not given by Homer; see under Periboia 2), wife of Odysseus, mother of Telémakhos. The etymology of Penélopê’s name is debated (see note on I.268, above).

Periboia: (1) daughter of Eurymedon, by Poseidon mother of Nausíthoös, grandmother of Alkínoös; (2) though never mentioned by Homer, Periboia is elsewhere transmitted as the name of Penélopê’s mother. She was according to these stories a naiad. Periboia is, however, a frequent name for Greek heroines. (Yet other sources give Polykástê as the name of Penélopê’s mother.)

Periklýmenos: son of Neleus and Khloris, grandson of Poseidon, brother of Nestor.

Perimêdês: second most frequently named of Odysseus’ companions—after Eurýlokhos, with whom he is often described as acting, e.g., making a sacrifice, binding Odysseus fast so that he can safely hear the song of the Seirênês.

Pêro: daughter of Neleus and Khloris; the successful suitor for her hand would have to drive the steers of the giant Iphiklos from Phylakê.

Perse: daughter of Okeanos, consort of Hêlios and mother of Hêlios and Kirkê.

Perséphonê: daughter of Dêmêtêr, consort of Hades and thus queen of the underworld.

Perseus: one of Nestor’s sons (and not the famous hero, son of Zeus and Danae, who beheaded Medusa).

Phaëthousa: nymph, daughter of Hêlios and Neaira, with her sister Lampetía she guarded her father’s flocks and reported to him their slaughter at the hands of Odysseus’ men.

Phaiákia: land of the Phaiákians, also called Skhería, whither they migrated under the leadership of Nausíthoös when the Kyklopês drove them from their former home, Hypereia. The current ruler is Alkínoös, who has as vassals twelve subkings.

Phaidimos: king of Sidon, Meneláos’ host on the latter’s journey homeward, he gave a precious mixing bowl to Meneláos, which he in turn gives Telémakhos.

Phaidôn: variant spelling of Pheidon, q.v.

Phaidra: Kretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaae; her shade appears to Odysseus.

Phaistos: port city on the south coast of Krete, just east of Gortyn.

Pharos: a small Mediterranean island just off the coast of Egypt near (what later became known as) Alexandria.

Pheidon: king of Thesprótia (q.v.) mentioned as helping Odysseus. (Spelled thus at XVIII.345, but written Phaidôn at XIX.339–45.)

Phêmios: singer and harpist in Ithaka. His name means something like “Bestower of fame;” in XXII.372 he is called “son of Terpis,”
i.e., “son of the Pleasure-giver.” The attribution of such a fanciful genealogy was another way to add a significant name to describe an aspect of the bard’s character.

Phêrai: town between Pylos and Sparta, now Kalamata, in southern Messênia, where Dióklês hosted Telémakhos and Peisístratos both on their way from Pylos to Sparta and on their way back.

Pherês: son of Krêtheus and Tyro.

Philoítios: cowherd, loyal to Odysseus and Telémakhos, with Eumaios he becomes the fourth fighter against the suitors.

Philoktêtês: from Magnesia in Thessaly, son of Poias, one of the Greek commanders in the expedition against Troy. He never reached Troy, however, since en route he received an incurable but not fatal snake bite; the Greeks, unable to stand the stench of the wound, left him on Lemnos. According to a prophecy, Troy could not fall without him (and/or Heraklês bow, of which he was the possessor), and Odysseus, along with Diomêdês, had a major role in effecting his return. (Odysseus’ part in this drama attracted treatments by the three great tragedians, of which Sophocles’
Philoctetes
alone is extant.) According to Nestor, Philoktêtês has a safe return from Troy.

Philomeleidês: king and champion of Lesbos, bested by Odysseus in a wrestling match.

Phoinikians: Phoenicians, a Punic people inhabiting Phoenicia (Phoinikia), on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, their major cities were Sidon and Tyre. Already famed as sea-going merchants in Homer’s day (with concomitant negative connotations: mercenary, untrustworthy, tricky), they established trading posts and later colonies throughout the Mediterranean as far west as Spain. Carthage was the most famous of Phoenician colonies, eventually far surpassing either Tyre or Sidon in wealth and military power.

Phorkys: a sea god, father of Thoösa and thus grandfather of Polyphêmos. He has a cave on Ithaka, giving his name to one of the island’s harbors or coves.

Phronios: Ithakan, father of Noêmon.

Phrontis: steersman of Meneláos’ ship, son of Orêtor, died near Cape Sunion by falling from the ship. Meneláos lands to give him proper burial.

Phthia: kingdom of Pêleus and Akhilleus, home of the Myrmidons. Its Homeric site is in the east central portion of the Greek mainland, but traces in legends and names suggest that it originally referred to most or all of Thessaly.

Phylakê: district ruled by Neleus. Its location cannot be identified precisely, but in Homer it seems to be a city on mainland Greece, in Achaia Phthiotis.

Phylakos: father of Íphiklos, q.v.

Phylo: female servant of Helen.

Pleiadês: one of the constellations by which sailors steered by night, and Odysseus is no exception. It is still known as the seven sisters, although today only six can be seen with the naked eye.

Politês: companion of Odysseus who lead several of his fellows right into Kirkê’s trap.

Pólybos: literally “many oxen,” so frequently a name for minor characters it could, in other registers, be translated “so and so” or “Mr. Smith.” In
The Odyssey
it is applied to four characters: (1) a citizen of Thebes in Egypt, who gave Meneláos costly presents, while his wife, Alkandrê, gave gold and silver gifts to Helen, all of which is now in the couple’s possession in Sparta (IV.137); (2) a Phaiákian craftsman, who has carved the ball with which
Halios and Laódamas dance (VIII.400); (3) an Ithakan, father of Eurýmakhos (XV.630); and (4) one of the suitors (XXII.270).