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A Journey to the Underworld
Homer, THE ODYSSEY
By 1600 B.C.E. history's first identifiable Greeks, a people who called themselves the Achaeans, had created in the Balkan Peninsula a
decentralized warrior civilization, which we term Mycenaean. The name derives from Mycenae, a city that exercised a loose
leadership over the petty principalities of southern and central Greece. Around 1450 B.C.E. the Achaeans were masters of the island
civilization of Crete and, as accomplished pirates and maritime merchants, a major force in the eastern Mediterranean. It is against this
background that we must place the Achaean expedition against Troy, a city in Anatolia, which took place around 1200.
The sack of rival Troy was the high-water mark for the Achaeans. Within a century Mycenaean civilization was collapsing, in part, at
least, because of internecine –wars (especially destructive) among the various Achaean principalities. What other factors were
involved remain a mystery. By 1100 B.C.E. the highly specialized arts and crafts, including literacy, that had characterized Bronze
Age Greece at its height had disappeared or were severely reduced in quality and quantity. Greece had entered a period we call the
Greek Dark Age (ca. 1100-ca. 800), a term that, more than anything else, implies our overall ignorance of what was happening in the
Greek World during these centuries. About all we can say with any degree of certainty is that the Greeks lost the art of writing, their
political and economic structures seem to have been drastically reduced in size, and a relatively weak and impoverished Greek World
ceased to be a major powder in the eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, however, recent archeological finds have tended to
underscore the continuities between late Mycenaean society and the classical Hellenic World that arose after 800 B.C.E., despite the
losses and retrenchments. What is more, during this so-called Dark Age the Greek polis, or city-state, emerged as a major (many
would say the major) component of Greek civilization. By 800 B.C.E., poleis (the plural of polis) were scattered all over the Greek
World.
When Greek civilization (with its accompanying literacy) reemerged around the middle of the eighth century B.C.E., it was centered
along the western shores of Anatolia, where Greek colonists had begun settling around the mid eleventh century B.C.E. Because so
many of these Greek refugees spoke a Greek dialect known as Ionian, the region became known as Ionia. Here across the Aegean Sea,
Greek settlers, benefiting from their contact with the far-older civilizations of Southwest Asia (and, to a lesser extent, Egypt),
produced the first Greek literature known to us (as opposed to the bureaucratic lists left behind by Mycenaean civilization). Of all of
this early literature, the most significant are two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, both ascribed to a bard called Homer.
The ancients had no doubt there was a historical Homer, a blind poet who created both works. Modern scholars are less certain, and
most would agree that we will never know the truth about Homer's identity or the exact process by which his epics were fashioned.
Yet, there are some points on which scholars are generally agreed. Internal evidence (the words, phrases, and allusions within each
poem) has led most researchers to agree that, regardless of whether Homer was one, two, or many poets, these two poems largely
reached their final form in Anatolia during the late eighth century. Whether they were written down that early or transmitted orally is
impossible to say. What is clear, however, is that both epics exhibit all of the hallmarks of oral poetry, suggesting strongly that in the
act of creation the poet or poets whom we call Homer drew heavily from a long tradition of oral poetic stories, which had been
preserved for centuries in the memories of wandering professional bards.
Very much like the Rig Veda, therefore, the Homeric epics preserve vestiges of a much earlier age — in this case the Late Mycenaean
Age — but are also overlaid with the values, social practices, and modes of perception of later Greek society. When used judiciously,
the two epics tell us a good deal about life in the thirteenth century B.C.E. — the age of the Trojan War. At the same time, they often
reflect the culture of Late Dark Age society, especially that of the ninth and eighth centuries. The problem facing the historian is to
separate one from the other.
On one level both poems celebrate such warrior virtues as personal honor, bravery, and loyalty to one's comrades, and on a deeper
level they probe the hidden recesses of human motivation and emotion. On a third level the poems address the issue of the meaning of
human suffering. Why do humans experience pain and sorrow? Are they captive to the whims of the gods? Are they and the gods
subject to an overarching destiny that neither can avoid?
More to human scale than the Iliad, the Odyssey tells two intertwined stories. One traces the ten-year-long homeward voyage of the
Achaean hero Odysseus. This clever adventurer has to battle, with cunning and skill, the enmity of Poseidon, god of the sea, and a
variety of superhuman opponents before finally arriving home to his island kingdom of Ithaca. The second story details the attempts of
Odysseus's wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus, who, with equal cunning and skill, attempt to stall indefinitely the advances of a
group of suitors who seek to marry the presumed widow. As the suitors impatiently wait to see whom she will marry, they despoil
Odysseus and Penelope's home and waste Telemachus's patrimony. The two story lines merge when Odysseus returns and, with the
aid of his son and several loyal servants, wreaks vengeance on the suitors by killing them all. Unlike most epics, the story ends happily
with Penelope and Odysseus reunited and Telemachus assured of his inheritance.
The following selection describes one of Odysseus's most daring adventures on his troubled homeward journey — a visit to the House
of Hades, or the Land of the Dead. Here he consults Teiresias, the blind Theban seer, who even in death retains his prophetic powers.
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Odysseus also meets the shades of many famous women and men, including his old comrade-in-arms Achilles, the Achaeans' greatest
warrior and the central character of the Iliad, who was killed prior to the fall of Troy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now the spirit of Teiresias of Thebes came forward, bearing a
golden staff in his hand. Knowing who I am, he addressed me:
"Son of Laertes, sprung from Zeus, 1 Odysseus, known for your
many wiles, why, unhappy man, have you left the sunlight to
behold the dead in this cheerless region? Step back from the trench
and put aside your sharp sword so that I might drink the blood 2
and thereby prophesy the truth to you." Thus he spoke. I, stepping
backward, drove my silverstudded sword into its scabbard. When
he had drunk the black blood, this noble prophet addressed me
with these words.
"Lord Odysseus, you seek a honey-sweet homeward journey, but a
god will make your travels difficult. I do not think you can escape
the notice of the Earth-shaker 3 who has set his mind in enmity
(hatred) against you, enraged because you blinded his beloved
son.4 Even so, you still might be able to reach home, although in
sorry circumstances, if you are willing to restrain your desires, and
those of your comrades, beginning when your seaworthy ship
leaves the deep blue waters and approaches the island of
Thrinacie,5 where you will see the grazing cattle and fat sheep
of Helios6 who sees and hears everything. If you leave the animals
untouched and concentrate solely on getting home, it is possible
that all of you might reach Ithaca, although in sorry circumstances.
If you injure these animals, however, I foresee destruction for your
ship and its crew, and even if you yourself manage to escape, you
will return home late, in a sorry state, in an alien ship, having lost
all your companions.7 And even there at home you will find
troubles. Overbearing men will be consuming your wealth, wooing
your goddesslike wife, and offering her bridal gifts. Certainly,
following your arrival, you will gain revenge on these suitors for
their evil deeds. When you have slain the suitors in your halls,
whether by stratagem or in an open fight with sharp bronze
weapons, you must again set out on a journey. You must take a
well-fashioned oar and travel until you reach a people who are
ignorant of the sea and never eat food mixed with salt, and who
know nothing about our purple ribbed ships and the well-fashioned
oars that serve as ships wings. And I say you will receive a sign, a
very clear one that you cannot miss. When another traveler upon
meeting you remarks that you are carrying a winnowing-fan across
your broad back,8 plant your well-fashioned oar in the earth and
1
The greatest of the Greek gods. The title implies Odysseus’s godlike heroic
qualities.
2
The spirits of the dead can communicate with Odysseus only after he drinks blood
from animals he has sacrificed.
3
Poseidon, god of the sea and of earthquakes.
4
The Cyclops, a son of Poseidon, was a one-eyed, cannibal giant who Odysseus
had blinded in self-defense.
5
The mythical island of the sun-god Helios, where he pastured his sacred cattle;
ancient Greek commentators on Homer identified it as the island of Sicily.
6
The sun-god.
7
The crew will kill and eat the sun-god’s flocks, and all, except Odysseus, will die
as a result.
8
Odysseus will be in a region where no one knows what an oar’s function is.
Rather, they will mistake it for the long-handled shallow basket in which grain was
tossed in order to separate the cereal from the chaff.
offer Lord Poseidon the sacrifice of a ram, a bull, 9 and a boar,
the mate of the wild she-swine. Then return home and there
make sacred offerings to all the immortal gods who inhabit
wide heaven, and do so to each in order of rank. As for death,
it will come to you at last gently out of the sea in a
comfortable old age when you are surrounded by a prosperous
people. This I tell you truly." . . .
Next came the spirits of Achilles, son of Peleus, of
Patroclus,10of noble Antilochus,11 and of Aias,12 who
surpassed all the Danaans13 in beauty of physique and manly
bearing, except for the flawless son of Peleus. 14 The spirit of
swift-footed Achilles of the house of Aeacus15 recognized me,
and mournfully spoke in winged words: "Son of Laertes,
sprung from Zeus, Odysseus, known for your many wiles!
Rash man, what greater deed than this remains for you to
devise in your heart? How did you dare to descend to Hades16
realm, where the dead dwell as witless images of wornout mortals?"
Thus he spoke, and I answered in return. "Achilles, son of
Peleus, by far the mightiest of the Achaeans, I came to consult
with Teiresias in the hope of his giving me a plan whereby I
might reach rocky Ithaca. For I have not yet come near the
land of Achaea,17 nor yet set foot on my own island, but have
been constantly beset by misfortunes. How different from your
situation, Achilles, you who are more fortunate than any man
whoever was or will be. For in the old days, when you were
alive, we Argives18 honored you as though you were a god,
and now that you are here, you rule nobly among the dead.
Therefore, grieve not, Achilles, that you are dead."
So I spoke, and he immediately answered, saying: "Do not
endeavor to speak soothingly to me of death. Lord Odysseus. I
would rather live on earth as the hired help of some landless
man whose own livelihood was meager, than be lord over all
the dead who have perished. Enough of that. Tell me about my
son, that lordly young man. Did he follow me to war and play
a leading role in it? And tell me about noble Peleus. . . .I am
not there in the sunlight to aid Peleus with that great strength
that was once mine on the broad plains of Troy, where I slew
the best of the enemy's army in defense of the Argives. If, but
9
The bull was sacred to P oseidon.
Achilles’ best friend, who also died at Troy.
11
An Achaean hero who fell at Troy while defending his father, King Nestor
of Pylos.
12
The Achaeans’ second-greatest warrior; he committed suicide at Troy after
Odysseus bested him in a contest for the armor of the dead Achilles.
13
Another name for the Achaeans.
14
Achilles.
15
The ancestor from whom Peleus and his son Achilles were descended.
Homer’s heroes always identified themselves by reference to their fathers and
other notable ancestors.
16
The god of the dead.
17
The land of the Achaeans—mainland Greece.
18
Another name for the Achaeans.
10
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for an hour, I could return to my father's house with such strength
as I once had, I would give those who do him violence and
dishonor him cause to rue my might and my invincible hands.
So he spoke, and I answered: "I have heard nothing about noble
Peleus, but I will give you all the news you desire of your dear son,
Neoptolemus.19 It was I who brought him from Scyros 20 in my
well-fashioned, hollow ship to join the ranks of the well-armed
Achaeans. Whenever we held a council meeting during the siege of
Troy, he was always the first to speak, and his words never missed
the mark. Godlike Nestor 21 and I alone surpassed him. As often as
we fought with bronze weapons on the Trojan plain, he never
lagged behind in the ranks or crowd, but would always run far out
in front, yielding first place to no one, and he slew many men in
mortal combat. I could not name all whom he killed in defense of
the Argives. . . . Again, when we, the best of the Argives, were
about to enter into the horse that Epeus made, 22 and responsibility
lay solely with me to either open or keep closed the door of our
stout-built ambush, the other Danaan leaders and chieftains were
wiping away tears from their eyes and each man's limbs shook
beneath him. But never did my eyes see his fair face grow pale, nor
did I see him wiping away tears from his cheeks. Rather, he
earnestly begged me to allow him to sally forth from the horse, and
he kept handling his sword-hilt and his heavy bronze spear in his
eagerness to inflict harm on the Trojans. Following our sack of the
lofty city of Priam,23 he boarded his ship with a full share of the
spoils and his special prize. 24 And he was unscathed, never cut by
a sharp sword or wounded in close combat, as often happens in
war, since Ares 25 rages in a confused fashion."
So I spoke, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus departed with long
strides across the field of asphodel,26 rejoicing that his son was
preeminent among men.
19
Fittingly, his name means “New War.”
The Aegean island where Achilles’ son had been raised.
21
The aged king of Pylos noted for his wisdom and sage advice.
22
The so-called Trojan horse, through which the Achaeans finally were able to
capture Troy.
23
The last king of Troy.
24
At the division of the Trojan survivors, Neoptolemus was awarded Andromache,
widow of Hector, Troy’s greatest hero, whom Achilles had killed in single combat.
25
The god of war.
26
A flower that carpeted the Elysian Fields, where the spirits of dead heroes, such
as Achilles, resided.
20
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