The rightful king of Ithaca, son of Laertes and Anticlea, and husband of Penelopeia. He stood out as the most cunning leader of the Achaeans in the Trojan War, and his return home after the ten-year war took another ten years due to the wrath of the god Poseidon. While struggling at sea against giants, sorcerers, and sea monsters, he lost all his companions. After twenty years, he arrives in Ithaca in the guise of a destitute beggar. His goal is not merely to survive, but to destroy the insolent suitors occupying his home and reclaim his family and kingdom. He overcomes all obstacles with his intelligence, patience, and oratorical skills.
Born in Ithaca as the son of Laertes, he grew up as a noble king. In his youth, during a visit to his grandfather Autolycus, he was seriously wounded in the leg during a wild boar hunt on Mount Parnassus, and this scar became his distinguishing mark. Although he went to the Trojan War unwillingly, he was the one who came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse, which won the war.
A mature man, large-framed, broad-chested, and sturdy-legged. Throughout the epic, he is transformed by Athene sometimes into a divine figure—taller, muscular, with thick hair—and other times into an old beggar with wrinkled skin, bald, and in rags. He has an old boar scar on his leg.
Athene
His divine supporter who gives him counsel, enables him to constantly change his disguise, and assumes the role of his protector.
Antinoos
The ringleader of those who plundered his home, the enemy he hated the most and killed first.
Poseidon
His archenemy who tormented him across the oceans for blinding the Cyclops.
Penelopeia
His one and only wife, whom he considers his equal in intelligence and loyalty, and for whom he endured so many hardships to return to.
Telemakhos
His son, whom he yearned for, to whom he would entrust his kingdom, and with whom he fought shoulder-to-shoulder against his enemies.