Today's discussion took us through Odysseus' tale of wanderings, and back to Ithaca. We discussed the absence of hope in the pagan universe depicted in book XI - Odysseus' journey to Hades. The Greek word for the journey of an epic hero to Hades and back is neukia (consider Aeneas, Orpheus, Heracles, and Dante among others). In pagan literature, there is no hope of heaven without deification, and Odysseus has already turned it down. Even the best of the best are destined for eternal misery. When Odysseus tries to console Achilles, the greatest warrior hero of the Greeks, with the legacy of fame and glory he achieved in life as well as his great authority among the dead, he rejects the consolation. His reply is heartbreaking.
"I would rather follow the plow as thrall to another man, one with no land allotted him and not much to live on, than be a king over all the perished dead."
In the words of Anthony Esolen (literature professor, Dante translator, and editor of Touchstone magazine), "there is a lid on the pagan universe." There is no salvation for the perished soul. Contrary to popular religious sentiment, the ancient myths deny that all roads lead to heaven, even for the virtuous. Only the Christian hero, the one all poetic heros foreshadow, Christ himself, blows the lid off that pagan universe! He does more than console the dead. He quickens him, as he did Lazerus, and says to his beloved, "come forth!"
What about you? What stood out to you in today's discussion? Use the comment space to let me know!
For next week, finish highlighting and prepare to narrate books 21-24.
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