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Book 10
She’ll turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions
made to guard that palace of hers—by force, I tell you—
just as the Cyclops trapped our comrades in his lair
with hotheaded Odysseus right beside them all—
thanks to this man’s rashness they died too!”
After rescuing his crewmen from the sea witch Circe in Book 10, Odysseus calls the rest to join him in the palace with her. One of his men, Eurylochus, urges the men not to do so. Odysseus may be brave and clever, but his arrogance has already gotten many of them killed. Read more about this quote in Quotes by Theme: Divine Justice.
Book 11
And I, my mind in turmoil, how I longed
to embrace my mother’s spirit, dead as she was!
Three times I rushed toward her, desperate to hold her,
three times she fluttered through my fingers, sifting away
like a shadow, dissolving like a dream, and each time
the grief cut to the heart, sharper, yes, and I,
I cried out to her, words winging into the darkness.
In Book 11, Odysseus arrives in the Underworld and encounters his mother’s ghost, who died of grief while waiting for his return. Their bittersweet reunion forces Odysseus to come to terms with the impact his absence has had on his family.
No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man—
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.
In Book 11, Odysseus travels to the Underworld where he meets the famous hero Achilles, whom Odysseus hasn’t seen since he died in the Trojan War years prior. When Odysseus laments his troubles and praises the glory Achilles has earned in death, Achilles rebukes him sharply, stating he’d trade it all to be alive again like Odysseus. Read more about this quote in Famous Quotes Explained and Quotes by Theme: Divine Justice.
