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Summary
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Circe tells Odysseus to go to the underworld and consult the prophet Tiresias. He sails to the edge of Oceanus and pours offerings into a trench.
The shades gather. Tiresias tells him that he will reach home if he and his men leave the cattle of Helios alone, and that he must make a sacrifice to Poseidon after his return. Odysseus speaks with his mother, who died of grief; with Agamemnon, who tells him never to trust a wife completely; and with Achilles, who says that he would rather be a living servant than king of the dead.
Opening lines
“But when we had come down to the ship and to the sea, first of all we drew the ship down to the bright sea, and set the mast and sail in the black ship, and took the sheep and put them aboard, [5] and ourselves embarked, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. — Homer, Odyssey XI.1ff., trans. A. T. Murray (Loeb; Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0).
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The following entries mention “Odyssey XI · The Underworld”.