All of Odysseus' stories are fairly repetitive. He shows up on an island, he goes looking for civilization, and someone gets killed, drugged, poisoned,etc. The only person that seems to escape is always Odysseus. However, where is the one place that no one ends up in danger or comes close to dying? The house of Hades!
When traveling to the land of the dead and back not a single person on the ship is killed. Well, you can point out the obvious that Hades' is full of ghosts or "flittering shadows." How can they kill Odysseus or any of his companions? Also, Odysseus was there just to talk to Teiresias, even though he did get an ear-full from numerous of the ghosts including his mother, Agamemnon, and even Achilles. Who would dare try and be reckless in the land of the dead? Definitely not Odysseus. I just find this situation so ironic that the one place full of death, where there is no civilization, and the one place Odysseus seemed to fear the most (considering he started weeping as soon as Circe told him that is where he had to go) is the one place that no one was killed. Maybe if Odysseus had a little more fear in him and questioned how he would actually be able to get places like he did when going to Hades' home he may have been able to save some of his companions.
p.s. commented on TinsleyG's Odysseus the devious wretch...Just like the gods?...
I think that visiting The House of Hades would have a sobering effect on any person that went there! I also think it impacts Odysseus greatly because he sees how fleeting life can be perhaps? I mean he sees his best friends,his mother,even great heroes of the past. I do agree with you though that this is one of the few places that we see Odysseus not being reckless.
ReplyDeleteOr, to look at it another way, Hades is the place where everyone is killed.
ReplyDelete-Dr. Schuler