The Returns

To receive the new consciousness without deforming it, one
must be able to stand in the light of the Supreme
Consciousness without casting a shadow.

The Mother

(Mother’s Agenda, Volume 10, April 16th, 1969)

In Chapter IV we examined not only the events of The Iliad but also the elements of four other poems of the Epic Cycle, of which we have only very short summaries: The Cypria, The Aethiopis, The Little Iliad, and The Iliupersis also called The Sack of Troy. The last three poems of the same cycle included The Nostoi (The Returns), The Odyssey and The Telegony, but only The Odyssey has reached us in its entirety.

(The later summaries of these works by Pseudo-Apollodorus and Proclus are dated respectively from the 2nd and 5th centuries AD)

We should therefore remember that the “Return” of Odysseus (Ulysses) narrated in the Odyssey was only one element of the advanced spiritual quest, following the great reversal of yoga described in the Iliad. Therefore, before we start our study, we will examine the return voyages of the other heroes, using the few fragments available to us.

First of all, we must try to understand what these return voyages mean from the point of view of yoga. We have already mentioned that the general process of yoga is a movement of ascension/integration. The Trojan War, which takes place in a region far east of Greece, corresponds to an internal struggle to find the best way to definitively stabilise the intuitive mind in one’s being. This breakthrough, once achieved, corresponding to the Achaean victory, must be integrated in all planes of being and in all its faculties. For some aspects, this can be done fairly quickly and the return voyages proceed smoothly. For others, which require thorough purification, this can take a very long (symbolic) time, from a few months to several years.

The rest of the chapter should be read in the following order :

The Returns of Diomedes and Nestor

The Return of Calchas

The Returns of Idomeneus, Philoctetes and Podalirius

The Return of Neoptolemus

The Return of Teucer (Teukros)

The Death of Ajax “the Lesser”, Son of Oileus

The Return of Aeneas

The Return and Murder of Agamemnon

Orestes’ revenge and Clytemnestra’s murder

The Return of Menelaus

Hermione’s Marriage to Neoptolemus and her union with Orestes