# Poetry — Character guide

> Key figures in Poetry by Matthew Arnold.

- [Empedocles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/empedocles.md): A philosopher who debates with Pausanias on the slopes of Etna.
- [Balder](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/balder.md): The beloved Norse god whose death is mourned by all the gods.
- [Hermod](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/hermod.md): The swift god who journeys to the underworld to retrieve Balder.
- [Tristram](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/tristram.md): A knight of the Round Table entangled in a tragic love affair.
- [Sohrab](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/sohrab.md): A young Persian warrior who unknowingly fights his father Rostam.
- [Rostam](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/rostam.md): The legendary Persian hero who slays his son Sohrab in battle.
- [Aepytus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/aepytus.md): The son of Merope who returns to avenge his father's murder.
- [Merope](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/merope.md): The queen of Messenia who mourns her husband and son.
- [Arcas](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/arcas.md): A loyal servant who aids Merope and Aepytus.
- [Iseult](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/iseult.md): The Irish princess who loves Tristram and marries King Marc.
- [Polyphontes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/polyphontes.md): The usurper king of Messenia who killed Merope's husband.
- [Odin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/odin.md): The all-father of the Norse gods who mourns Balder.
- [Hoder](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/hoder.md): The blind god who unwittingly kills Balder with a mistletoe dart.
- [Hela](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/hela.md): The goddess of the underworld who keeps Balder's soul.
- [Nanna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/nanna.md): Balder's wife who dies of grief and joins him in the underworld.
- [Frea](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/frea.md): A Norse goddess who mourns Balder's death.
- [Lok](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/lok.md): The trickster god who engineers Balder's death.
- [Callicles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/callicles.md): A young poet who sings to Empedocles on Mount Etna.
- [Vivian](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/vivian.md): A fairy enchantress who imprisons Merlin.
- [Merlin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/merlin.md): The wizard who is trapped by the fay Vivian.
- [Marguerite](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/marguerite.md): A noblewoman who appears in a poem of love and loss.
- [Goethe](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/goethe.md): The German poet referenced in several poems.
- [Heine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/heine.md): The German poet whose grave is visited in a poem.
- [Wordsworth](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/wordsworth.md): The English poet referenced in a memorial poem.
- [Obermann](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/obermann.md): A melancholic figure from Senancour's novel, revisited in verse.
- [Thyrsis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/thyrsis.md): A shepherd poet mourning the death of his friend Corydon.
- [Geist](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/geist.md): A beloved dog whose death is mourned in a poem.
- [Matthias](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/matthias.md): A pet bird whose death is lamented in verse.
- [Kaiser](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/kaiser.md): A pet dog whose death is commemorated in a poem.
- [Saint Brandan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/saint_brandan.md): A saint who voyages to find the earthly paradise.
- [Rachel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/rachel.md): A tragic figure from the Bible, mourned in a poem.
- [Monica](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/monica.md): Saint Augustine's mother, depicted in her last prayer.
- [Arthur Hugh Clough](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/arthur_hugh_clough.md): A poet and friend of Arnold, mourned in Thyrsis.
- [Senancour](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/senancour.md): The author of Obermann, referenced in Arnold's poem.
- [Byron](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/byron.md): The Romantic poet, referenced in a poem about Newstead.
- [Shelley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/shelley.md): The Romantic poet, alluded to in a poem.
- [Marc](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/marc.md): The king of Cornwall who marries Iseult.
- [Afrasiab](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/afrasiab.md): The king of Turan and enemy of the Persians.
- [Zal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/zal.md): Rostam's father, a legendary Persian hero.
- [Hercules](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/hercules.md): The Greek hero, referenced in several poems.
- [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/zeus.md): The king of the Greek gods, mentioned in poems.
- [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/apollo.md): The Greek god of music and poetry, invoked in verse.
- [Callisto](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/callisto.md): A nymph transformed into a bear, then a constellation.
- [Pan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/pan.md): The Greek god of the wild, associated with music.
- [Tiresias](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/tiresias.md): The blind prophet of Thebes, referenced in a poem.
- [Prometheus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/prometheus.md): The Titan who gave fire to humanity, referenced in verse.
- [Ulysses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/ulysses.md): The Greek hero of the Odyssey, mentioned in a poem.
- [Philoctetes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/philoctetes.md): The Greek archer with the bow of Heracles.
- [Orestes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/orestes.md): The son of Agamemnon who avenged his father's murder.
- [Agamemnon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/agamemnon.md): The king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces at Troy.
- [Pylades](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/pylades.md): The loyal friend of Orestes in Greek myth.
- [Electra](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/electra.md): The sister of Orestes who helped him avenge their father.
- [Deianeira](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/deianeira.md): The wife of Heracles who unwittingly caused his death.
- [Macaria](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/macaria.md): The daughter of Heracles who sacrificed herself for Athens.
- [Eurystheus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/eurystheus.md): The king who imposed the twelve labors on Heracles.
- [The Heracleidae](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/the_hercleidae.md): The descendants of Heracles who sought refuge in Athens.
- [Laias](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/laias.md): A friend or ally of Aepytus in the Merope drama.
- [Temenus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/temenus.md): A son of Aristomachus and a Heraclid king.
- [Cresphontes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/cresphontes.md): The murdered husband of Merope and king of Messenia.
- [Aristodemus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/aristodemus.md): A Heraclid leader in the conquest of the Peloponnese.
- [Aristomachus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/aristomachus.md): A Heraclid king and father of Temenus and Cresphontes.
- [Aegimius](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/aegimius.md): A Dorian king who allied with the Heracleidae.
- [Echemus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/echemus.md): A king of Tegea who fought the Heracleidae.
- [Eurysthenes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/eurysthenes.md): A son of Aristodemus and a king of Sparta.
- [Procles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/procles.md): A son of Aristodemus and a king of Sparta.
- [Melanthus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/melanthus.md): A king of Athens who fought the Boeotians.
- [Cypselus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/cypselus.md): A tyrant of Corinth mentioned in the historical introduction.
- [Peisianax](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/peisianax.md): A friend of Empedocles who appears in the poem.
- [Pausanias](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters/pausanias.md): A physician who converses with Empedocles on Etna.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_16_se/characters