The Odyssey Book 11 Study Guide
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Book XI: A Gathering of Shades (Pages 185-206)
Odysseus is still telling Alkinoos about his journeys.
Places:
Hades, the underworld
People/Gods
 Teiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes sometimes called “Prince of Thebes”
 Poseidon: god who thunders on the land, father of Polyphemos (the Kyklops)
 Shades: ghosts, spirits in the underworld
 Death: Hades, the god of the underworld
 Persephone: Hades’ wife in the underworld
Note: The first region of Hades comprises the Fields of Asphodel, described in Odyssey xi, where
the shades of heroes wander despondently among lesser spirits, who twitter around them like bats.
Only libations of blood offered to them in the world of the living can reawaken in them for a time
the sensations of humanity. (wikipedia)
Summary of pages 185-188: The men leave with the animals Kirke gave them and a nice breeze.
They sail to the underworld, and sacrifice the animals from Kirke for the libations of blood needed
to wake the spirits. They first meet the “shade” of Elpenor, the man who drank too much wine, fell
off the roof and died. He asks Odysseus to retrieve his body on his way back past Aiaia Island and
give him a proper burial in Ithaka. Odysseus agrees. Then Odysseus sees his mother, who died
while he was away at war. He cries. Finally Teiresias comes out and tells Odysseus he’ll prophesy.
Start reading on page 188 line 102 where Teiresias speaks to Odysseus with “Son of Laertes and
the gods of old”…
Questions
Questions #1-4 are from Teiresias’s prophecy (p. 188-189)
1. Why does “anguish lie ahead” for Odysseus?
2. What will happen if Odysseus’ men kill the herds of Helios on Thrinakia?
3. What will Odysseus encounter when he returns home?
4. What should he do after he kills the suitors?
5. How did Odysseus’ mother die? (p. 191)
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The Odyssey Book 11 Study Guide
Stop reading on p. 192 from “So went our talk; then other shadows came….”
Summary: Odysseus continues describing the many famous dead people he sees, and eventually
realizes he is tired and tells Alkinoos (remember, he’s been telling these stories to him the whole
time) he is tired and wants to sleep. Alkinoos promises more gifts if he stays another day and keeps
talking throughout the night. Odysseus consents, saying it is “better far that I return with some
largesse of wealth about me—I shall be thought more worthy of love and courtesy by every man
who greets me home in Ithaka” (196). Alkinoos asks if Odysseus met any of his peers from the
Trojan war in the underworld.
Continue reading on page 197 line 438 with “Odysseus the great tactician answered…”
More Questions
6. According to Agamemnon’s ghost, what effect did Lady Klytaimnestra’s traitorous act have
on all women? (p. 199)
7. Why does Agamemnon say Odysseus has nothing to worry about with Penelope? (199)
8. What advice does Agamemnon give Odysseus for his return to Ithaka? (200)
9. Odysseus tries to comfort Akhilleus (Achilles) by saying, “And here your power is royal
among the dead men’s shades.” How does Akhilleus respond? (201)
10. Summarize what Odysseus tells Akhilleus about his son, Neoptolemos. Why is this
important to Akhilleus? (201-202)
11. Odysseus also meets Aias (Ajax). What does he tell him, and why do you think he doesn’t
respond? (203)
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The Odyssey Book 11 Study Guide
Crimes and Punishments pages 204-205
Tityos: Tityos is the son of Zeus via an affair with Elara. Hera (Zeus’s jealous wife) later convinced
Tityos to rape Leto (another consort of Zeus and the mother of Apollo and Artemis). Apollo and
Artemis kill Tityos.
12. What is Tityos’s punishment?
Tantalos: Tantalus is known for having been welcomed to Zeus' table in Olympus. He misbehaved
and stole ambrosia, brought it back to his people, and revealed the secrets of the gods. Later,
Tantalus offered up his son, Pelops, as a sacrifice to the gods. He cut Pelops up, boiled him, and
served him up as food for the gods. The gods were said to be aware of his plan for their feast, so
they didn't touch the offering; only Demeter, distraught by the loss of her daughter, Persephone,
"did not realize what it was" and ate part of the boy's shoulder. Fate, ordered by Zeus, brought the
boy to life again (she collected the parts of the body and boiled them in a sacred cauldron),
rebuilding his shoulder with one wrought of ivory made by Hephaestus and presented by Demeter.
The Greeks of classical times claimed to be horrified by Tantalus' doings; cannibalism, human
sacrifice and parricide were atrocities and taboo. Tantalizing: The English word "tantalizing"
comes from Tantalus’s punishment, and is now proverbial for temptation without satisfaction.
13. What is Tantalos’s punishment?
Sisyphus: Sisyphus promoted navigation and commerce, but was avaricious and deceitful,
violating the laws of hospitality by killing travelers and guests. He took pleasure in these killings
because they allowed him to maintain his dominant position. From Homer onwards, Sisyphus was
famed as the craftiest of men. He seduced his niece, took his brother's throne and betrayed Zeus's
secrets. Zeus then ordered Hades to chain Sisyphus in Tartarus. Sisyphus slyly asked Thanatos to
try the chains to show how they worked. When Thanatos did so, Sisyphus secured them and
threatened Hades. This caused an uproar, and no human could die until Ares (who was annoyed that
his battles had lost their fun because his opponents would not die) intervened, freeing Thanatos and
sending Sisyphus to Tartarus. However, before Sisyphus died, he had told his wife that when he
was dead she was not to offer the usual sacrifice. In the underworld he complained that his wife was
neglecting him and persuaded Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, to allow him to go back to the
upper world and ask his wife to perform her duty. When Sisyphus got back to Corinth, he refused to
return and was eventually carried back to the underworld by Hermes. "Sisyphean task" or
"Sisyphean challenge": Today, Sisyphean can be used as an adjective meaning that an activity is
unending and/or repetitive. It could also be used to refer to tasks that are pointless and unrewarding.
14. What is Sisyphos’s punishment?
You can stop reading on page 205 after line 716 “and the dust rose overhead.” Summary:
Odysseus finally gets scared and runs back to the ship, “I whirled then, made for the ship, shouted
to crewmen to get aboard and cast off the stern hawsers, an order soon obeyed” 206.
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The Odyssey Book 11 Study Guide
“Sacrifice” from Of Armor And Old Lies:
Odyssey Songs Volume 1 By Charlene
DiCalogero
“On To Iliad” by Hades
Sitting on the sands of foreign shores
What will it take to make you see the light
Tiresias, the oracle Odysseus must consult in the
Land of the Dead, tells him whether and how he Yesterday's patronizing tears
will get home to Ithaca. But oracles never tell
To prove the gods, wrong or right
you just what you want to know.
Welcome to the kingdom
Of the underworld
How nice of you to call
From the other world
You think I have something to offer you
Do you think it’s true
How true
You say you’ve never been here before
Take a look around I’m not so sure
Yeah I see the future
Falling down around your ears
Falling down around your ears
Will you ever reach your home
You ask of me
He who has offended earth
Sky and sea
You wish to be free of your poison past
Sailing home at last
Safe at last
If the land of the dead is not yet for you
You may long for it long before you’re through
The road to ancient prophecies is long
When will everybody sing your song
Fearful foes emerging from the past
We're marching on to Iliad at last
See the battles strewn upon the floor
Hear the cries of victory and pain
Twice this day your future lies ahead
Painful suffering amidst a gain
Priam's cities sees it's heroes fall
Into your hands, what does this mean
Egos surging like a demon spawned
Mind engulfed in a fog-crested dream
Can you change the future
Can you steer without the stars
Will you heed the howl in the dark
You pollute the seas with greed
You take much more than you need
The air’s foul with your lies
Will you now listen to the fear of death
Will it make you wise
Gonna take a sacrifice, sacrifice
Gonna take a sacrifice
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