主題:天堂與地獄
Odysseus一行人在Circe的島上吃吃喝喝，無憂無慮裹了一整年，厭倦了，開始想家。雖然白天看似幸福快樂，但是到了夜裡，總是憂傷落淚 (Odyssey
10. 478-479)。Odysseus鼓起勇氣和Circe 攤牌，要她兌現承諾，幫助他們回故土。
Circe很大方，不會強迫Odysseus留下，但是她告訴Odysseus要有心理準備，離開這兒，他們將面對另一艱辛的旅程。Circe重複用一長串字稱呼Odysseus: ‘διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη, πολυμήχαν᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ
(Odyssey 10. 488; 10.504)。這就是Odyssey的專用修修飾詞，宙斯之後裔(διογενὲς)、Laertes的兒子(Λαερτιάδη) 、足智多謀(πολυμήχαν)都是Odysseus的特質與身分。
另一艱辛的旅程? 第一關就是前往地府找盲眼先知Teiresias。別以為Odysseus很勇敢，聽到Circe說要去地府，他的第一反應是嚎啕大哭，因為去那兒是有去無回啊! 但他想一想，問Circe有沒有嚮導?
不要擔心吧! Circe開始傳授未來旅程的教戰守則，而聰敏的Odysseus又懂得變通，未來雖然艱辛，但，英雄總會一一過關。
儘管揚起白帆出發，北風(Βορέαο)會送Odysseus到地府的門口。Circe還詳細描述一下地府的出入境場景。穿越大海Oceanus，到了平坦海岸，有Persephone的聖林，主要的植物是楊樹與柳樹 (Salix
amplexicaulis)，船條靠在波濤洶湧的岸邊，然後自行走入Hades陰濕的府邸。
這兒還描述地府的河道，著名的Styx，支流是哀河(Cocytus)。火河(Pyriphlegethon)和哀河(Cocytus)又一起匯入阿克戎河(Acheron)，會合之處，波濤洶湧，有一塊巨岩在當中。依照Circe的指示，勇敢的Odysseus就是得到這裡，然後挖一深洞，祭拜亡魂。祭拜細節也詳實說明 (Odyssey
10. 521-530)，Odysseus要規勸同伴們虔誠地禱告，向Hades與Persephone祈求。找到盲眼先知Teirisias，他會告訴他們回家的路。
Circe說完後，正好也天亮了，Odysseus也衝去告訴同伴們，叫醒這一年來都活在甜蜜夢中的或同伴們。年輕力壯的Elpenor還從睡夢中驚醒，從樓上摔下，背部和頸部都摔碎，真的是粉身碎骨，一命嗚呼。
大家要回家了，興奮不已，只是，當Odysseus告訴他們，現在要去的是地府，又是一陣嚎啕大哭，原來，大家就是怕死喔。
willow: A. [select] willow, Il. 21.350, Hecat.292（a) J., Hdt.1.194, PTeb.ined.703.195, etc.; ἰ.
λευκή, = Salix alba, ἰ. μέλαινα, = Salix
amplexicaulis, Thphr.HP3.13.7.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D503
ἀλλ᾽ ὁπότ᾽ ἂν δὴ νηὶ δι᾽ Ὠκεανοῖο περήσῃς,
ἔνθ᾽ ἀκτή τε λάχεια καὶ ἄλσεα Περσεφονείης,
μακραί τ᾽ αἴγειροι καὶ ἰτέαι ὠλεσίκαρποι,
νῆα μὲν αὐτοῦ κέλσαι ἐπ᾽ Ὠκεανῷ βαθυδίνῃ,
αὐτὸς δ᾽ εἰς Ἀίδεω ἰέναι δόμον εὐρώεντα.
ἔνθα μὲν εἰς Ἀχέροντα Πυριφλεγέθων τε ῥέουσιν
Κώκυτός θ᾽, ὃς δὴ Στυγὸς ὕδατός ἐστιν ἀπορρώξ,
πέτρη τε ξύνεσίς τε δύω ποταμῶν ἐριδούπων:
ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔπειθ᾽, ἥρως, χριμφθεὶς πέλας, ὥς σε κελεύω,
βόθρον ὀρύξαι, ὅσον τε πυγούσιον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,
ἀμφ᾽ αὐτῷ δὲ χοὴν χεῖσθαι πᾶσιν νεκύεσσιν,
πρῶτα μελικρήτῳ, μετέπειτα δὲ ἡδέι οἴνῳ,
τὸ τρίτον αὖθ᾽ ὕδατι: ἐπὶ δ᾽ ἄλφιτα λευκὰ παλύνειν. (Odyssey 10. 508-520)
http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey10.htm
But once your ship
crosses flowing Oceanus, drag it ashore
at Persephone’s groves, on the level beach,
where tall poplars grow, willows shed their fruit,
right beside deep swirling Oceanus.11
Then you must go to Hades’ murky home.
There Periphlegethon and Cocytus,
a stream which branches off the river Styx,
flow into Acheron. There’s a boulder
where these two foaming rivers meet. Go there,
heroic man, and follow my instructions—
move close and dig a hole there two feet square.
Pour libations to the dead around
it,
first with milk and honey, next sweet wine,
and then a third with water.
下面圖片與資料出處: http://thanasis.com/homewk06.htm
下面資料出處: http://www.shmoop.com/odyssey/elpenor.html
Elpenor is the guy who wandered up to Circe's
roof and fell to his death before the men departed. Odysseus talks to him in
the underworld, where Elpenor asks for a proper burial: "I ask that you
remember me, and do not go and leave me behind unwept, unburied, when he
leave, for fear I might become the gods' curse upon you; but burn me there
with all my armor that belongs to me, and heap up a grave mound beside the
beach of that gray sea, for an unhappy man, so that those to come will know
of me" (11.60-65, 69-78).
And so Odysseus actually sails all the way back
to Circe's island to give this poor guy a proper burial. That's how important
funeral rites are.
|
