Who are the female characters in The Odyssey?

Perhaps the most important female character in the Odyssey is Penelope, Odysseus's long-suffering wife and Telemachus's mother. She is often called "heedful Penelope" because she is so obedient and loyal. Despite intense pressure from the suitors, Penelope remains committed to Odysseus, believing that he is still alive and will return to Ithaca despite his nearly twenty-year absence.

The most important female character as concerns Odysseus's journey home is the goddess Athena. She routinely helps him...

Perhaps the most important female character in the Odyssey is Penelope, Odysseus's long-suffering wife and Telemachus's mother. She is often called "heedful Penelope" because she is so obedient and loyal. Despite intense pressure from the suitors, Penelope remains committed to Odysseus, believing that he is still alive and will return to Ithaca despite his nearly twenty-year absence.

The most important female character as concerns Odysseus's journey home is the goddess Athena. She routinely helps him and his son, Telemachus, often protecting them from the ill will of the suitors who ravage the family's resources in Odysseus's absence. Athena also convinces her father, Zeus, to intervene on Odysseus's behalf with Calypso, a goddess who has kept Odysseus captive on her island, as her lover, for several years. Calypso refuses to let Odysseus leave until Hermes tells her that Zeus has commanded it.

Odysseus also has a run-in with the goddess Circe on his way home. The witch initially turns his men into animals until Odysseus comes to rescue them, having been coached by Hermes on what to do.

There are a few other minor female characters (including several female monsters: Scylla, Charybdis, the sirens—but they are not characters, per se), though these four—Penelope, Athena, Calypso, and Circe—are the most significant to Odysseus's journey.