Odysseus Mother example essay topic

In book XI of Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus begins a spiritual transformation when facts are reveled to him through his comrade Elpenor, his mother Anticleia, and the prophet Teirisias. Elpenor tells Odysseus of how Odysseus and his crew forgot to perform proper burial rights, Anticleia tells Odysseus of the truth of how she died, and Teirisias tells Odysseus of what will happen on his long journey home. "Son of Laertes, favorite of Zeus, Odysseus of nimble wits, the malicious decree of some god and too much wine were my undoing. I had lain down to sleep on the roof of Circe's palace, and forgot to go to the ladder and take the right way down, and so fell headlong from the roof. My neck was broken and my soul came down to Hades. And now, I beseech you, by all the absent friends we left behind, by your wife, by the father who looked after your child, and by Telemachus, your only son, whom you left at home - since I know for certain that when you leave this kingdom of the dead, you will put in with your good ship at the Isle of Aerea, Circe's isle - I beg you, master, to remember me then and not leave me there unburied and unwept, in case I bring down the god's curse on you.

So burn my body there with all the arms I posses, and raise a mound for me on the shore of the gray sea, in memory of an unlucky man, so that men yet unborn may learn my story. Do this for me and on my burrow plant the oar I used to pull when I was alive and with my comrades". As Odysseus was visiting the underworld, as Circe had instructed, he came upon his old comrade, Elpenor, who fell off of the roof of Circe and died. As Odysseus went on with his journey, he never buried Elpenor. Burying a dead soldier was a task that had to be done by soldiers, but wasn't in this case. This is also one of the instructions given to Odysseus in order to get home.

When Odysseus first saw Elpenor, Odysseus had tears in his eyes because he had pity on Elpenor. "But when the summer and the mellow autumn days come round, he makes himself a bed of fallen leaves anywhere on the high ground of his vineyard. There he lies in his misery, with old age pressing hard upon him, and nursing his grief and yearning for you to come back. That was my undoing too; it was not that the keen-eyed Archer ess sought me out in our home and killed me with her gentle darts. Nor was I attacked by any of the malignant diseases that so often make the body waste away and die. NO, it was my heartache for you, my glorious Odysseus, and nor you " re your wise and gentle ways, that brought my life with all its sweetness to an end".

Anticleia said this to Odysseus as he questioned her why she had died. Odysseus did not know why his mother had died. She told him that the reason she died was because of not a disease, or the arrows of the goddess, but because of her missing Odysseus. He was gone for a long time and she missed him, and this feeling of loneliness is what killed Odysseus' mother. Him being gone is what the real truth was because everyone at his homeland had missed him and she wanted him to know that. "My lord Odysseus, you seek a happy way home.

But a god is going to make your journey hard. For I cannot think that you will escape the attention of the Earthshaker, who still nurses resentment against you in his heart, enraged that you blinded his beloved son. Even so, you and your friends may yet reach Ithaca, though not without suffering, in only you have the strength of will to control your men's appetites and your own from the moment when your good ship leaves the deep blue sea and approaches the isle of Thrinacie. There you will find at their pasture the cattle and the fat flocks of the Sun-god, whose eyes and ears miss nothing in the world. If you leave them untouched and fix your mind on returning home, there is some chance that all of you may reach Ithaca, though not without suffering.

But if you hurt them, then I predict that you yourself contrive to escape, you will reach home late, in a wretched state, upon a foreign ship, having lost all your comrades. You will find trouble too in your house-insolent men eating up your livelihood, courting your royal wife and offering wedding gifts. It is true that you will take revenge on thes men for their misdeeds when you reach home". Here, Tierisias is prophesizing to Odysseus what will happen on his journey home. He is correct in all of his predictions on what will happen, and Odysseus still does not follow his orders. The prophet tells Odysseus not to eat any of the animals on the island of the Sun-god, but when Odysseus goes off by himself, his men will eat the animals because of their hunger.

Throughout book XI of Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus will make of change in spirituality. He learned facts from spirits that change him. His mother tells one of the changing facts to him, which is why she died. He is also told of how his journey will be affected by actions. The prophet Tierisias tells this to him.

Elpenor, the soldier who fell off of Circe's roof, tells Odysseus that he should go back and properly burry Elpenor.