Odyssey-book 11 Flashcards
what happens when Odysseus arrives at the entrance to the world of the dead?
he does exactly what Circe has told him to do: He finds the spot between the river of flaming fire and the river of lamentation, digs a trench and pours offerings (libations) which consists of a mixture of honey and milk, sweet wine and water, before sprinkling barely over the mixture and promising to the spirits that when he returns to Ithaca, he will sacrifice a heifer in their honour and make a separate offering to Teiresias: a jet-black sheep. He then takes the sheep from his boat and slits their throats so their blood pours into the trench.
After Odysseus pours libations and sacrifices to the dead, specifically Teiresias, what appears?
Thousands of ghosts appeared when the blood started flowing
who is the first ghost that appears to Odysseus, and what do they ask for?
Elpenor- He asked Odysseus to bury him and grieve for him properly when the crew returned to Aeaea, Circe’s island, and Odysseus gladly agreed.
who is the second ghost that Odysseus sees?
The next ghost was Anticleia, Odysseus’s mother, but Odysseus did not let her approach the blood until he had spoken to Teiresias- this might be due to the fact that he is eager to speak to Teiresias to return home or that he is worried that there will not be enough blood to last him to speak to Teiresias if he speaks to his mother first.
When Teiresias approaches Odysseus and drinks the blood, what does he tell him?
he told Odysseus that his journey home would be full of trouble as a god (poseidon) will make his troubles hard in return for blinding his beloved son, Polyphemus- The men will reach home, said Tiresias, if they leave the Cattle of the Sun unharmed, and focus on returning home. If they kill the cattle, Odysseus’ ship and company will be destroyed, and if Oydsseus manages to escape alone, he will arrive in Ithaca late, in a wretched state, and in a foreign ship, having lost all his comrades/crew, to find trouble at home.
Odysseus will find suitors in his home, wishing to marry his wife, and father he has killed these suitors, he will have to make one more voyage to a land far away from any sea where the people refers to oars as a ‘winnowing fan’ (until the people don’t know what the oar is), and plant the oar into the earth before sacrificing a ram, bull and boar to appease Poseidon, before going back home and making ceremonial offerings to the rest of the gods- Only then will his long travels come to an end.
When Odysseus finally has the chance to speak to his mother after speaking to Teiresias, what do they speak about?
She told him that Penelope still grieved and waited for him, that his estate was still in Telemachus’s hands, and that his father lived in poverty and solitude. She herself died of grief and longing for Odysseus. He tried to put his arms around her (3 times), but each time she dissolved at his touch.
what ghosts does Odysseus see after his mother?
The ghosts of several women- Tyro, Antiope, Alcmene, Megare( the wife of Heracles), Epicaste, Chloris, Leda, iphimedeia, phaedra, procis, ariadne, Maera, clymene, and eriphyle.
after listing the women that he saw and each of their stories, what does Odysseus do?
At this point Odysseus concludes his tale to the Phaeacians- It is late, and he asks the court again for passage home. The king and queen (Arete and Alcinous) promise him many fine gifts if he stays on a little longer until the next morning and ask him to describe the soldiers and heroes he met in the land of the dead.
after addressing the phaeacians, what does Odysseus describe?
describes the conversation he had with Agamemnon. The ghost discussed his wife’s infidelity; he told Odysseus that her lover Aegisthus murdered him and his comrades right at the dinner table. His wife’s behaviour, he said, stained all women everywhere within the Ancient Greek world. He advised Odysseus to keep some things hidden from his wife- only reveal a little of your plan and keep the rest to yourself due to what happened to him and how he was murdered by his own wife.He advises Odysseus to make a secret approach home as women are no longer to be trusted.
Who did Odysseus talk to after Agammemnon?
Next Odysseus talked to Achilles, who said that he would rather be a slave/peasant on earth than a king in the land of the dead. Odysseus told him that his son acted very bravely in battle and killed many men, which pleased Achilles as his son was living up to him.
When the shades swarmed Odysseus, wanting to talk to him about life above hades, which shade did not approach him and why?
Ajax- he was still angry about the defeat that Odysseus had inflicted on him at the ships in the contest for the arms of achilles. Odysseus attempted to speak to Ajax calmly, but criticised him for still being angered at Odysseus even through death- to make him feel better Odysseus claims that it was Zeus that led him to his doom.
after Ajax, who does Odysseus see?
Odysseus then saw king minos, the giant hunter orion, tityus and tantalus ( tantalus was the son of zeus and ejected from the gods for stealing their food to give to the mortals, and serving the gods with flesh from his own son peplos at a banquet- as punishment, he was forced to stand in a pool of water which nearly reached his chin despite his immense thirst, and fruit trees hung over him despite his hunger.
Odysseus then saw the suffering of Sisyphus, who had to wrestle a huge rock with both hands and had to try and push it up a hill, but before it reached the top it would roll back down.
who did Odysseus speak to after seeing several men suffer in the underworld?
heracles, who leads him through the house of hades- there, thousands of swarms of ghosts surrounded him, scaring Odysseus, causing him to retreat back to his crew and sail away.
How does book 11 end?
With Odysseus retreating from the underworld after being swarmed by shades
who is Teiresais?
The dead prophet of Thebes
