“As she ended dawn was gilding the morning sky. Sorrowfully I arose and went to arouse my companions and advise them of our speedy departure. We went down to the ship with heavy hearts. There we found the sacrificial sheep, which I was to carry with me, bound and ready; a black male sheep and a female. Circe had also provided flour, wine, and honey. We launched the ship, raised the mast, and reluctantly embarked. A favorable wind bore us straight toward the ends of the earth.
“We reached the shores of the Cimmerians, where the sun no longer sheds its light. There we beached our ship, took the sacrificial gifts, and descended to the place which Circe had shown me. We found all as she had foretold. I now began to dig a pit with my sword, an ell square, and into it I poured an offering for the dead as I had been instructed; first of honey and milk, then of sweet wine, and at last of water, strewing white flour over all. Then the two sheep were handed me, and I cut their throats with my sword so that the dark blood ran into the pit. Immediately the departed souls floated up in crowds from the lower world and pressed upon me. But I held them back with my sword, and commanded my companions to burn the sheep which had been skinned meanwhile. While the offering was being consumed we prayed to all the gods of the lower world, and I did not forget to make promises to them and to Tiresias, provided that I should reach Ithaca in safety.
“I gazed upon the approaching shades with silent awe. I saw armed men with deep wounds, old dames and blooming maidens, careworn old men and vigorous youths. They crowded about the pit on all sides with horrible cries, and I had hard work to keep them from the blood with my sword.
INVOCATION OF THE SHADES IN HADES
“The spirits seemed speechless except Tiresias. He bade me turn away the sharp sword, that he might drink of the blood and prophesy of my fate. When he had drunk he leaned upon his golden staff and began: ‘Noble Ulysses, thou art anxious to return to thy home, but one of the gods will put difficulties in thy way. Dost thou not know how deeply thou didst offend Poseidon in blinding the eye of his son? Still all may be well with thee if only thou layest not thine hands upon the steers of Helios upon the island of Thrinakia. If thou shouldst kill one of them thou mayest scarcely expect to be saved, and if thou shouldst ever see thy native land again, it would only be after many years of hardship and without any of thy companions. Others shall feast upon thy substance, woo thy spouse, and seek to lay deadly traps for thy son. But at last a divinity shall take pity on thee that thou mayest slay the presumptuous guests in thy palace. The deed will compel thee to leave thine ancestral home and to settle far inland. Then let it be a token for thee that, when on thy pilgrimage with thine oar upon thy shoulder, thou shalt meet a man who shall call the oar a shovel, that it is the place which the gods have set apart for the haven of thine old age. Far from the sea, death shall come gently upon thee.’
“‘So that is to be my fate, O Tiresias,’ I said. ‘But tell me, do I not see my old mother amongst the spirits? She deigns not to speak to her son, nor looks into my face. What shall I do to make her know me?’
“‘If thou wouldst question any of these spirits, let them drink of the blood,’ answered Tiresias; ‘then mind and speech shall return to them.’
“I waited until my mother should approach, and as soon as she had drunk she recognized me with joy and astonishment. I recounted to her all my sufferings and questioned her in what manner she had died and how my father, wife, and dear son at home were faring. She told me that all were alive and longed for me every day, that my father, grown weak with age, lived in the palace no longer, but cultivated his vineyards in the country.
“She departed and in her place came other women, wives of famous heroes I had known. They, too, drank of the blood and told me of their fate. My heart swelled as I beheld the spirits of dear friends floating near who had once been my companions before Troy—Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, and the excellent Ajax, all of whom death had overtaken before they saw their native land again. I was most astonished to see Agamemnon here. I questioned him and, lamenting, he told me his sad fate. He inquired about his living son, Orestes, but alas, I could tell him nothing of the Greeks. But I was able to tell Achilles of many glorious deeds done by his son Neoptolemus, of whose bravery in war I had often been witness after his father’s death. Even in the pale world of shades Achilles rejoiced in his son’s valor, and floated proudly down to the fields of asphodel where dwell the spirits of brave heroes.