Visit of Ulysses to the Land of the Dead
Voyage to the land of the dead—Interview with Tiresias, the seer—The heroes and heroines whom Ulysses saw there—Interview with his mother, and with Agamemnon, Achilles, and others—Occupations of the dead—Punishments of the guilty.
“Now, when we reached our galley by the shore, We drew it first into the mighty deep, And set the mast and sails, and led on board The sheep, and sorrowfully and in tears Embarked ourselves. The fair-haired and august Circè, expert in music, sent with us A kindly fellow-voyager—a wind That breathed behind the dark-prowed barque, and swelled The sails; and now, with all things in their place Throughout the ship, we sat us down—the breeze And helmsman guiding us upon our way. All day our sails were stretched, as o’er the deep Our vessel ran; the sun went down; the paths Of the great sea were darkened, and our barque Reached the far confines of Océanus.
“There lies the land, and there the people dwell Of the Cimmerians, in eternal cloud And darkness. Never does the glorious sun Look on them with his rays, when he goes up Into the starry sky, nor when again He sinks from heaven to earth. Unwholesome night O’erhangs the wretched race. We touched the land, And, drawing up our galley on the beach, Took from on board the sheep, and followed on Beside the ocean-stream until we reached The place of which the goddess Circè spake.
“Here Perimedes and Eurylochus Held in their grasp the victims, while I drew The trusty sword upon my thigh, and scooped A trench in earth, a cubit long and wide, Round which we stood, and poured to all the dead Libations—milk and honey first, and next Rich wine, and lastly water,