Elpenor was a member of Odysseus crew who fell from the roof of Circe’s house. He was drunk and decided to sleep on the roof where it was cool. However, when he heard the commotion in the house by his comrades, he jumped up and tumbled off the roof to his death. Odysseus felt sorry for Elpenor when they met in the land of the dead (house of hades). The meeting moved Odysseus to tears. Elpenor made a request for his burial rites which had not been performed. Odysseus promised to honor the request.
I was very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him
Odysseus then met the ghost of Anticlea, his dead mother. This encounter was deeply emotional for Odysseus because he left his mother alive as he headed for Troy. Odysseus wept when he met his mother’s ghost.
I had left her alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her, but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood till I had asked my questions of Teiresias.
Odysseus then encountered Teiresias. The encounter was not emotional, and Odysseus observed it with a sense of duty.
Odysseus was emotionally expressive during his meeting with his mother's and Elpenor's ghosts in the house of Hades. In the rest of the story, Odysseus, was not as expressive as seen during the encounter with the ghosts.
No comments:
Post a Comment