The Underworld as the Key to Living the Greek Life

The Underworld as the Key to Living the Greek Life

Beyond relaying a fantastic journey, featuring a glorified hero who embodies to perfection Greek ideals, Homer uses the epic books of The Odyssey to explore all the nuances of Greek culture. Each part of The Odyssey possesses a purpose beyond detailing popular mythology. Book Eleven’s Underworld becomes the culmination of all the values and ideals that Homer touches on in prior books. Homer uses the underworld as a catchall to reinforce societal protocol and religion among other things. Specifically, by focusing on the reason for Odysseus’ journey, the journey itself, the scenery of the Underworld and its occupants, Homer reveals and reinforces views on kleos, the role men and women play in society, the proper hero, religion – especially in conjunction with fate and the idea of death and rebirth.

Homer’s carefully crafted views can be experienced relative to Odysseus’ journey, starting on Circe’s island. Homer sets a sumptuous scene, but Odysseus’ men are called by duty and the need to return to their homes. It is the men that spur on Odysseus. Like a responsible leader and hero, Odysseus responds immediately to his men’s pleas and, with the help of Hermes foresight, he makes plans to leave Circe’s island. This shows not only Odysseus’ responsible behavior, but also the gods’ anticipation of Odysseus’ actions. Bit by bit, in scenarios like this, the gods reveal their knowledge of fate, which their actions support. Odysseus requests that Circe “make good a promise” to which she favorably answers, adding that she will help him (10:532). Beyond the fact that a promise holds Circe to freeing Odysseus, her heritage as a goddess allows her to know that eventually he must...

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...ot use The Odyssey as an editorial; rather, his oral epic artfully entwines the desolate landscape of the Underworld, the flitting shades, and Odysseus’ interactions with deeper visions of a well-structured society. As a bard, Homer keenly felt the importance of the host-guest relationship with his aristoi hosts. He achieves his purpose while spinning tales that would be entertaining to his audiences. What Homer leaves behind is a legacy that engages in discourse with the past and present and which future literature will emulate, comment on and celebrate.

Works Cited

Dimock, George. The Unity of The Odyssey. Amherst: U of Mass. Press, 1989.

Foley, John Miles. Homer’s Traditional Art. PA: Penn State UP, 1999.

Griffin, Jasper. Homer on Life and Death. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980.

Homer. The Odyssey. Ed. Robert Fagels. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.