The Underworld is a place where the Greeks believed most souls of the dead live. The Odyssey and “Enkidu 's Dream” are two stories that describe how the underworld would be like when one encounters it. The Odyssey describes the underworld as a place filled with unhappiness and misery and that punishment will be served in the underworld to the sinners in life. While, “Enkidu 's Dream” describes the underworld as a very dark, unpleasant and scary place to be in, where no one looks forward to pass away due to it. Accepting fate and having fate play a major role in both stories. Odysseus in The Odyssey accepted that fate will be destined to him, while Enkidu in “Enkidu 's Dream” had fate, but did not accept it. The Odyssey and “Enkidu 's Dream”
…show more content…
The Underworld in The Odyssey is a miserable place where the dead wail around and can only speak to Odysseus if they are allowed “to sip the black blood” (82) of the sacrificed black sheep Odysseus slaughtered. The underworld is also a place where all sinners who sinned in life are punished. Odysseus went to the underworld to visit Tiresias, the blind prophet, despite how horrific it may be, so he can foretell Odysseus 's eventual fate and give him information about how to get to his homeland. Tiresias told Odysseus that there will be “destruction for ship and crew. Though you survive alone.” Odysseus will come home, then he has to travel, where he can pray for “a seaborne death soft as this hand of mist will come upon you” (82). Odysseus meets many hero 's that once lived during his visit of the underworld. One of the hero 's he sees is Achilles, the best worrier of the Trojan War, and tells him “you need to not be so pained by death” (85) because he was ranked as one of the immortals in his lifetime due to his heroic doings. Achilles replied to him and said that he would rather “break sod as a farm hand for some poor country man” than to rule the dead (86). This incident proves that the underworld is an unpleasant place to be in and that all beings will face …show more content…
A more elaborate underworld, like the Odyssey, will ensure people that death is a part of life. Even though the Underworld is an unpleasant place to be in, a more elaborated underworld description like The Odyssey will convince people to try to not commit any wrongfulness in their living, knowing that their sins will be accounted for in the afterlife, which will make their afterlife less painful than it will already
The Underworld in The Odyssey is a miserable place where the dead wail around and can only speak to Odysseus if they are allowed “to sip the black blood” (82) of the sacrificed black sheep Odysseus slaughtered. The underworld is also a place where all sinners who sinned in life are punished. Odysseus went to the underworld to visit Tiresias, the blind prophet, despite how horrific it may be, so he can foretell Odysseus 's eventual fate and give him information about how to get to his homeland. Tiresias told Odysseus that there will be “destruction for ship and crew. Though you survive alone.” Odysseus will come home, then he has to travel, where he can pray for “a seaborne death soft as this hand of mist will come upon you” (82). Odysseus meets many hero 's that once lived during his visit of the underworld. One of the hero 's he sees is Achilles, the best worrier of the Trojan War, and tells him “you need to not be so pained by death” (85) because he was ranked as one of the immortals in his lifetime due to his heroic doings. Achilles replied to him and said that he would rather “break sod as a farm hand for some poor country man” than to rule the dead (86). This incident proves that the underworld is an unpleasant place to be in and that all beings will face …show more content…
A more elaborate underworld, like the Odyssey, will ensure people that death is a part of life. Even though the Underworld is an unpleasant place to be in, a more elaborated underworld description like The Odyssey will convince people to try to not commit any wrongfulness in their living, knowing that their sins will be accounted for in the afterlife, which will make their afterlife less painful than it will already