Elpenor
Elpenor ( ancient Greek : Ἐλπήνωρ) was a companion of Odysseus in Greek mythology and a participant in the Trojan War .
After Homer's Odyssey , he was very young and not too brave in battle. He was part of the crew of Odysseus' ship when it was driven home from Troy to foreign coasts and islands. On Aiaia , the island of Kirke , Elpenor, like other companions of Odysseus, was enchanted by Kirke into a pig, but turned back again. He then had a fatal accident: After drinking a lot of wine, he lay down to sleep on the roof of Kirkes house. The next morning, when his companions were getting ready for the journey into the underworld, he was startled by the din. Worried that they might forget him on Aiaia, he forgot that he was on a roof, fell down and broke his neck.
During his stay in the realm of the dead, on the evening of the same day, Odysseus met the shadow of Elpenor, who implored him to catch up on a dignified burial - Odysseus and his companions had not buried Elpenor's body before departure. Back on the island of Kirke, a funeral service was held for Elpenor, a grave was dug, his body and weapons burned in it, and a mound was piled up over it, on which Odysseus and his companions placed a tombstone and an oar.
Elpenor's alleged grave was shown near the town of Circei in Lazio ; Myrtle grew on it first . In the Lesche at Delphi he was shown together with Odysseus.
literature
- Ulrich Hoefer : Elpenor. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume V, 2, Stuttgart 1905, Col. 2453.
- August Schultz : Elpenor . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 1241 f. ( Digitized version ).
Remarks
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 10, 552-553
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 10: 554-560; Library of Apollodorus , Epitome 7, 17
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 11: 51-80
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey 12: 9-15; Hyginus , Fabulae 125
- ↑ Pliny , Naturalis historia 15, 119; Theophrast , Historia plantarum 5, 8, 3
- ^ Pausanias 10:29 , 8