The Odyssey Elpenor Quotes

There was a man, Elpenor, the youngest in our ranks,
none too brave in battle, none too sound in mind.
He’d strayed from his mates in Circe’s magic halls
and keen for the cool night air,
sodden with wine he’d bedded down on her roofs.
But roused by the shouts and tread of marching men,
he leapt up with a start at dawn but still so dazed
he forgot to climb back down again by the long ladder –
headfirst from the roof he plunged, his neck snapped
from the backbone, his soul flew down to Death.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 608-617. This passage tells of the ignominious drunken death of his youngest comrade Elpenor, who is described as "none too brave in battle." He fell to his death from one of Circe’s roofs where he slept after imbibing too much wine. This is about as far as you can get from the heroic, honorable deaths in battle preferred by soldiers in Homer’s epic poetry.

But first
the ghost of Elpenor, my companion, came toward me.
He’d not been buried under the wide ways of earth,
not yet, we’d left his body in Circe’s house,
unwept, unburied – this other labor pressed us.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 56-60. The first ghost to approach Odysseus in the underworld is that of Elpenor, the crew member who died before Odysseus departed Circe’s island. We learn that Elpenor was not accorded the honor of a proper buriel, something very important in the eyes of both mortals and gods.

"Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, old campaigner,
the doom of an angry god, and god knows how much wine –
they were my ruin, captain…I’d bedded down
on the roof of Circe’s house but never thought
to climb back down again by the long ladder –
headfirst from the roof I plunged, my neck snapped
from the backbone, my soul flew down to Death."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 66-72. The ghost of Odysseus’ former friend and youngest comrade Elpenor tells the Greek hero how he died. During Odysseus’ stay on Circe’s island, Elpenor got drunk and slept on the roof of Circe’s palace. Next morning, forgetting where he was, he fell and broke his neck.

"I beg you by those you left behind, so far from here,
your wife, your father who bred and reared you as a boy,
and Telemachus, left at home in your halls, your only son.
Well I know when you leave this lodging of the dead
that you and your ship will put ashore again
at the island of Aeaea – then and there,
my lord, remember me, I beg you! Don’t sail off
and desert me, left behind unwept, unburied, don’t,
or my curse may draw god’s fury on your head.
No, burn me in full armor, all my harness,
heap my mound by the churning gray surf –
a man whose luck ran out –
so even men to come will learn my story.
Perform my rites, and plant on my tomb that oar
I swung with mates when I rowed among the living."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 73-87. Elpenor’s ghost begs Odysseus not to leave his mortals remains unburied and unwept for. He asks Odysseus to burn his body in full armor and make a burial mound so that he will be always remembered. If he doesn’t have a proper buriel, he fears it may bring the fury of the gods on his head.
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