Odysseus in the Underworld.
    Odysseus in the Underworld. Before Odysseus left her island, Circe directed him to visit the Underworld and question the ghost of Tiresias, who would give him advice about his return to Ithaca. As the party was leaving Circe’s palace, Elpenor, the youngest of Odysseus’s men, fell from a roof and died. In their haste to depart, his companions neglected to give him burial.
    Following the stream of Oceanus, Odysseus arrived at the shores of the river Styx, where he poured libations and sacrificed a ram and a ewe to honor Hades and Persephone. Tiresias appeared and drank of the sacrificial blood, then forewarned Odysseus of the dangers he would face on the remainder of his journey. He also spoke, in a riddle, of Odysseus’s death and a last journey. Odysseus also saw Elpenor, who begged to be buried; Odysseus promised to cremate his body and to build him a proper monument. Odysseus’s mother, Anticlea, was also there, having died of grief during his absence from Ithaca.
     Odysseus met the shades of many of his former companions at Troy, including Agamemnon and Achilles. Only Ajax would not approach him, resenting even in death Odysseus’s victory in the dispute over Achilles’ armor. Odysseus also saw Minos, judge of the dead, and the tortures of Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, and Orion. He spoke with Heracles and then returned to the upper world.

Listings are arranged under the following headings:
Odysseus, General list; Odysseus, the Lotus-eaters; Odysseus, Polyphemus; Odysseus, Circe; Odysseus in the Underworld; Odysseus and the Sirens; Odysseus, Scylla and Charybdis; Odysseus and Calypso; Odysseus and Leucothea; Odysseus and Nausicaä; Return of Odysseus; Death of Odysseus; Odysseus' Last Voyage

See also Penelope