The god Hermes summoned the souls of the suitors from their corpses with his golden rod, with which he closed the eyes of people with sleep and drove away sleep. With a plaintive cry, souls flew after God. The cry was like the squeak of bats running in fear through a dark cave when one of them falls, breaking away from the stone on which it was hanging.
The souls of the suitors rushed in a line following Hermes along the gloomy road. 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 Leucas. Finally, they reached a meadow overgrown with asphodel; the souls of the dead lived there. The first to meet the souls of the suitors was the soul of the great Achilles, next to her walked the shadows of Patroclus, Antilochus and Ajax Telamonides. They were surrounded by the souls of suitors. The shadow of King Agamemnon also came here. In the host of souls of the suitors, the shadow of Agamemnon recognized the soul of Amphimedon, who received Agamemnon as a guest in Ithaca, when he came there to call Odysseus on the campaign at 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 in a storm or did your enemies kill you while you were plundering their houses and stealing their property?
The shadow of Amphimedon told how they wooed Penelope, thinking that Odysseus would not return, but Penelope was faithful to Odysseus, she did not want to hear about marriage. Odysseus finally returned and brutally took revenge on them for the riot in his house and for the theft of his property. The soul of Agamemnon rejoiced upon learning that Odysseus had happily overcome all the dangers, and exclaimed:
- Oh, 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 fate was different. My wife betrayed me. The terrible memory of her will remain with people forever.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru