Penelope in the context of "Iphidamas"

The Odyssey (/ˈɒdɪsi/; Ancient Greek: Ὀδύσσεια, romanized: Odýsseia) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the Iliad, the Odyssey is divided into 24 books. It follows the heroic king of Ithaca, Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year long Trojan War. His journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to contend with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.

The Odyssey was first composed in Homeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC; by the mid-6th century BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary scholarship predominantly assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently, as part of long oral traditions. Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed for an audience by an aoidos or rhapsode.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus (/əˈdɪsiəs/ ə-DISS-ee-əs; Ancient Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, romanized: Odysseús, Odyseús, IPA: [o.dy(s).sěu̯s]), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses (/juːˈlɪsiːz/ yoo-LISS-eez, UK also /ˈjuːlɪsiːz/ YOO-liss-eez; Latin: Ulysses, Ulixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle.

As the son of Laërtes and Anticlea, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus, Acusilaus, and Telegonus, Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility (polytropos), and he is thus known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (Ancient Greek: μῆτις, romanized: mêtis, lit. 'cunning intelligence'). He is most famous for his nostos, or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War.

In Greek mythology, Telemachus (/təˈlɛməkəs/ tə-LEM-ə-kəs; Ancient Greek: Τηλέμαχος, romanized: Tēlemakhos, lit. 'far-fighter') is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who are central characters in Homer's Odyssey. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in search of his wandering father. On his return to Ithaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slay the suitors who had gathered around Penelope. According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe after Odysseus's death.

The first four books of the Odyssey focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father, who has yet to return home from the Trojan War, and are traditionally given the title Telemachy.

In Greek mythology, Laodice (/leɪˈɒdəˌsi/; Ancient Greek: Λαοδίκη, romanized: Laodíkē, lit. 'justice of the people' [la.odíkɛː]) may refer to the following figures:

• Laodice, one of the Hyperborean maidens. Together with her sister, Hyperoche, Laodice was buried after her death on the temple grounds of Apollo, where their grave was worshiped by the residents.
• Laodice, daughter of Aloeus, wife of Aeolus and mother of Salmoneus and Cretheus.
• Laodice, daughter of King Priam and a princess of Troy
• Laodice, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, sometimes conflated with Electra.
• Laodice, daughter of King Cinyras of Cyprus and Metharme. She was the wife of Elatus and by him mother of Stymphalus and Pereus, and possibly of Ischys, Cyllen and Aepytus too.
• Laodice, descendant of Agapenor, who was known for having sent to Tegea a robe as a gift to Athena Alea, and to have built a temple of Aphrodite Paphia in Tegea.
• Laodice, alternate name for Iphthime, daughter of Icarius of Sparta and Asterodia, daughter of Eurypylus. She was the sister of Polymelos, Damasiclus (Amasiclus) and Penelope. Laodice was also called Laodamia, Mede and Hypsipyle.
• Laodice, daughter of Iphis and mother of Capaneus.
• Laodice, a golden-haired lover of Poseidon.

Italus or Italos (from Ancient Greek: Ἰταλός) was a legendary king of the Oenotrians, ancient people of Italic origin who inhabited the region now called Calabria, in southern Italy. In his Fabularum Liber (or Fabulae), Gaius Julius Hyginus recorded the myth that Italus was a son of Penelope and Telegonus (a son of Odysseus by Circe).

According to Aristotle (Politics) and Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War), Italus was the eponym of Italy (Italia). Aristotle, writing in the 4th century BCE, relates that, according to tradition, Italus converted the Oenotrians from a pastoral society to an agricultural one and gave them various ordinances, being the first to institute their system of common meals.

In Greek mythology, Acarnan (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαρνάν; genitive Ἀκαρνᾶνος derived from ἀκαρνάν akarnan 'laurel' or 'thistle') was the name of these two characters:

• Acarnan, son of Alcmaeon and Callirrhoe.
• Acarnan, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Dulichium along with other 56 wooers. He, with the other suitors, was slain by Odysseus with the aid of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.

Actor (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτωρ; gen.: Ἄκτoρος Aktoros) is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name (which means 'leader', from the verb άγω: to lead or carry):

• Actor, father of Eurytus who was an ally of Phineus during his fight with Perseus.
• Actor, a king of Phthia, was said to be the son of King Myrmidon and Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus. Some say that Actor died childless, but others say that he is the father of Eurytion, his successor or of Irus, who was also called the father of Eurytion. According to Diodorus, Actor without an heir, was succeeded by Peleus who fled to his country from Aegina for killing his half-brother, Phocus. The hero was then purified by the king for his sins. This story was usually attributed to Actor's possible son Eurytion who was slain accidentally by his son-in-law Peleus. This Actor married Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and had several children, among them Menoetius. Menoetius was counted among the Argonauts, and was the father of Patroclus (Achilles' very close companion).
• Actor, son of King Deioneus of Phocis and Diomede, daughter of Xuthus, thus a brother of Asterodeia, Aenetus, Phylacus, and Cephalus. This Actor could be the man referred by Hesiod as the father of Protesilaus, one of the suitors of Helen of Troy.
• Actor, son of Azeus, descendant of Phrixus, was ruler of the Minyans of Orchomenus. He was father of Astyoche, who was seduced by the war-god Ares and bore him twin sons, named Ascalaphus and Ialmenus. These last two led the Minyan contingent to the Trojan War.
• Actor, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, thus a brother of Augeas and Tiphys. He was king of Elis, and founded the city of Hyrmina, which he named after his mother. This Actor married Molione and became by her father of the twins known as the Molionides, Eurytus and Cteatus.
• Actor, the Elean son of Poseidon and Agamede, daughter of King Augeas. He was the brother of Belus and Dictys.
• Actor and Eurythemis were in one source called parents of Ancaeus (who other sources call the son of Lycurgus) and grandparents of Agapenor.
• Actor, the Achaean son of Hippasus from Pellene and one of the Argonauts.
• Actor, a Lapith. He was killed by the centaur Clanis.
• Actor, father of Sthenelus. Sthenelus followed Heracles in his campaign against the Amazons and was killed by them.
• Actor, son of Acastus, was accidentally killed by Peleus while hunting. As a retribution, Peleus sent to Acastus some cows and sheep that had been killed by a wolf sent by Thetis.
• Actor, son of Oenops, brother of Hyperbius. He was among the defenders of the Borraean Gate at Thebes when the Seven against Thebes attacked the city, and confronted Parthenopaeus at the gate.
• Actor, a warrior in the army of the Seven against Thebes. He saw a chasm open in the earth that swallowed Amphiaraus.
• Actor, an old Theban servant of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus. During the war of the Seven against Thebes, he accompanied her to the walls when that army appeared in front of the barriers outside the city. Because of his age, Actor cannot follow the princess and he just stayed halfway up the climb to listen to her lament when she saw her brother in the enemy army.
• Actor, father of Echecles. His son married Polymele, mother of Eudoros by Hermes.
• Actor, a shepherd in Lemnos who befriended Philoctetes in Euripides' play Philoctetes. According to some accounts, he was instead the king of Lemnos whose shepherd named Iphimachus, son of Dolops, took care the abandoned hero after he was bitten by a snake.
• Actor, one of the companions of the exiled Aeneas. He is probably the same who in another passage is called an Auruncan, and of whose conquered lance Turnus made a boast. This story seems to have given rise to the proverbial saying "Actoris spolium" ("the spoil of Actor"), for any poor spoil in general.
• Actor, father of Actoris (though unnamed in the Odyssey) who was given by Icarius to his daughter Penelope after her wedding with Odysseus to serve as her personal handmaiden.

Periphas (/ˈpɛrɪfəs/; Ancient Greek: Περίφᾱς Períphās means 'conspicuousness') in Greek mythology may refer to:

• Periphas, a legendary king of Attica who Zeus turned into an eagle, husband of Phene.
• Periphas, an Egyptian prince as one of the sons of King Aegyptus. His mother was Gorgo and thus full brother of Oeneus, Aegyptus, Menalces, Lampus and Idmon. In some accounts, he could be a son of Aegyptus either by Eurryroe, daughter of the river-god Nilus, or Isaia, daughter of King Agenor of Tyre. Periphas suffered the same fate as his other brothers, save Lynceus, when they were slain on their wedding night by their wives who obeyed the command of their father King Danaus of Libya. He married the Danaid Actaea, daughter of Danaus and Pieria.
• Periphas, one of the five sons of Aretus who fought against Dionysus in the Indian War.
• Periphas, a Aetolian prince as son of King Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea, daughter of King Thestius of Pleuron. He was the brother of Meleager, Phereus, Ageleus, Toxeus, Clymenus, Gorge, Eurymede, Deianira and Melanippe.
• Periphas, a son of Lapithes and Orsinome in Thessaly. He consorted with Astyagyia, daughter of Hypseus, and had by her eight sons, of whom the eldest, Antion was a possible father of Ixion with Perimela.
• Periphas, one of the Lapiths at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia. He must not be confused with the above-mentioned Periphas who was also a Lapith.
• Periphas, same as Hyperphas.
• Periphas, son of the Aetolian Ochesius, fell by the hand of Ares in the Trojan War.
• Periphas, a companion of Neoptolemus who took part in the destruction of Troy.
• Periphas, one of the sons of King Aeolus of Lipara, the keeper of the winds. He had five brothers namely: Agenor, Euchenor, Klymenos, Xouthos and Macareus, and six sisters: Klymene, Kallithyia, Eurygone, Lysidike, Kanake and an unnamed one. According to various accounts, Aeolus yoked in marriage his sons, including Periphas, and daughters in order to preserve concord and affection among them.
• Periphas, one of the Suitors of Penelope who came from Zacynthus along with other 43 wooers. He, with the other suitors, was shot dead by Odysseus with the aid of Eumaeus, Philoetius, and Telemachus.
• Periphas, a son of Epytus, and a herald of Aeneas.