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“Say not a word,” he answered, “in death’s favor; I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man’s house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead.”
Odyssey, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
Book 11 Summary
Odysseus and his crew sail through the river Oceanus to the land of the Cimmerians—where it is always night—and go to the spot where Circe told them to go. They prepare the spot and make an offering for the dead.
Ghosts begin to appear and approach the trench, but Odysseus keeps them away so that Tiresias would get the first drink. When Tiresias approaches and drinks the offering, he tells Odysseus that eventually he will come to a land where the sheep and cattle belonging to the Sun reside. Odysseus and his crew are to leave them alone. If they harm the flocks, Odysseus’ crew and ship will be lost and Odysseus will face greater hardship getting home.
Tiresias leaves and Odysseus allows Anticlea, his mother, to taste the offering and they have a bittersweet reunion. After this, Odysseus sees many past legendary women like the mother of Heracles (Hercules), the mother (and wife) of Oedipus, and the mother of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux.
After all the women depart, Agamemnon’s ghost approaches which shocks Odysseus because Agamemnon was alive when they parted. Agamemnon tells Odysseus the tale of his murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and her partner-in-crime Aegisthus.
After this Achilles, Patroclus, Antilochus the son of Nestor, and Telamonian Ajax approach. Achilles laments his death and asks Odysseus about his son and father. Odysseus answers him the best he can and Achilles leaves happily with the knowledge of how well his son conducted himself in the Trojan War. Notably, Ajax refuses to talk to Odysseus because of a dispute before Ajax’ death. Ajax leaves without giving Odysseus a chance to make amends.
Odysseus then sees other denizens of the underworld like Minos, one of the judges of the dead, or those who were being eternally punished like Tantalus and Sisyphus. When the ghosts begin to overwhelm Odysseus and his crew, they escape back to their ship and sail back to Circe’s island.
Can We Trust Odysseus’ Story?
The episode with Odysseus visiting the land of the dead is very bizarre. This is the point where his story begins to strain credulity. It’s one thing to run into strange peoples, eccentric hermits, and man-eating giants. It’s another to visit the land of the dead. And right after this visit, Odysseus’ voyage gets even weirder (that’s when he encounters the Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis). Odysseus goes from encountering humanoids, to encountering those which are barely humanoid or non-humanoid.
What’s interesting is that in the middle of telling his story, Odysseus stops and basically says “Well, that’s enough for now. Shouldn’t we go to bed?” and his captivated Phaeacian audience implore him to continue with his story and reaffirm their promise that they’ll help him out and give him lots of gifts. King Antinous even comes right out and says:
“Ulysses, not one of us who sees you has any idea that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see through them, but there is a style about your language which assures me of your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own misfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced bard…”
Odyssey, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
Remember that one of Odysseus’ hallmark traits is his cunning. He has a silver tongue that we saw first hand in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. He has no qualms about telling lies or making people believe what he wants them to believe. And, as I pointed out in my post on Book 8, I have to wonder if Alcinous is innocently naive because of the Phaeacians’ seclusion and their frequent (and positive) interactions with the gods.
What I’m ultimately wondering is why the random break in the storytelling? Is Homer giving a “wink wink, nod nod” to his audience that Odysseus’ story is made up (we, the audience, know Odysseus is a cunning man, but do the Phaeacians know that)? Was it intentionally put there to continue that degree of separation between the audience and Odysseus’ story?
The Land of Regrets
The land of the dead is the land of the unchanging past. It is static. The dead have no present or future. They can’t win new glories, make amends for past mistakes, or have a second chance after they themselves were wronged.
That means the land of the dead is also the land of regrets—and most of the ghosts Odysseus encounters have regrets. Look at who Odysseus encounters first:
“brides, young bachelors, old men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched with blood”
Odyssey, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
Brides, young bachelors → men and women who never got to marry and start a family
Old men worn out with toil → men who neither got to rest in life nor die honorably
Maids who had been crossed in love → women who had bad lovers or perhaps had unrequited love
Brave men who had been killed in battle → men who’s lives were cut short in war and either left families behind or never got to start one
Individual ghosts that Odysseus meets with regrets includes:
Elpenor, his subordinate who died on Circe’s island just before their voyage to the land of the dead
Anticlea, Odysseus’ mother who died of grief
Agamemnon, who was killed by his wife as soon as he got home from war and never got to see his son (we’ll learn more about this story in Aeschylus’ Oresteia)
Achilles and Patroclus, whose lives were cut short in the Trojan War
Telamonian Ajax, who had a dispute with Odysseus which led to his death and refuses to make amends with Odysseus (we’ll learn more about this story in Sophocles’ Ajax)
Odysseus also observes various men who are forever stuck in eternal torment for actions they did in life.
It’s a chilling message. Regret is a powerful force. It will not end with death. Maybe we should work toward resolving our regrets before death makes it impossible?
Agamemnon as a Contrast to Odysseus
It’s here in the land of the dead that Odysseus finds out for the first time what we the audience already know: Agamemnon was killed by his wife and her lover. We, the audience, also know Agamemnon’s son Orestes avenged his death successfully, but neither of these men know that.
I wrote quite a bit in my posts on the Iliad about Agamemnon being a terrible leader (which was disastrous as he was the commander of the Achaean army) while by contrast Odysseus displayed much better leadership. Agamemnon was a contrast to Odysseus in some ways.
This trend continues here in the Odyssey. Agamemnon is betrayed by his wife and murdered. He also never got to see his son. We know that the opposite will be true for Odysseus, but in the meantime Agamemnon touches on Odysseus’ insecurities. Is this going to be Odysseus’ fate as well? Is he going to come home only to be betrayed by his wife and people? Is he never going to see his son again?
Recall that the first questions Odysseus asks his mother’s ghost is how Telemachus is doing and if his wife Penelope remarried. Odysseus knows nothing about them. Penelope could have moved on. Telemachus could have forgotten him or be ruining the family name. For all he knew, they could both be dead or destitute.
Anticlea puts his fears to rest… maybe. Anticlea is dead, after all. Who knows what’s changed in the meantime?
Agamemnon has grave and bitter advice for Odysseus:
“Be sure, therefore, and not be too friendly even with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about the rest… Do not tell people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a march upon them, for after all this there is no trusting women.”
Odyssey, Book 11; Samuel Butler translation
If you know how the story goes, you know that Odysseus took Agamemnon’s advice to heart.
I also want to note that this is at least the second time Odysseus has encountered a story that could potentially play on Odysseus’ insecurities regarding his wife. The first story was the one the blind bard Demodocus told in Book 8 about Aphrodite cheating on her husband Hephaestus. The fact that Odysseus had to be unfaithful to her with both Circe and Calypso probably doesn’t help either.
Achilles Then and Now
When the ghost of Achilles converses with Odysseus, their exchange really stood out to me.
Odysseus: “As for you Achilles, no one was ever yet so fortunate as you have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored by all us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that you are here you are a great prince among the dead.”
Achilles: “Say not a word in death’s favour; I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man’s house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead.”
This is a very different attitude than what Achilles expressed in the Iliad when he was alive.
“I will pursue Hector who has slain him whom I loved so dearly, and will then abide my doom when it may please Jove and the other gods to send it.”
Iliad, Book 18; Samuel Butler translation
In the Iliad, Achilles accepted the fact that he was going to die. He embraced it, just so long as he got his revenge on Hector for killing his best friend Patroclus.
Now, we are finding out that he seems to regret that decision. He regrets that he didn’t get to live a longer life. He would have easily exchanged the glory he won for himself to be a poor man’s servant and alive. Does that mean he regrets getting his revenge? Does he regret getting involved in the Trojan War?
Achilles had a choice while he was alive.
“My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live for ever: whereas if I go home my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me.”
Iliad, Book 9; Samuel Butler translation
In life, he chose to die young, but have his name live forever. In death, he would have rather lived to be old and be forgotten to time.
In my post on Book 9, I asked the question: What would you rather have if given the choice? To die young, but have your name be renowned? Or die old and be forgotten to history? In both the Iliad and the Odyssey, Achilles has shown us both attitudes. Which is the more convincing?
Another Black Mark on Odysseus
One of the last ghosts Odysseus meets is Telamonian Ajax. We see that there is bad blood between them as Ajax refuses to talk and simply leaves. All we know is that Odysseus and Ajax competed for Achilles’ armor as a prize, Odysseus won the contest, and Ajax died as a result.
I’ll be getting to this story when I cover the play Ajax by Sophocles, so I don’t want to give away too much. The gist of it is that Odysseus used his silver tongue to win the contest, Ajax went insane and humiliated himself (partly because of Athena), and committed suicide out of shame.
It’s a moment where Odysseus’ cunning caused a great deal of harm. It’s episodes like these where I don’t blame other ancient Greeks or Romans for having a low opinion of him. Ajax was one of the Achaeans’ best warriors. In the Iliad, he was one of the few who never got injured despite always being on the front lines or doing incredible tasks like single-handedly defending a ship from being burned until he was unable to. You could make a strong argument that Ajax deserved to win Achilles’ armor. However, brains beat brawn.
Or, perhaps in this case, words won out against actions. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising. How many stories are out there of the hard worker getting passed over for a promotion in favor of the guy who talked a good game (and perhaps did a little brown-nosing)? Nothing new under the sun.
Then again, it could be an incentive to improve our rhetorical skills. Imagine if you would both “walk the walk” and “talk the talk?”
That’s all for Book 11 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Odysseus Questions the Seer Tiresias by Alessandro Allori. 1580. Public domain.