Souls of suitors in the realm of Hades
God Hermes summoned the souls of suitors from their corpses with his golden rod, with which he closes the eyes of people with sleep and drives away sleep. With a plaintive cry, the souls flew after God. The scream was like the squeak of bats running in fright through a dark cave when one of them fell off the stone on which it hung.
The souls of the suitors rushed along the gloomy road after Hermes. He led them further and further, past the waters of the gray Ocean, past the gates of the sun god Helios , past the country where the gods of sleep live, past the rock of Leucada. Finally, they reached a meadow overgrown with asphodel; the souls of the dead lived there. The soul of the great Achilles was the first to meet the souls of the suitors, the shadows of Patroclus, < a href="/en/glossary/antilokh">Antilochus and Ajax Telamonides. The souls of the suitors surrounded them. The shadow of the king Agamemnon also came here. I recognized in the host of souls of suitors the shadow of Agamemnon the soul of Amphimedont, in which Agamemnon was received as a guest in Ithaca, when he came there to call Odysseus on a campaign near Troy. The shadow of Agamemnon asked the soul of Amphimedon:
- Tell me, why did you come in such a crowd to this kingdom of darkness? Did you die during the storm or did the enemies kill you when you ransacked their houses and stole their property?
Shadow of Amphimedon told about how they wooed Penelope, thinking that would not return Odysseus, but Penelope was faithful to Odysseus, she did not want to hear about marriage. Finally, Odysseus returned and cruelly avenged them for the rampage in his house and for the plunder of his property. The soul of Agamemnon rejoiced, having learned that Odysseus had successfully overcome all dangers, and exclaimed:
0, how happy you are, beloved Odysseus! Great will be the glory of your faithful wife Penelope, they will sing her in songs, and her memory will live forever! My destiny was different. My wife betrayed me. The terrible memory of her will remain forever with people.