- Odysseus - In book 19, the Odysseus beggar calls himself Aethon. Odysseus is the wandering Trojan War hero famed for his wiles. He is a favorite of Athena and disliked by Poseidon.
- Telemachus - Son of Odysseus who was left as a baby when Odysseus went off 20 years earlier to fight in the Trojan War.
- Penelope - Faithful wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus.
- Idomeneus - King of Crete during the Iliad. Supposed bother of the Odysseus-beggar. He returned home from Troy quickly and with his men.
- Deucalion - Son of King Minos of Crete and father of Idomeneus and the supposed Odysseus-beggar.
- Eurynome - Maid of Penelope.
- Eurycleia - Faithful old servant who recognizes Odysseus from a scar on his leg.
- Melantho - One of Penelope's unfaithful serving women who has been sleeping with the suitor Eurymachus.
"Odysseus, Idomeneus and Meriones: The Cretan Lies of 'Odyssey' 13-19," by Adele J. Haft.
The Classical Journal, Vol. 79, No. 4. (Apr. - May, 1984), pp. 289-306.
Profiles of Some of the Major Olympian Gods Involved in the Trojan War
Notes on Odyssey Book XIX
