What is the name of the Laestrygonian king?

The story behind the answer

What is the name of the Laestrygonian king? Antiphates. In the Odyssey, Antiphates rules the Laestrygonians, a tribe of gigantic, man-eating people encountered during Odysseus's voyage home.

Odysseus's fleet reaches Telepylus, a harbor surrounded by steep cliffs. He sends scouts inland, where they meet a young woman who directs them to the house of her father, Antiphates. The king's enormous wife summons him, and Antiphates immediately attacks and eats one of the Greek visitors. He then raises an alarm.

Thousands of Laestrygonians gather on the cliffs and hurl huge rocks down onto the ships packed inside the harbor. They spear the sailors like fish and destroy eleven of Odysseus's twelve vessels. Odysseus survives because his own ship remains outside the harbor entrance, allowing it to escape.

Alcinous is another king in the Odyssey, but he rules the Phaeacians and later helps Odysseus reach Ithaca. Aeolus is the keeper of the winds, while Polyphemus is the Cyclops whose blinding brings Poseidon's anger.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: