Mortal · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Icarius
Penelope's father, urged to remarry her
Never seen and never heard from; just the marriage the suitors keep pointing Penelope toward.
Penelope's father, the man the suitors keep urging her to go back to, so that he can marry her off again and settle the question of who gets Odysseus' house. His other daughter, Iphthime, is the one whose shape Athena borrows to bring Penelope a comforting dream in Book IV. Icarius himself is named constantly, in formula after formula, and never once appears.
Bonds
- Icarius father of Penelope — the marriage the suitors invoke
Appears in
- Book I Visit of Athena to Telemachus
- Book II Departure of Telemachus from Ithaca
- Book IV Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus
- Book XI Visit of Odysseus to the Land of the Dead
- Book XVI Odysseus Discovering Himself to Telemachus
- Book XVII Return of Odysseus to His Palace
- Book XVIII Combat of Odysseus and Irus
- Book XIX Odysseus Recognized by Eurycleia
- Book XX The Last Banquet of the Suitors
- Book XXI The Bending of the Bow of Odysseus
- Book XXIV Conclusion
Scenes
- Penelope silences the bard — Book I. Penelope asks Phemius for different song
- Telemachus’s Grievance — Book II. Telemachus denounces suitors wasting estate
- Antinoüs Blames Penelope — Book II. Antinoüs blames Penelope’s shroud trick
- A Troubled Sleep — Book IV. Penelope sleeps, Athena sends phantom
- Penelope Wakes; Ambush Set — Book IV. Penelope wakes as ship waits at Asteris
- Warning About Wives — Book XI. Agamemnon warns of wives, praises Penelope
- Penelope Confronts Antinoüs — Book XVI. Penelope rebukes Antinoüs, Eurymachus lies
- A Sneeze and a Summons — Book XVII. Telemachus’s sneeze confirms Penelope’s curse
- Athena Prompts Penelope — Book XVIII. Athena moves Penelope to confront suitors
- Penelope’s Divine Beauty — Book XVIII. Divine Athena beautifies sleeping Penelope
- Eurymachus Flatters Penelope — Book XVIII. Eurymachus flatters, Penelope cites charge
- Gifts for the Queen — Book XVIII. Suitors send gifts to Penelope
- The Eagle Dream — Book XIX. Penelope dreams an eagle kills her geese
- Suitors mock the guests — Book XX. Suitor proposes selling Odysseus and seer
- Penelope Fetches the Bow — Book XXI. Athena prompts tearful Penelope
- Penelope Defends the Stranger — Book XXI. Penelope rebukes Antinoüs, promises gifts
- Amphimedon’s Tale — Book XXIV. Amphimedon tells slaughter, Penelope praised