BOOK 11, Part 1: The Underworld
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Death, alongside love, is the most frequently treated theme in poetry. The number of ways of approaching it seems infinite. Odysseus’ descent into the underworld is a point of reflection in an existence where human slaughter is common, and thoughts of potential death and danger are ever-present.
Confrontation with Death Illuminates Death's Mystery in the Odyssey
By Lindsay D. Clark
2009, VOL. 1 NO. 11 | PG. 1/1
Even in fairy tales and fantastical legends, the trespassing of the breathing upon the domain of the spirits is rare. It is a disturbing idea; when the dead visit our world, we can at least find comfort in numbers. Yet the hero Odysseus braves the unknown and looks into the eyes of death. And as ghostly whispers blow across the hair on his arms we expect him to return traumatized, changed, darkly enlightened—but no. He emerges a little puffy-eyed, but very much himself. Several times Odysseus seems close to discovering some deathly mystery, brushing the stardust off some universally kept secret, like a skull long buried; but the moment transforms itself rather quickly into another shape, like grief or warning, more suited for the realm of living. Ultimately, after Odysseus ventures into the Kingdom of the Dead, he isn’t endowed with the wisdom to fathom death in its gravity and implications any more than he was before; in fact his exploits there suggest that understanding of death will have no profound influence on his life path.
Go to site to read in its entirety.
By Lindsay D. Clark
2009, VOL. 1 NO. 11 | PG. 1/1
Even in fairy tales and fantastical legends, the trespassing of the breathing upon the domain of the spirits is rare. It is a disturbing idea; when the dead visit our world, we can at least find comfort in numbers. Yet the hero Odysseus braves the unknown and looks into the eyes of death. And as ghostly whispers blow across the hair on his arms we expect him to return traumatized, changed, darkly enlightened—but no. He emerges a little puffy-eyed, but very much himself. Several times Odysseus seems close to discovering some deathly mystery, brushing the stardust off some universally kept secret, like a skull long buried; but the moment transforms itself rather quickly into another shape, like grief or warning, more suited for the realm of living. Ultimately, after Odysseus ventures into the Kingdom of the Dead, he isn’t endowed with the wisdom to fathom death in its gravity and implications any more than he was before; in fact his exploits there suggest that understanding of death will have no profound influence on his life path.
Go to site to read in its entirety.