The Oracles of Troy (The Adventures of Odysseus)

goddess of wisdom and warfare

Aulis

–

sheltered bay in the Euboean Straits

C

Calchas

–

priest of Apollo, adviser to Agamemnon

Cassandra

–

Trojan princess, daughter of Priam

Clymene

–

servant to Apheidas and mother of Palamedes

Clytaemnestra

–

queen of Mycenae and wife of Agamemnon

D

Dardanus

–

city to the north of Troy

Deidameia

–

mother of Neoptolemus and widow of Achilles

Deiphobus

–

Trojan prince, younger brother of Hector and Paris

Demeter

–

goddess of agriculture

Diocles

–

Spartan soldier

Diomedes

–

king of Argos

E

Elpenor

–

Ithacan soldier

Epaltes

–

Argive soldier

Epeius

–

Greek craftsman and notorious coward

Eperitus

–

captain of Odysseus’s guard

Eumaeus

–

swineherd and faithful slave to Laertes

Eupeithes

–

member of the Kerosia

Euryalus

–

companion of Diomedes

Eurybates

–

Odysseus’s squire

Eurylochus

–

Ithacan soldier, cousin of Odysseus

Eurypylus

–

Mysian king, grandson of Priam

H

Hades

–

god of the Underworld

Halitherses

–

former captain of Ithacan royal guard, given joint charge of Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence

Hecabe

–

Trojan queen, wife of King Priam

Hector

–

Trojan prince, killed by Achilles

Helen

–

former queen of Sparta, now wife of Paris

Helenus

–

son of Priam and Hecabe

Hephaistos

–

god of fire; blacksmith to the Olympians

Heracles

–

greatest of all Greek heroes

Hestia

–

the goddess of the hearth

Hippodameia

–

wife of Pelops

I

Idaeus

–

herald to King Priam

Idomeneus

–

king of Crete

Ilium

–

the region of which Troy was the capital

Ilus

–

founder of Troy, grandfather of Priam

Iphigenia

–

daughter of Eperitus and Clytaemnestra, sacrificed by Agamemnon

Ithaca

–

island in the Ionian Sea

K

Kerosia

–

Ithacan council meeting

L

Laertes

–

Odysseus’s father

Lemnos

–

island in the Aegean Sea

M

Menelaus

–

king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon and cuckolded husband of Helen

Menestheus

–

king of Athens

Mentor

–

close friend of Odysseus, given joint charge of Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence

Mycenae

–

most powerful city in Greece, situated in north-eastern Peloponnese

Myrmidons

–

the followers of Achilles

Myrtilus

–

King Oenomaus’s charioteer

Mysia

–

region to the south-east of Troy

N

Neoptolemus

–

son of Achilles and Deidameia

Neriton (Mount)

–

highest point on Ithaca

Nestor

–

king of Pylos

Nisus

–

Ithacan elder

O

Odysseus

–

king of Ithaca

Oenomaus

–

king of Pisa, killed in a chariot race against Pelops

Oenops

–

member of the Kerosia

Omeros

–

Ithacan soldier and bard

P

Palamedes

–

Nauplian prince, executed for treason

Palladium

–

sacred image of Athena’s companion, Pallas

Pandion

–

murdered king of Alybas

Paris

–

Trojan prince, eldest remaining son of King Priam

Parnassus (Mount)

–

mountain in central Greece and home of the Pythian oracle

Peisandros

–

Myrmidon commander

Peloponnese

–

southernmost landmass of Greek mainland, named after Pelops

Pelops

–

grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus

Penelope

–

queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus

Penthesilea

–

queen of the Amazons, slain by Achilles

Pergamos

–

the citadel of Troy

Philoctetes

–

Malian archer, deserted by the Greeks on Lemnos

Pisa

–

region in the north-western Peloponnese

Pleisthenes

–

youngest son of Menelaus and Helen

Podaleirius

–

famed healer, son of Asclepius

Polites

–

Ithacan warrior

Polyctor

–

member of the Kerosia

Poseidon

–

god of the sea

Priam

–

king of Troy

Pythoness

–

high priestess of the Pythian oracle

S

Scamander

–

river on the Trojan plain

Simöeis

–

river on the Trojan plain

Sthenelaus

–

companion of Diomedes

T

Talthybius

–

squire to Agamemnon

Taphians

–

pirate race from Taphos

Telemachus

–

son of Odysseus and Penelope

Tenedos

–

island off the coast of Ilium

Teucer

–

famed archer, half-brother and companion to Great Ajax

Theano

–

priestess of Athena and wife of Antenor

Thebes

–

northern Greek city, sacked by Diomedes

Thetis

–

chief of the Nereids and mother of Achilles

Trechos

–

Argive soldier

Troy

–

chief city of Ilium

X

xenia

–

the custom of friendship towards strangers

Z

Zacynthos

–

southernmost of the Ionian islands under Odysseus’s rule

Zeus

–

the king of the gods

BOOK

ONE

Chapter One

LEMNOS

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, stood at the stern of the galley, his short legs planted firmly apart on the deck and his muscular, top-heavy torso rolling gently with the subdued motion of the sea. His green eyes were impassive as they studied the walls of dense fog that surrounded the ship, seemingly unconcerned at the possibility they could be creeping towards their doom on a rocky shoal or drifting past their destination altogether. King Diomedes showed less patience, beseeching and cursing the gods with alternate breaths as he stood at Odysseus’s left shoulder, his blue cloak swept back to reveal a gleaming breastplate and the golden pommel of a sword hanging at his side. Eperitus, captain of the Ithacan guard, was at Odysseus’s other shoulder, his eyes on the crew as they pulled at the oars.

‘What do your senses tell you, Eperitus?’ Odysseus asked, his smooth voice amplified by the silence. ‘Are we near to Lemnos?’