ias tells Odysseus the way home he also informs him that there will be more sadness and heartache on his journey. For example, his men will be killed after eating Helios' cattle and he will find that suitors have taken over his home.Odysseus also leaves the underworld with a better understanding of life. He spent 20 years searching for home. And he doesn't realize that happiness is right in front of him. For example, he had sexual encounters with Kirk. And when he was stuck on Calypso's island he sleeps with her at night and lies on the beach all day. This would be viewed as paradise for most men. But Odysseus still weeps for his home and wife. About half way through the movie version of the Odyssey, Odysseus, played by Armand Assante, meets up with Teiresias. And the blind prophet tells Odysseus that his longing for home blinds him and he does not see that it is the journey itself that makes up his life (1997). Thus Odysseus is revealed the way home and the way to happiness. Like Gilgamesh and Odysseus, the hero of The Aeneid, Aeneas also voyages into the underworld to find out about his destiny. After leaving Dido he is unsure of his decision and needs to know if he is doing the right things in life. He is caught in a struggle between his romantic desires and his duty. Thus, before committing himself to anything, he seeks out the underworld and the wisdom of his dead father, Anchises.Aeneas is also a hero for venturing into the unknown. And he views the underworld as a dark and gloomy place. The dead are much like the dead that Odysseus found, "empty images, hovering bodiless" (868). And he too meets lost companions.Furthermore, Aeneas finds judgement. It is represented in the underworld by two distinct paths. One path leads to punishment and the other leads to the land of the blessed. Thus, there are separate locations for the good and the bad. And unlike the underworlds in Gilgamesh and The Odyssey, The Aeneid's land of the dead pro...
