The journey to the Underworld plays an important role in the Odyssey. It is significant to Odysseus' travel home because upon leaving Circe's island she told him that the only way he could return home was to travel to the underworld, sacrafice a ram, and find the blind prophet Tiresias and to listen to his prophecy.
In the book, it tells of how Odysseus' men were very distraught when he told them that in order to get home they would have to travel to the underworld. It said that they wailed loudly, tore out their hair, and cried when they heard this news. In the movie, it did not show the emotional upset or the disturbance that the men felt. Also, it did not show them ripping out their hair or showing any emotion at all.
Once they reached the Underworld in the book, Odysseus had been instructed by Circe to dig a trench then to pour sweet milk, honey, sweet wine, clear water, and then to sprinkle barley into the trench. He then slashed the ram and drank of the blood so he can temporarily revitalize the dead to speak with them. In the movie, it does not show Odysseus digging a trench, pouring in the required ingredients, or drinking the blood. It only shows him tossing the ram into the river located in the Underworld.
The first person in the book that Odysseus sees in Underworld is Elpenor, who died on Circe's island by falling off her palace. In the movie, Elpenor was not seen nor did he die on Circe's island.
In the book, after seeing the Elpenor Odysseus sees the soul of Antikleia his once living, beloved mother. After seeing her ghost he greives but held her off until he should know the prescence of Teiresias. After Odysseus spoke with Teiresias, the blind prophet retired to the halls of death. His mothers then sips the black blood and recognizes Odysseus. Odysseus tries to hold her, but once she is present in the Underworld one can no longer be touched because they are no longer flesh and blood. The movie shows this scene very differently. In the movie, the sequence in which Odysseus sees Teiresias and his mother occur at different times. He sees his mother, but does not attempt to hold her. After speaking with his mother, he then speaks to Teiresias.
Tracy, Jennifer, & Sara
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8 comments:
the book version is much less pleasant than the movie. his journey into the underworld adds to the greatness of Odysseus' image. but drinking the blood is a tad weird..
This was the most graphic of the scenes explored for me. I agree that drinking the blood was weird also. It also shows how much Odysseus wants to go home by gong through hell first. Another fine example of his bravery.
Reply to Kyle and Cheryl:
Yes, drinking the blood is very weird! Also, the book is much more unpleasant. Not many people would choose to go through hell to get back home. They would have given up by this time.
Reply to Kyle:
I agree, Odysseus' image definitely became greater after his journey into the underworld. As if the other amazing accomplishments he achieved were not enough. The drinking the blood at the end was very odd, I'm glad they left that out of the movie.
This just shows how bad Odysseus wants to go home and longs to be with Penelope. Although he went through many obstacle to reach Ithica, I believe this had to be one of the hardest and probably scariest because he didn't know what to expect espically since he was going where the dead were. It proves how brave he is as well.
I think that if they had added all of the details that the book covered it would have been way more exciting and interesting. The movie gives the made for tv version i guess. And i cant get over the irony of the fact that he had to "go through hell to get home".
This from the book is much more graphic than the movie. It shows just how much that Odyssues wants to get back home in both the movie and the book; however, there are much more extremes in the book. I feel like this was a very significant point in the book because it shows just how strong Odysseus is. There aren't many people loyal enough to their spouse to go into hell just to see them one more time, especially after everything else he's been through.
Reply to Daisy:
Yes, I completely agree. I would really like to see the movie just as the book was written. It gave much more detail and seemed way more intersting.
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