The Underworld

Your turn...

1. Who is your favorite among the sorrowful dead? Why? Write your response.
2. Think about Achilles's remark to Odysseus, that he would rather be a hardworking plowman and ALIVE than Lord of the kingdom of the dead. In Hades, we see people who are punished in tortuous ways (Tityos, Tantalus, and Sisyphus come to mind; their stories are near the very end of this book), as well as people like Odysseus's mother and Achilles, who aren't actively punished but who seem to suffer very much. What do you think about Homer's vision of hell? What does Hades reveal about attitudes towards life and death? Write your response.
3. How does The Odyssey's hell differ from the "House of Dust" that Enkidu describes and the land restricted to the gods that Gilgamesh explores? If you were Odysseus and you experienced this trip to the other side, how would your life be changed? Write your response.

   

   

   Underworld | Contents | Sirens