A Respite

[sdi]

ἀλλ’ ὅτε δὴ διὰ νήσου ἰὼν ἤλυξα ἑταίρους,
χεῖρας νιψάμενος, ὅθ’ ἐπὶ σκέπας ἦν ἀνέμοιο,
ἠρώμην πάντεσσι θεοῖς οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν:
οἱ δ’ ἄρα μοι γλυκὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔχευαν.
Εὐρύλοχος δ’ ἑτάροισι κακῆς ἐξήρχετο βουλῆς:
κέκλυτέ μευ μύθων κακά περ πάσχοντες ἑταῖροι.
πάντες μὲν στυγεροὶ θάνατοι δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσι,
λιμῷ δ’ οἴκτιστον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν.

But when, traversing the island, I was free of my crew,
I found a place sheltered from the winds, washed my hands,
and prayed to all the gods who hold Olumpos;
at which they poured sweet sleep over my eyelids.
But Eurulokhos brought up a wicked plan to the men:
“I know you're in a bad lot, mateys, but listen to me:
every death a wretch can have sucks,
but the worst is to meet your doom by starving!”

(Odusseus speaking. Homer, Odyssey XII 335-42.)

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It must be remembered that starvation is inevitable in the grey wastes of Haides, where the food tastes as dust and nourishes likewise. Impiety, on the other hand, is a choice. Do you like Odusseus and call for help, that a respite might be granted you...

Comments

[thinking_turtle]

From the book "The Ancient City" I learned that Greeks and Romans had a family religion. They honored their ancestors whose spirits lived in the ground beneath their family home. The "focus" was a hearth inside the home. The only good food the ancestors got were sacrifices made by their descendants.

So one can look at the dusty food in Hades from a utilitarian perspective. This belief encourages sacrifice for the family and procreation.

Like the current belief in transmittable disease, it is full of contradictions, yet is held by the majority of people.

[sdi]

Haides as a gray place with dusty food is actually my own; the Greeks thought of Haides as black as night and associated it with foods like pork and pomegranate.

[thinking_turtle]

You're right, Hades is not part of the religion of ancestor worship described in the Ancient City. I rember Homer describes Hades as being far away near the edge of the earth, not at all beneath the ancestral family home!

underworld

[kallianeira]

Like the afterlife world in LeGuin's Earthsea books. Hers I remember to be adjacent to the living world, separated by a stone wall.

Thank you for your continued prayers. May you be granted respite also.

Re: underworld

[boccaderlupo]

Prayers for you, and for all those who are suffering and in need of a respite.

Axé