Following instructions, he must speak with Tiresias, the blind seer from Thebes, before he can allow his mother or any others to approach. His mortality is put in context as he watches the shades of warrior comrades, legendary figures, and even his own mother. The journey to the Land of the Dead - where the dead ("souls") receive reciprocity ("Justice") - is not so much a test for Odysseus as it is an epiphany. Others are drawn to the blood: Odysseus' mother, Anticleia Tiresias the prophet and old comrades Agamemnon and Achilles, among others. Because of the urgency of Odysseus' journey to the Land of the Dead, Elpenor was left unburied, and his spirit requests proper rites when the Greeks return to Aeaea. Elpenor had spent the last night in a drunken stupor on Circe's roofs, breaking his neck as he fell off when he arose at dawn.
He ceremoniously sprinkles barley and then sacrifices a ram and a ewe, the dark blood flowing into the trench to attract the dead.įirst to approach is Elpenor, one of Odysseus' men who died just before the crew left Circe's home. Odysseus follows Circe's instructions, digging a trench at the site prescribed and pouring libations of milk, honey, mellow wine, and pure water. The Land of the Dead is near the homes of the Cimmerians, who live "shrouded in mist and cloud" (11.17), never seeing the sun.
0 kommentar(er)
