10
This is how we began our great journey to the
underworld.
The
friendly
wind
sent
us
to
the
Kimmerian and near the entrance to Hades, where
Circe advised me to ask Teresias, the oracle about my
homecoming. After sacrificing to the dead, to the
Oracle and to Pluto, the souls of the dead gathered
around the slaughtered animals to drink blood in
order to remember the world of living and speak. First
of them all, the seer Teresias foretold that Poseidon
would be an obstacle to my homecoming. He also
foretold that I would arrive late to my home, and
there new difficulties would await me. However, I
would manage to avenge the men who desired my
wife and my throne. He also advised me to make
a
sacrifice, first to Poseidon, then to other gods. In the
end he told me that I would die far away from the sea
at a very old age. Then the soul of my mother,
Antikleia, spoke of the loyalty of Penelope, my son ,
and my father, Laertes. Next, many women, wives and
daughters of honorable men spoke of their generation.
After them, the souls of Agamemnon, Achiles, Ajax,
Hercules and other dead Achaioi appeared, so I spoke
with them. However, the noise from the voices of the
thousands of dead, around me was too much. So I
ordered my men to start sailing home.