Bart Ehrman on the fate of souls in Homer's Odissey

Bart Ehrman on the fate of souls in Homer's Odissey

"The broader lessons of Homer’s katabasis are clear. Most important: the nature of death puts into perspective the value of life. The world of mortals may be hard and full of suffering; but whether it is the constant dangers confronted by heroes desperately trying to return home or the daily grind of field hands enduring a life of poverty, the suffering of the present cannot be compared to the perpetual banality of what lies ahead. The miserable existence of the living, on any terms, is better than anything on offer in the realms of the dead, where there is literally nothing to live for, since no one is alive. Existence there is a mere shadow. There are no pleasures to appreciate, no goals to achieve, no strength to enjoy, no memories to relish, and no future to anticipate. It is a life of flitting shadows. In the moving words of Erwin Rohde from more than a century ago, in the Homeric picture, “Nothing is so hateful to man as death and the gates of Hades: for when death comes it is certain that life—this sweet life of ours in the sunlight—is done with.” Within the broader narrative of the epic, Odysseus’s journey to Hades thoroughly validates his single-minded desire to return home. Glory and renown are indeed worth striving for, but they pale in comparison with the fact of life itself. Homer does not overly sentimentalize the view. Not every homecoming goes well, as Agamemnon so pathetically explains. But on balance, the greatest good is life at home among property and loved ones. Even if that is not a reality everyone can enjoy, no one should abandon life before absolutely necessary, since after life is only death." (Journeys to Heaven and Hell, p. 22)

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