Odysseus Character Analysis in A Thousand Ships

Odysseus is a Greek warrior and the king of Ithaca. He is married to Penelope and the father of Telemachus. Like other Greek leaders, Odysseus was summoned to assist Menelaus in retrieving Helen from Paris, the treacherous Trojan prince. Known for his cleverness and cunning, Odysseus suggests the Greeks trick the Trojans by building a giant wooden horse, ending the war. While Odysseus sets himself apart from other Greek leaders by treating the Trojan women (particularly Hecabe) with compassion, his significant hubris and love of adventure delay his return home for another decade, leaving Penelope to raise their son and manage the kingdom alone.

Odysseus Quotes in A Thousand Ships

The A Thousand Ships quotes below are all either spoken by Odysseus or refer to Odysseus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Legitimizing Women’s Experiences Theme Icon

The bards all sing of the bravery of heroes and the greatness of your deeds: it is one of the few elements of your story on which they all agree. But no one sings of the courage required by those of us who were left behind. […] Whereas sitting in our home without you, watching Telemachus grow from a baby into a child, and now a handsome youth, wondering if he will ever see his father again? That also takes a hero’s disposition.

Related Characters: Penelope (speaker), Odysseus, Telemachus

Page Number and Citation: 185

Explanation and Analysis:

[Helen] took slow, sinuous steps toward the Spartan guards who owed their lives and their allegiance to Menelaus, who had fought to the death for her, and who despised her even as they could not take their eyes from her. […] She simply stared into [Odysseus’s] grey-green eyes as he flushed a deep, dark red. “You would give your life for me in a heartbeat,” she said. “You cannot disguise it any more than other men can. So don’t mock me, Odysseus. Or I may decide that you will regret it.”

Related Characters: Helen (speaker), Odysseus, Menelaus, Paris

Page Number and Citation: 209-210

Explanation and Analysis:

But when the bard sang this next part, it was all I could do not to have him thrown over Ithaca’s rocky outcrops and left to drown in the darkening sea. First you asked your mother how she had died. Then you asked after the health of your father. Then your son. Then your honour. Then your throne. And then, when you had asked about everything else except the dog, you remembered to ask after your wife.

Related Characters: Penelope (speaker), Odysseus, Telemachus

Page Number and Citation: 230

Explanation and Analysis:

I used to wonder what had happened to [the suitors], and why they were so anxious to stay somewhere they were not wanted. Pausing their lives, refusing to marry girls who would have them, failing to start families. Instead they preferred to be together as men, under the guise of wooing me. It took me some time to realize that this was in fact their war. Too young to sail to Troy, they were children when their brothers and cousins and fathers joined the greatest expedition that Hellas had ever seen. They had missed their chance to be warriors in the great war. And so they waged war upon my storerooms, and upon my virtue, because they had nothing else to fight for.

Related Characters: Penelope (speaker), Odysseus

Page Number and Citation: 320

Explanation and Analysis:

Odysseus Character Timeline in A Thousand Ships

The timeline below shows where the character Odysseus appears in A Thousand Ships. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...he came to Troy alongside his father, who was killed in battle. The Greek warrior Odysseus and the priest Calchas disliked Sinon’s family. When Agamemnon decided to abandon the war, these... (full context)

Storytelling and Narrative Control Theme Icon

The narrative shifts to a letter written by Penelope to her husband, the Greek warrior Odysseus. She can’t believe it’s been 10 years since he boarded Agamemnon’s fleet of “a thousand... (full context)

...make war for 10 years just because Menelaus can’t accept Helen’s abandonment. She sometimes wishes Odysseus had killed Telemachus that day, so he could have stayed and helped her conceive other... (full context)

...cost him his daughter. The soldiers demand the king return Chryseis. Agamemnon relents but demands Odysseus bring him Achilles’s woman as a replacement. (full context)

...tried to protect Achilles from the war by dipping him in the River Styx, but Odysseus rooted him out. When Achilles withdrew from the war, he asked her advice. Thetis said... (full context)

...Aphrodite’s intense beauty. Despite her lack of interest in romance, she has noted the hero Odysseus and plans to seduce him eventually. Thetis, for her part, is annoyed by the crowd... (full context)

Penelope writes another letter to Odysseus. It has been one year since Troy fell to the Greeks, but he has yet... (full context)

Using a stick, Odysseus stabbed the Cyclops’s eye. Hearing the commotion, the other Cyclopes called past the cave’s boulder,... (full context)

Penelope writes again to Odysseus, who has been gone another year. She’s heard from another bard that Odysseus was briefly... (full context)

The latest bard to visit Penelope claimed Odysseus and his remaining soldiers have found safe haven on the island Aeaea. There, Odysseus—unwilling to... (full context)

According to the bard, rather than risk his men, Odysseus set out alone for Circe’s palace. A young man appeared on his route and told... (full context)

The Greeks arrive on the shore. Odysseus introduces himself to Hecabe, who knows it was his plan to build the wooden horse... (full context)

Odysseus asks if Hecabe has any other sons. She replies they are all dead; she has... (full context)

On the shore, the women bury Polydorus’s body. Odysseus returns around midday and says the remaining women are to be divided among the Greeks;... (full context)

When Odysseus mentions taking Hecabe to Thrace, Cassandra sees what will happen there. She tries and fails... (full context)

The scene shifts. Cassandra sees Polymestor greeting Odysseus on the shore. He claims he sacrificed many cows in favor of a Greek victory,... (full context)

...lineage. She leaves him alive to remember the suffering his betrayal has caused. Hecabe thanks Odysseus for her revenge. As they leave, Polymestor shouts that Hecabe will die before reaching Ithaca,... (full context)

Penelope writes to Odysseus about his latest exploits. The wandering bards claim he traveled to the Underworld at Circe’s... (full context)

Sounding sardonic now, Penelope writes that (according to the bard) when Tiresias appeared, he told Odysseus what she has previously said: that he has incurred Poseidon’s wrath and the god is... (full context)

Penelope’s latest letter to Odysseus opens with a declaration that her patience is thinning. To her, Odysseus’s continuing adventures are... (full context)

After the Sirens, Odysseus sailed between two peaks (though Circe could have recommended a safer route). One peak houses... (full context)

...which is a relief. When Helenus visits, Cassandra sees that he will betray Troy to Odysseus and survive in the Greeks’ captivity. Cassandra believes her brother is innocent because his fate... (full context)

...passing out. Even asleep, she foresees herself being taken to Agamemnon. When Hecabe leaves with Odysseus and Neoptolemus takes Andromache, soldiers bring Cassandra to her captor. Agamemnon is unimpressed by Cassandra... (full context)

Penelope writes Odysseus another letter, though she feels she is speaking into the abyss. She is tired of... (full context)

Penelope reminisces about wandering the palace storerooms with Odysseus. Now they are nearly empty. The young suitors also plot to kill Telemachus, so he... (full context)

Penelope prays to Athene, thanking her for bringing Odysseus home after 20 years away. She knows Athene likes Odysseus for his cleverness, and she... (full context)

Odysseus questions Telemachus about Penelope’s suitors, plotting revenge despite his long absence. Though pleased with her... (full context)

When Odysseus arrives at the palace, only the elderly dog recognizes him in his disguise and promptly... (full context)

A Thousand Ships

Odysseus Character Analysis

Odysseus Quotes in A Thousand Ships

Chapter 23: Penelope Quotes

Chapter 26: The Trojan Women Quotes

Chapter 29: Penelope Quotes

Chapter 40: Penelope Quotes

Odysseus Character Timeline in A Thousand Ships