The souls of the suitors were guided by Hermes. Beyond the course of the Ocean and the White Rock, beyond the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, they finally reached the Asphodel Meadows inhabited by the shadows. They saw those of Achilles, Patroclus, Antilochos and Ajax, and then the one of Agamemnon and all those who had died with him. Agamemnon evoked the glorious death of Achilles: Thetis coming out of the waves accompanied by the Nereids for a final farewell to the body of her son, the singing of the nine Muses in his honour, the mourning of the gods and men together for seventeen days and seventeen nights, his ashes deposited in an urn with those of Patroclus, the burial mound and the magnificent prizes offered by Thetis to the winners of the funeral games.
Agamemnon, seeing the suitors, was astonished by the presence of so many such great heroes in this place, all young men of the same age. He then questioned Amphimedon, the son of Melaneus, who hosted him when he went to convince Odysseus (Ulysses) to participate in the war. Amphimedon described to him the pressure exerted by the suitors on Penelope and the weaving of the veil which had no end. Then he recounted the exposed scheming, the completion of the veil, the misbehaviour of the suitors in relation to the beggar Odysseus (Ulysses), their death brought about by the latter and their corpses lying unburied.
Then Agamemnon praised the fidelity and perseverance of Penelope, whereas he died because of the treachery of his wife Clytemnestra.
Meanwhile, Odysseus (Ulysses) and his companions arrived at Laertes’ house. While they were preparing the feast, he came to his old father in the orchard, wondering if he would recognize him. Dolios and his sons were far off, working on the fence wall.
Laertes, his heart full of sorrow, was scantily clad but his orchard was beautifully tended. Without revealing himself, Odysseus (Ulysses), posing as a stranger, pointed it out to him. But he could not control himself for long in the face of his father’s distress and threw himself into his arms, announcing the death of the suitors. However, in order to convince him he had to show him his scar and remind him of the trees he received from him as a child.
Fearing that the Cephallenians would come to attack them, they went back to the house. The old man took his bath and as he was made to look taller and stronger by Athena, Odysseus (Ulysses) understood that it was the action of a god.
Laertes recalled his feat as the leader of the Cephallenians against the city of Nericus. Then Dolios arrived with his six sons and was delighted to find Odysseus (Ulysses).
Meanwhile, the Rumour had done its work. The Achaeans came to the house of Odysseus (Ulysses) to bury their dead, and then gathered at the agora. Eupeithes, whose son Antinoos had been shot with an arrow by Odysseus (Ulysses), harangued them to prevent the hero from fleeing to Pylos or to the divine Elis, and avenge their brothers and children.
But Medon joined them and told them that he had seen a god support Odysseus (Ulysses). Halitherses, one of Mastor’s sons, who saw the past and the future, also reminded them of the excesses of their sons (the young suitors who no longer believed in the return of Odysseus (Ulysses)) whom he and Mentor warned them from.
But many of them did not listen to these words of appeasement and took up arms under the leadership of Eupeithes.
Then Athena asked Zeus if he intended to prolong this conflict, to which he replied that he gave her the freedom to do as she pleased while offering to restore peace by giving power to Odysseus (Ulysses) and let the grieving families forget.
As the armed people approached the house of Laertes, one of Dolios’ sons saw them and all took up arms themselves, including the old man.
Before the fighting began, Odysseus (Ulysses) told Telemachus to remember not to tarnish the reputation of his forefathers.
Then Athena approached them in the guise of Mentor. First, she gave Laertes a new vigour and had him throw his javelin on Eupeithes, who died immediately. Then Odysseus (Ulysses) and Telemachus killed many Achaeans until the goddess ordered the crowd of Ithaca to stop the fight with a shout. As Odysseus (Ulysses) darted to pursue them, Zeus launched his thunderbolt in front of Athena-Mentor. Then the goddess had to ask Odysseus (Ulysses) to stop this battle between valiant warriors if he did not want to incur the wrath of Zeus. His heart full of joy, the hero accepted.
Then Athena-Mentor sealed an accord between the two parties.
Although many ancient and modern exegetes may have doubted the affiliation of this last chapter of the Odyssey to the original corpus, it helps to clarify some important points at this time of the yoga: the recognition of past realisations, the major importance of total surrender to the Divine (surrender that is both consecration and self-giving, implying leaving the responsibility of the yoga to the Supreme by abandoning the pretension of wanting to effect the transformation by oneself) and the necessary transition from a yoga of exclusion and elimination to a path of total integration of opposites, transcending the process of cause and effect (by an act that no longer “forgives” but “erases”).
First, it is the overmind that enables the seeker to put into perspective past realisations and their exact participation in the evolutionary process (Hermes guides the souls of the suitors). These realisations are examined from the point of view of divine integration (this happens in Hades, the place of realisation of unity in matter), which allows to preserve their memory in the radiant Truth of the Supramental. First, they are judged in their relation to the purification in the incarnat