In Book XI of the Odyssey, Odysseus (also Ulysses) journeys to the Land of the Dead to seek the advice of the great seer Tiresias on how to return home. He performs a sacrifice, whose blood attracts the dead, with whom he can speak after they drink. These souls include:
- His 'comrade Elpenor,' whom they left for dead earlier in their voyage home,
- His mother Anticlea, who relates the goings on back home and how she committed suicide,
- The seer Tiresias himself, who explains how Odysseus may return home, as well as events going on in Odysseus' absence, and assures him of a peaceful ending,
- Various 'wives and daughters of the most famous men,' sent by Persephone, Queen of the Dead: Tyro, Antiope, Alcmena, Epicaste, Chloris, Leda, Iphimedeia, Phaedra, Procris, Ariadne, Maera, Clymene, Eriphyle,
- Odysseus' comrades from the Trojan war: Agamemnon, who recounts his tragic return and murder by his wife, Patroclus, Antilochus, Ajax, Achilles, who regrets his desire for glory that killed him, but is cheered by his son's success in the War. Also Odysseus sees the Telamonian Ajax, who even in death 'holds aloof' over a bitter dispute with Odysseus that ended in Ajax's death,
Odysseus meets others with whom he does not speak, but knows from their fame:
- Minos, the great Judge of the dead with 'his golden scepter in his hand,'
- 'The great hunter Orion, 'driving the animals he had killed,'
- Men who were doomed to eternal punishment by the gods: Tityus, Tantalus, and Sisyphus,
- And finally Odysseus sees the 'phantom ghost' of Heracles, who as a god is feasting on Olympus
The source for this answer was 'The Odyssey,' translated by Samuel Butler.
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