"τὸν δὲ μὲτ᾽ εἰσενόησα βίην Ἡρακληείην,

εἴδωλον· αὐτὸς δὲ μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι

τέρπεται ἐν θαλίῃς καὶ ἔχει καλλίσφυρον Ἥβην,

παῖδα Διὸς μεγάλοιο καὶ Ἥρης χρυσοπεδίλου.

ἀμφὶ δέ μιν κλαγγὴ νεκύων ἦν οἰωνῶν ὥς,605

πάντοσ᾽ ἀτυζομένων· ὁ δ᾽ ἐρεμνῇ νυκτὶ ἐοικώς,

γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,

δεινὸν παπταίνων, αἰεὶ βαλέοντι ἐοικώς.

σμερδαλέος δέ οἱ ἀμφὶ περὶ στήθεσσιν ἀορτὴρ

χρύσεος ἦν τελαμών, ἵνα θέσκελα ἔργα τέτυκτο,610

ἄρκτοι τ᾽ ἀγρότεροί τε σύες χαροποί τε λέοντες,

ὑσμῖναί τε μάχαι τε φόνοι τ᾽ ἀνδροκτασίαι τε.

μὴ τεχνησάμενος μηδ᾽ ἄλλο τι τεχνήσαιτο,

ὃς κεῖνον τελαμῶνα ἑῇ ἐγκάτθετο τέχνῃ.

ἔγνω δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἔμ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, ἐπεὶ ἴδεν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν,615

καί μ᾽ ὀλοφυρόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

‘διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη, πολυμήχαν᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ,

ἆ δείλ᾽, ἦ τινὰ καὶ σὺ κακὸν μόρον ἡγηλάζεις,

ὅν περ ἐγὼν ὀχέεσκον ὑπ᾽ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο.

Ζηνὸς μὲν πάϊς ἦα Κρονίονος, αὐτὰρ ὀιζὺν620

εἶχον ἀπειρεσίην· μάλα γὰρ πολὺ χείρονι φωτὶ

δεδμήμην, ὁ δέ μοι χαλεποὺς ἐπετέλλετ᾽ ἀέθλους.

καί ποτέ μ᾽ ἐνθάδ᾽ ἔπεμψε κύν᾽ ἄξοντ᾽· οὐ γὰρ ἔτ᾽ ἄλλον

φράζετο τοῦδέ γέ μοι κρατερώτερον εἶναι ἄεθλον·

τὸν μὲν ἐγὼν ἀνένεικα καὶ ἤγαγον ἐξ Ἀίδαο·625

Ἑρμείας δέ μ᾽ ἔπεμψεν ἰδὲ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη.’

ὣς εἰπὼν ὁ μὲν αὖτις ἔβη δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω,

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν αὐτοῦ μένον ἔμπεδον, εἴ τις ἔτ᾽ ἔλθοι

ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων, οἳ δὴ τὸ πρόσθεν ὄλοντο.

καί νύ κ᾽ ἔτι προτέρους ἴδον ἀνέρας, οὓς ἔθελόν περ,630

Θησέα Πειρίθοόν τε, θεῶν ἐρικυδέα τέκνα·

ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἐπὶ ἔθνε᾽ ἀγείρετο μυρία νεκρῶν

ἠχῇ θεσπεσίῃ· ἐμὲ δὲ χλωρὸν δέος ᾕρει,

μή μοι Γοργείην κεφαλὴν δεινοῖο πελώρου

ἐξ Ἀίδεω πέμψειεν ἀγαυὴ Περσεφόνεια.635

αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἐπὶ νῆα κιὼν ἐκέλευον ἑταίρους

αὐτούς τ᾽ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι.

οἱ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον.

τὴν δὲ κατ᾽ Ὠκεανὸν ποταμὸν φέρε κῦμα ῥόοιο,

πρῶτα μὲν εἰρεσίῃ, μετέπειτα δὲ κάλλιμος οὖρος."640

    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,” perf. pct. ἔοικα takes a dat.

    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,” sing. verb with neut. pl. subj. 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,” vocative.

    619  ὅν περ: “the very one which…,” “just as …”

    619  ὀχέεσκον: “used to…,” iterative impf., unaugmented > ὀχέω.

    620  ἦα: 1st sing. impf. > εἰμί.

    622  δεδμήμην: “had been brought into subjection to,” with dat. 1st sing. pluperf. pass. > δαμάζω.

    622  ἐπετέλλετ(ο): “imposed (acc.) upon (dat.).”

    623  ἐνθάδ(ε): i.e., to the underworld.

    623  ἀξοντ(α): fut. pct. expressing purpose, > ἄγω (Monro 244).

    623  ἄλλον: with τί and ἄεθλον (“any other labor”). The accusatives, with the infin. εἶναι in 624, are in indir. discourse introduced by φράζετο.

    624  φράζετο: “he thought.”

    624  τοῦδέ: gen. 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,” the neut. pl. subj. of the sing. 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 gen. 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.

    εἰσνοέω εἰσνοήσω εἰσενόησα εἰσνενόηκα εἰσνενόημαι εἰσενοήθην: to perceive, remark

    βίη –ης dat. βίηφι ἡ: violence, force

    Ἡράκλειος [–α] –ον: of Hercules

    εἴδωλον –ου τό: an image, a phantom

    ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods

    τέρπω τέρψω ἔτερψα ––– ––– ἐτάρφθην/ἐτέρφθην: to delight; (mid./pass.) to have one's full of

    θαλία –ας ἡ: abundance, plenty, good cheer

    καλλίσφυρος –ον: beautiful-ankled

    Ἥβη –ης ἡ: Hebe, daughter of Zeus and Hera, spouse of Heracles

    Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus

    Ἥρα –ας (Ion. Ἥρη) ἡ: Hera

    χρυσοπέδιλος –ον: gold-sandalled

    μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself 605

    κλαγγή –ῆς ἡ: any sharp sound

    νέκυς –υος τό: dead body, corpse

    οἰωνός –οῦ ὁ: a large bird, bird of prey

    πάντοσε: every way, in all directions

    ἀτύζω – – – – –: to be scared, panic-stricken; to flee in a panic

    ἐρεμνός –ή –όν: black, dark

    γυμνός –ή –όν: naked, unarmed, unsheathed

    τόξον –ου τό: bow

    νευρά –ᾶς ἡ: a sinew, bow string

    ὀϊστός –οῦ ὁ: an arrow

    παπταίνω παπτανῶ ἐπάπτηνα ––– ––– –––: to look earnestly, gaze

    σμερδαλέος –α –ον: dreadful

    ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    στῆθος –ους τό: breast, chest; (pl.) heart, spirit

    ἀορτήρ –ῆρος ὁ: a strap, belt

    χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid 610

    τελαμών –ῶνος ὁ: a sword-belt, shield-strap

    θέσκελος –ον: marvellous, wondrous

    τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make, build, prepare, fasten; to bring about

    ἄρκτος –ου ἡ: a bear

    ἀγρότερος –α –ον: wild

    ὗς (or σῦς) ὑός (or συός) ὁ/ἡ: swine, hog; (f.) sow

    χαροπός –ή –όν: glad-eyed, bright-eyed

    λέων λέοντος ὁ: lion

    ὑσμίνη –ης ἡ: a fight, battle, combat

    φόνος –ου ὁ: murder, slaughter, corpse

    ἀνδροκτασία –ας ἡ: slaughter of men

    τεχνάομαι τεχνήσομαι ἐτεχνησάμην ––– τετέχνημαι ἐτεχνήθην: to make by art, to execute skilfully

    τεχνάομαι τεχνήσομαι ἐτεχνησάμην ––– τετέχνημαι ἐτεχνήθην: to make by art, to execute skilfully

    τελαμών –ῶνος ὁ: a sword-belt, shield-strap

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own

    ἐγκατατίθεμαι ἐγκαταθήσω ἐγκατέθηκα ἐγκατατέθεικα/ἐγκατατέθηκα ἐγκατατέθειμαι/ἐγκατάκειμαι ἐγκατετέθην: to design, invent

    αὖτε: in turn, moreover, still, again, on the other hand 615

    ὀλοφύρομαι ὀλοφυροῦμαι ὠλοφυράμην – – ὠλοφύρθην: to lament, wail; pity

    πτερόεις πτερόεσσα πτερόεν: winged

    προσαυδάω προσαυδήσω προσηύδησα προσηύδηκα προσηύδημαι προσηυδήθην: to speak to, address, accost

    διογενής –ές: sprung from Zeus (epithet of Odysseus)

    Λαερτιάδης –ου ὁ: son of Laertes (Odysseus)

    πολυμήχανος –ον: full of resources, inventive, ever-ready

    Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey

    ἆ: ah!

    δειλός –ή –όν: wretched, unfortunate, miserable; base, cowardly, vile

    μόρος –ου ὁ: fate, destiny, death

    ἡγηλάζω/ἡγέομαι ἡγήσομαι ἡγησάμην – ἥγημαι ἡγήθην: to lead, endure

    ὀχέω ὀχήσω ὤκχησα ὠχήθην: to uphold, sustain, endure

    αὐγή –ῆς ἡ: the light of the sun, sunlight

    Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus 620

    Κρονίων –ωνος ὁ: son of Cronus

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    ὀϊζύς: sorrow, grief, distress, hardship

    ἀπειρέσιος –ον: boundless, immense, countless

    χείρων –ον: worse, meaner, inferior

    φώς φωτός ὁ: man

    δαμάζω δαμάσω ἐδάμασα δεδάμακα δεδάμασμαι/δέδμημα ἐδαμάσθην/ἐδμήθην: to overpower, tame, conquer, subdue

    ἐπιτέλλω ἐπέτειλα: to enjoin, lay command or order upon, charge, impose

    ἆθλος –ου ὁ: contest, test of strength, task

    ἐνθάδε: to here, to there

    κύων κυνός ὁ/ἡ: dog

    κρατερός –ά –όν: strong, powerful, mighty

    ἆθλος –ου ὁ: contest, test of strength, task

    ἀναφέρω ἀνοἴσω ἀνήνεγκα ἀνενήνοχα ἀνενήνεγμαι ἀνηνέχθην: to bring up, bring back, uphold 625

    ᾍδης –ου ὁ: Hades

    Ἑρμῆς (or Ἑρμείας) –οῦ ὁ: Hermes, herm

    ἰδέ: and

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed

    Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena

    αὖθις: again, in turn

    δόμος –ου ὁ: house, home

    Ἀΐδης –ου ὁ: Hades

    εἴσω (or ἔσω): in, into, inside

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    αὐτοῦ: at the very place, here, there

    ἔμπεδος –ον: firm-set, steadfast, constant, unchanged; (in neuter as adverb) firmly, steadily

    ἥρως ἥρωος ὁ: hero, warrior

    πρόσθεν: before, in front of

    ὄλλυμι ὀλῶ ὤλεσα (or ὠλόμην) ὀλώλεκα (or ὄλωλα) ––– –––: to demolish, kill; to lose, suffer the loss of (+ acc.); (mid.) to die, perish, be killed 630

    Θησεύς –έως ὁ: Theseus, Theseus, national hero of Athens and Attica

    Πειρίθοος –ου ὁ: Pirithous, son of Ixīon (or Zeus) and Dia, king of the Lapithae, a friend of Theseus

    ἐρικυδής –ές: very famous, glorious, splendid

    ἀγείρω ἀγερῶ ἤγειρα ἀγήγερμαι ἠγέρθην: gather, collect

    μυρίος –α –ον: numberless, infinite

    νεκρός –οῦ ὁ: corpse

    ἠχή –ῆς ἡ: a sound

    θεσπέσιος [–α] –ον: divine; prodigious, extraordinary, supernatural; deafening

    χλωρός –ά –όν: greenish-yellow; pale

    δέος –ους τό: fear

    Γόργειος –α –ον: of the Gorgon

    πέλωρον –ου τό: a monster, prodigy

    Ἀΐδης –ου ὁ: Hades 635

    ἀγαυός –ή –όν: illustrious, noble

    Περσεφόνη –ης ἡ: Persephone, Proserpine

    κίω – – – – –: go, go away

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to board, go up

    πρυμνήσια –ων τά: mooring cables (of a ship)

    αἶψα: rapidly, speedily, suddenly

    εἰσβαίνω (Ion. ἐσβαίνω) εἰσβήσομαι εἰσέβην εἰσβέβηκα ––– –––: to go into

    κληΐς κληῖδος ἡ: bolt; (pl.) oarlocks

    καθίζω (Ion. κατίζω) καθιῶ (Ion. κατίσω) καθῖσα/ἐκάθισα (or κατῖσα) κεκάθικα: to sit down; to set, place

    Ὠκεανός –οῦ ὁ: Oceanus

    κῦμα –ατος τό: wave

    ῥόος –ου ὁ: a stream, flow, current

    εἰρεσίη –ης ἡ: rowing 640

    μετέπειτα: afterwards, thereafter

    κάλλιμος –ον: beautiful

    οὖρος –ου ὁ: a fair wind

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    Suggested Citation

    Thomas Van Nortwick and Rob Hardy, Homer: Odyssey 5–12. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-947822-17-7 https://dcc.dickinson.edu/homer-odyssey/xi-601-640