"ἔνθ᾽ ἦ τοι Μίνωα ἴδον, Διὸς ἀγλαὸν υἱόν,
χρύσεον σκῆπτρον ἔχοντα, θεμιστεύοντα νέκυσσιν,
ἥμενον, οἱ δέ μιν ἀμφὶ δίκας εἴροντο ἄνακτα,570
ἥμενοι ἑσταότες τε κατ᾽ εὐρυπυλὲς Ἄϊδος δῶ.
τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ Ὠρίωνα πελώριον εἰσενόησα
θῆρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα κατ᾽ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα,
τοὺς αὐτὸς κατέπεφνεν ἐν οἰοπόλοισιν ὄρεσσι
χερσὶν ἔχων ῥόπαλον παγχάλκεον, αἰὲν ἀαγές.575
καὶ Τιτυὸν εἶδον, Γαίης ἐρικυδέος υἱόν,
κείμενον ἐν δαπέδῳ· ὁ δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐννέα κεῖτο πέλεθρα,
γῦπε δέ μιν ἑκάτερθε παρημένω ἧπαρ ἔκειρον,
δέρτρον ἔσω δύνοντες, ὁ δ᾽ οὐκ ἀπαμύνετο χερσί·
Λητὼ γὰρ ἕλκησε, Διὸς κυδρὴν παράκοιτιν,580
Πυθώδ᾽ ἐρχομένην διὰ καλλιχόρου Πανοπῆος.
καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγε᾽ ἔχοντα
ἑστεῶτ᾽ ἐν λίμνῃ: ἡ δὲ προσέπλαζε γενείῳ·
στεῦτο δὲ διψάων, πιέειν δ᾽ οὐκ εἶχεν ἑλέσθαι·
ὁσσάκι γὰρ κύψει᾽ ὁ γέρων πιέειν μενεαίνων,585
τοσσάχ᾽ ὕδωρ ἀπολέσκετ᾽ ἀναβροχέν, ἀμφὶ δὲ ποσσὶ
γαῖα μέλαινα φάνεσκε, καταζήνασκε δὲ δαίμων.
δένδρεα δ᾽ ὑψιπέτηλα κατὰ κρῆθεν χέε καρπόν,
ὄγχναι καὶ ῥοιαὶ καὶ μηλέαι ἀγλαόκαρποι
συκέαι τε γλυκεραὶ καὶ ἐλαῖαι τηλεθόωσαι·590
τῶν ὁπότ᾽ ἰθύσει᾽ ὁ γέρων ἐπὶ χερσὶ μάσασθαι,
τὰς δ᾽ ἄνεμος ῥίπτασκε ποτὶ νέφεα σκιόεντα.
καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγε᾽ ἔχοντα
λᾶαν βαστάζοντα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρῃσιν.
ἦ τοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπτόμενος χερσίν τε ποσίν τε595
λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον: ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε μέλλοι
ἄκρον ὑπερβαλέειν, τότ᾽ ἀποστρέψασκε κραταιίς·
αὖτις ἔπειτα πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λᾶας ἀναιδής.
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ᾽ ἂψ ὤσασκε τιταινόμενος, κατὰ δ᾽ ἱδρὼς
ἔρρεεν ἐκ μελέων, κονίη δ᾽ ἐκ κρατὸς ὀρώρει.600
notes
Odysseus sees the ghost of Heracles, who complains about his labors. Odysseus breaks off his search for other dead heroes and returns to his ship.
Conclusion: A Different Kind of Katabasis
Given the unusual nature of Odysseus’s heroism and the story it animates, sending his hero to the underworld creates unusual challenges for the poet, who cannot aim his narrative toward the same goal as he would if telling a tragic story (see Introduction, para. 4). Confronting death and the implications of that experience, the central event in a tragic katabasis, will not carry the same weight in a comic narrative. How then, was the episode to be shaped?
read full essay
Homer sets the scene at the edge of the underworld, with the hero and his crew “smothered,” κεκαλυμμένοι (15) in darkness, already a sign that the episode will feature feminine forces threatening to Odysseus and his crew. The requisite rituals performed, the poet brings forth the ghost of Elpenor, who begs his captain to give his corpse a proper burial back on Circe’s island. With this opening, Homer creates the narrative ring that will mark the boundaries of his episode, with Circe at the beginning and end. Putting off Antikleia until he can interview Teiresias, Odysseus reaffirms that he has already made the break with his mother’s nurture that marks a mature male in Greek hero stories. He is not in the midst of an evolving journey of self-discovery, as are many tragic heroes. His mission aims at restoration, not the acceptance of limits.
Next comes Teiresias, whom Circe has named as the keeper of information crucial to a successful homecoming. The prophet does deliver one piece of advice about the return trip—stay away from the cattle belonging to Helios—but the most important news is about how Odysseus can die a peaceful death. This kind of discovery is entirely in keeping with the goals of a traditional katabasis: knowledge, and often self-knowledge, that the hero could only gain in the underworld. By settling up with the sea, the medium for his wanderings, Odysseus can quiet the restless curiosity that has driven him. This window—for the hero and for us—into Odysseus’ fundamental nature is important part of his exchange with Teiresias. The rest of the strategizing about his return voyage can wait until he meets Circe again.
The catalogue of heroines sounds celebratory at first, but on closer inspection is more cautionary. After the first group of “fortunate” women who have been abducted by the gods, many of the other heroines portend danger for Odysseus, appearing elsewhere in stories that highlight the kind of threat that feminine forces have posed to the hero all along the way. Their potentially dangerous power in turn makes a natural segue to the interlude in Scheria, where Arete takes the lead in speaking to Odysseus, upstaging Alkinous once again, as she did when Odysseus first arrived on the island of the Phaeacians.
The end of the interlude takes us to the heart of the katabasis, where Homer’s innovative use of the traditional episode becomes clear. In the encounters with Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax, with their focus on the powerlessness of the once mighty heroes of the Iliad, the poet drives home his point: To save the royal family and kingdom in Ithaka, Odysseus must forsake the tragic obsession with kleos at any cost. He must instead survive, no matter what it costs him and those around him (in the latter case, their lives). Both Agamemnon and Achilles put it succinctly: Do not be like me. Control, of oneself and others, especially women, must be the primary goal. Ajax and the famously excessive Herakles show the dire consequences of failing to control one’s appetites, for revenge, for glory. The underworld is always a useful laboratory for a storyteller, where the true consequences of a hero’s acts in the world of the living, however that world is portrayed in the story, are tested against the ultimate reality that awaits all mortals. In the world of the Odyssey, only heroes like Odysseus can ultimately triumph. It is fitting that Odysseus can reanimate the twittering ghosts in Hades, so they can talk to him. He is all about living on, however that can happen.
The smothering darkness, Antikleia’s prominent appearance, the catalogue of women, the enfeebled heroes from the Iliad (and perhaps the sexual ambiguity of Teiresias), all signal that the underworld, as the Greeks would have seen it, is a feminized milieu, a land of women. This is not a place where heroes can win kleos, claiming a place in the stories that live on after death. Like the island of Calypso, Hades exists in a kind of stasis, out of time. For Odysseus in particular, Hades is his mother’s home, whereas his mission is to restore his father’s home in Ithaka, something Achilles cannot do for Peleus. In this sense, the underworld episode repeats a dominant theme in the return story of Odysseus, as a masculine hero penetrates a feminized milieu and effects the release of Odysseus: Hermes invades Calypso’s island and gets Odysseus released; Odysseus then arrives on Scheria as an anonymous stranger, works his way into the good graces of the effete—and in the view of the Greeks, femininized—Phaeacians with his athletic prowess and beguiling storytelling, and wins a ride home to Ithaka; he visits the island of Polyphemus, enters the womblike cave as “Nobody,” wields the phallic stake and emerges as Odysseus; with the help of Hermes, he avoids becoming another of Circe’s pet animals, then enters Hades, a feminized realm, and emerges unscathed; finally, Odysseus, in disguise, will penetrate the royal palace in Ithaka, a chaotic place lacking in masculine authority, and release the true version of himself by killing the suitors.
Further Reading
Bassi, K. 1999. “Nostos, Domos, and the Architecture of the Ancient Stage.” South Atlantic Quarterly 98, 415–449.
602 αὐτὸς δὲ: “but he himself” (as opposed to his εἴδολον).
605 οἰωνῶν ὥς: a simile; understand ὥς κλαγγὴ οἰωνῶν.
606 ἐοικώς: “resembling,” pf. ptc. > ἔοικα; takes a dative.
607 γυμνὸν: "unsheathed."
608 δεινὸν: adverbial.
608 βαλέοντι: “someone shooting,” dat., with ἐοικώς
609 οἱ ἀμφὶ: in Homer, ἀμφί can follow the word it modifies without change of accent.
610 χρύσεος … τελαμών: in apposition to σμερδαλέος ἀορτὴρ ("an awe-inspiring strap, namely..."). ἀορτὴρ is a generic strap, while τελαμών is specifically a baldric (a heavy strap for carrying a sword or shield).
610 ἵνα: “where,” “on which.”
610 τέτυκτο: “were fashioned,” singular verb with neuter plural subject ἔργα.
613 μὴ … μηδ᾽ ἄλλο τι τεχνήσαιτο: optative of wish. With the double negative, either "May he make nothing else" or "May he not make anything else."
613 τεχνησάμενος: “the one who…,” substantive.
614 ὃς: “he who …”
614 ἐγκάτθετο: “designed,” “devised,” > ἐγκατατίθημι.
618 δείλ(ε): “wretched man,” voc.
619 ὅν περ: “the very one which…,” “just as …”
619 ὀχέεσκον: “used to…,” unaugmented iterative impf. > ὀχέω.
620 ἦα: 1st sing. impf. > εἰμί.
622 δεδμήμην: “had been brought into subjection to,” 1st sing. plupf. pass. > δαμάζω, with dative.
622 ἐπετέλλετ(ο): “imposed (acc.) upon (dat.).”
623 ἐνθάδ(ε): i.e., to the underworld.
623 ἀξοντ(α): fut. ptc. > ἄγω, expressing purpose (Monro 244).
623 ἄλλον: with τί and ἄεθλον (“any other labor”). The accusatives, with the infinitive εἶναι in 624, are in indirect discourse introduced by φράζετο.
624 φράζετο: “he thought.”
624 τοῦδέ: genitive of comparison.
625 τὸν: i.e., the dog (Cerberus).
625 ἀνένεικα: 1st sing. aor. > ἀναφέρω.
626 Ἑρμείας: = Ἑρμῆς, nom. sing.
628 εἴ … ἔλθοι: “in the hope that …,” εἴ + opt. Optative of wish (Monro 312; Smyth 2354).
629 τὸ πρόσθεν: “in the past.”
630 κ᾽ … ἴδον: “I would have seen …,” κε (ἄν) + aor. indic., expressing past potential (Monro 324).
632 ἐπὶ … ἀγείρετο: “were gathered,” tmesis > ἐπαγείρω.
632 ἔθνε(α): “crowds,” neut. pl., subject of the singular verb.
633 θεσπεσίῃ: probably “inhuman” rather than specifically “divine" (LSJ θεσπέσιος II).
633 ᾕρει: 3rd sing. impf. > αἰρέω.
634 μὴ … πέμψειεν: clause of fearing.
634 δεινοῖο πελώρου: in apposition to Γοργείην (“the Gorgon head, the fearsome monster’s”). A genitive such as this can stand in apposition to a possessive adjective, as here, where Γοργείην = τοῦ Γοργοῦς (Smyth 978).
637 ἀνά … πρυμνήσια λῦσαι: “to cast off the stern.”
639 τὴν: i.e., the ship.
639 φέρε: unaugmented impf.
639 κῦμα ῥόοιο: “the flow of the current.”
640 εἰρεσίη … οὖρος: in apposition to κῦμα.
vocabulary
τοι: let me tell you, surely
Μίνως –ω ὁ: Minos
Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus
ἀγλαός –ή –όν: splendid, shining, bright
χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid
σκῆπτρον –ου τό: a staff
θεμιστεύω θεμιστεύσω ἐθεμίστευσα: to render justice; to govern, command (+ gen.)
νέκυς –υος τό: dead body, corpse
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit 570
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἄναξ –ακτος ὁ: ruler, lord
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit
εὐρυπυλής –ές: with broad gates
Ἀΐδης –ου ὁ: Hades
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
Ὠρίων –ωνος ὁ: Orīon, the mighty hunter, beloved of Eos
πελώριος –ον: gigantic, colossal, prodigious, monstrous
εἰσνοέω εἰσνοήσω εἰσενόησα εἰσνενόηκα εἰσνενόημαι εἰσενοήθην: to perceive, remark
θήρ θηρός ὁ: wild animal
ὁμοῦ: together, at the same place or time
εἴλω εἰλήσω εἴλησα ––– εἴλημαι εἰλήθην: to roll up, pack, shut in, corral
ἀσφόδελος –η –ον: asphodel, filled with asphodels
λειμών –ῶνος ὁ: grassland, meadow, field
καταφένω ––– κατέπεφνον: to kill, slay
οἰοπόλος –ον: traversed by sheep
ῥόπαλον –ου τό: a club, cudgel 575
παγχάλκεος –ον: all-brazen, all-brass
ἀαγής –ές: unbroken, not to be broken, hard, strong
Τιτυός –οῦ ὁ: Tityus, a giant, the son of Gaea, punished in Hades
Γαίη –ης ἡ: Gaia
ἐρικυδής –ές: very famous, glorious, splendid
δάπεδον –ου τό: surface, pavement, floor
πλέθριον or πέλεθρον –ου τό: wrestling-ground
γύψ γυπός ὁ: a vulture
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἑκάτερθε: on each side, on either hand
πάρημαι (properly perf. pass. of παρίζω): to be seated beside
ἧπαρ –ατος τό: the liver
κείρω κερῶ ἔκειρα κέκαρκα κέκαρμαι ἐκέρθην: to cut
δέρτρον –ου τό: intestines, bowels
εἴσω (or ἔσω): in, into, inside
δὐω δύσω έδυσα/ἔδυν δέδυκα δέδυμαι εδύθην: plunge in, go into, sink
ἀπαμύνω ἀπαμυνῶ ἀπήμυνα: to keep off, ward off
Λητώ –οῦς ἡ: Leto (Latona), mother of Apollo and Artemis 580
ἑλκέω ἑλκήσω ἥλκωσα: to carry off, abduct
κυδρός –ά –όν: glorious, illustrious, noble
παράκοιτις –ιος ἡ: a wife, spouse
Πυθώδε: to Pytho
καλλίχορος –ον: with beautiful places
Πανοπεύς –έως ὁ: Panopeus, a city in Phocis
μήν: verily, truly, then
Τάνταλος –ου ὁ: Tantalus, son of Zeus, and father of Pelops, a king of Sipylus, who revealed the secrets of the gods, and was punished in Hades
εἰσοράω εἰσόψομαι εἰσεῖδον εἰσεόρακα/εἰσεώρακα/εἰσόπωπα εἰσεόραμαι/εἰσεώραμαι/εἰσῶμμαι εἰσώφθην: to look into, look upon, view, behold
κρατερός –ά –όν: strong, powerful, mighty
ἄλγος –ους τό: pain
λίμνη (λίμνα) –ης ἡ: pool, swamp
προσπλάζω – – – – –: to come near, approach
γένειον –ου τό: chin
στεῦμαι – – – – –: to press forward
διψάω διψήσω ἐδίψησα δεδίψηκα: to be thirsty
ὁσάκις: as many times as, as often as 585
κύπτω κύψω ἔκυψα κέκυφα: to bend forward, stoop down
γέρων –οντος ὁ: old man
μενεαίνω – – – – –: to desire earnestly
τοσάκις: so many times, so often
ἀναβρόχω ἀναβρόξω ἀνέβροξα: to gulp back
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure
καταζαίνω καταζανῶ κατήζηνα: to dry up
δένδρον –ου τό: tree
ὑψιπέτηλος –ον: with high foliage, towering
κράς –ατός τό: head, top, highest point
χέω χέω ἔχεα or ἔχευα κέχυκα κέχυμαι ἐχύθην: to pour, shed
καρπός –οῦ ὁ: fruit (of the earth), produce
ὄγχνη –ης ἡ: a pear-tree
ῥοιά –ᾶς ἡ: pomegranate; pomegranate tree (see ῥόα)
μηλέα –ας ἡ: an apple-tree
ἀγλαόκαρπος –ον: bearing beautiful
συκῆ –ῆς ἡ: fig tree 590
γλυκύς γλυκεῖα γλυκύ: sweet, pleasant
ἐλαία –ας ἡ: the olive-tree
τηλεθάω – – – – –: (in the pres. partic.) blooming, flourishing
ὁπότε: when
ἰθύω ἰθύσω ἴθυσα: to reach, go straight, press right on
γέρων –οντος ὁ: old man
μάσσω μάξω ἔμαξα μέμαχα μέμαγμαι ἐμάχθην: to handle, touch
ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind
ῥίπτω ῥίζψω ἔρριψα ἔρριμμαι ἐρρίφθην: to throw, cast, hurl
νέφος –ους τό: a cloud
σκιόεις –εσσα –εν: shady, shadowy
μήν: verily, truly, then
Σίσυφος –ου ὁ: Sisyphus, son of Aeolus, father of Glaucus, and founder of Ephyra (Corinth), renowned for craft and wiles
εἰσοράω εἰσόψομαι εἰσεῖδον εἰσεόρακα/εἰσεώρακα/εἰσόπωπα εἰσεόραμαι/εἰσεώραμαι/εἰσῶμμαι εἰσώφθην: to look into, look upon, view, behold
κρατερός –ά –όν: strong, powerful, mighty
ἄλγος –ους τό: pain
λᾶας –ου ὁ: stone
βαστάζω βαστάσω ἐβάστασα ––– ––– –––: to lift, lift up, raise
πελώριος –ον: gigantic, colossal, prodigious, monstrous
τοι: let me tell you, surely 595
σκηρίπτομαι – – – – –: to support oneself
ἀνύω or ἄνω ἀνύσω ἤνυσα ἤνυκα ἤνυσμαι ἠνύσθην: to accomplish, finish
ὠθέω ὤσω ἔωσα (or ὦσα) ἔωκα ἔωσμαι ἐώσθην: to thrust, push, shove, force onwards
λόφος –ου ὁ: crest, summit
ἄκρον –ου τό: summit, peak, point
ὑπερβάλλω ὑπερβαλῶ ὑπειρέβαλον ὑπερβέβληκα ὑπερβέβλημαι ὑπερεβλήθην: to push over
ἀποστρέφω ἀποστρέψομαι ἀπεστρέψα ἀπέστροφα ἀπέστραμμαι ἀπεστράφην: to turn back, roll back
κραταιίς –ίδος ἡ: mighty force
αὖθις: again, in turn
πέδονδε: to the ground, earthwards
κυλίνδω ἐκύλισα κεκύλισμαι ἐκυλίσθην: to roll, roll along; to wallow
ἀναιδής –ές: shameless
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
ἄψ: back
ὠθέω ὤσω ἔωσα (or ὦσα) ἔωκα ἔωσμαι ἐώσθην: to thrust, push, shove, force onwards
τιταίνω – – – – –: to stretch; to set out
ἱδρώς –ῶτος ὁ/ἡ: sweat
ῥέω ῥυήσομαι ––– ἐρρύηκα ––– ἐρρύην: to flow, run, stream 600
μέλος –ους τό: a limb
κονία –ας ἡ: dust, a cloud of dust
κράς –ατός τό: head, top, highest point
ὄρνυμι ὄρσω ὦρσα ὄρωρα ὀρώρεμαι –––: to stir up, move; (mid.) to rise, get up