Oh, except for Penelope, whom he praises for her loyalty.

Agamemnon is understandably bitter against women and considers all of them treacherous.

Back in the Underworld, Odysseus sees Agamemnon and hears the tragic story of his murder and his son Orestes' revenge against Aigisthos and Klytaimestra.(Click the summary infographic to download.) King Alkinoös then asks Odysseus if, while he was down in the underworld, he met any of his friends who died at Troy.Queen Arete, clearly impressed by all these stories, decides that when they do finally send Odysseus on his way, it should be with lots of sparkly things (i.e., treasure).At this point, Odysseus pauses in his narrative.Odysseus speaks first to a long line of princesses: Tyro, Antiope, Alkmene, Megara, Epikaste, Chloris, Leda, Iphimedeia, Phaidra, Prokris, Ariadne, Maira, Klymene, and Eriphyle.(Except they're already dead, so we're not sure how effective that would be.) He lets them come and drink one at a time. Odysseus draws his sword to hold them back.The shades don't get too many visitors around these parts. When she leaves, there's a long line of other dead people waiting to talk to him.Her son tries three times to embrace her, but this doesn't work out too well, since Antikleia is dead.One gory mess later, Odysseus' mother Antikleia tells him of the situation back home in Ithaka: Telemachos is growing up but helpless against the suitors Penelope is still loyal and, oh yeah, she herself has died from loneliness.Sure, says Teiresias, as long as she drinks the blood of the sacrifice, too.Okay, that's great, says Odysseus but why is his mother here, and can he talk to her?.There, he has to pray to Poseidon in order to ensure himself a peaceful seaborne death in his old age, surrounded by all his folk. After defeating the suitors, Teiresias continues, Odysseus had better go inland until he reaches an area of earth which has never known the sea.He'll have to make the suitors pay for their insolence with … wait for it … blood. The good news is, Odysseus will make it home after all, but he'll find trouble there.Great, that's probably something they're glad to hear. In other words, all of his companions will die.His next are to casually announce that Odysseus will survive alone.

His first words are a warning: don't eat Helios' cattle at Thrinakia.

Teiresias drinks the blood of Odysseus' sacrifice and then speaks.

Fortunately, he is soon distracted from his weeping by the arrival of Teiresias (the dead blind prophet).

This is news to him, since last he heard she was still alive.

Odysseus then glimpses his mother's shade among the rest of the dead.

Odysseus agrees, since it's the least he can do after totally having failed to notice that one of his crew members was missing.

Elpenor begs for Odysseus to honor his death by building a burial mound (essentially a pile of rocks) for his dead body.

Odysseus' eyes bug out when he sees one of his crew members-he weeps and listens to the man's story.

The first shade is Elpenor, freshly fallen from Circe's roof.

The shades of the dead (shades = ghosts) gather to drink the blood (gross) and then talk to Odysseus.

Odysseus travels to the Underworld and makes the offerings according to Circe's instructions.

Kingdom of the dead odysseus