Into the Mist: Katabasis, Ghosts, and the DMV of the Dead (Ad Navseam Ep. 29)

Meta Description: Join Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle as they descend into The Odyssey Book 11. We explore the Nekyia, the tragedy of Elpenor, the prophecies of Tiresias, and why the Greek afterlife resembles a crowded Department of Motor Vehicles.

Introduction: Springtime for Hades

Welcome back to the Vomitorium, fellow classical gourmands! It is a beautiful day here in Michigan—a rare moment where “spring is about to sprung” and the dreariness of winter is finally receding. Ironically, as the sun shines on the Great Lakes, we are descending into the dark, damp, and fog-shrouded world of the dead.

In Episode 29 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, hosts Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe guide us through the ultimate journey of the hero: the Underworld. Specifically, we are tackling Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey.

This is the dead center of the epic—both literally and thematically. It is the pivot point where the hero must face mortality to understand what is required to return to the land of the living. Whether you call it the Nekyia (the rite by which ghosts are called up) or the Katabasis (the descent), this is where the rubber meets the River Styx.

The ***Katabasis*: Going Down to Come Up**

For students of the Latin language and Greek classics, the term Katabasis (from kata “down” + baino “go”) is essential vocabulary. It refers to a descent into the underworld, a motif found in almost every great epic, descensus.

In the Iliad: The katabasis is metaphorical. Achilles sits “dead” to the war in his tent, and the embassy must descend to him in Book 9 .
In the Aeneid: Vergil places the literal descent in Book 6, clearly modeling it on Homer.
In the Odyssey: Odysseus does not technically go down into a hole; he sails to the edge of the world, digs a pit, and brings the dead up to him.

This distinction is key. Odysseus performs a necromantic ritual. He digs a trench with his sword and fills it with the blood of slaughtered sheep. Dr. Winkle provides a visceral image for this scene: the ghosts are like mosquitoes at a summer picnic. They are thin, shallow, disembodied squeakers swarming the pit, desperate for a sip of blood to regain a moment of sentience.

The Tragic Comedy of Elpenor

The first ghost to break through the swarm is a figure who represents the “Hellenic pessimism” of the ancient world: Elpenor.

Elpenor was one of Odysseus’s crewmen. He wasn’t particularly smart or brave. In Book 10, he got drunk on Circe’s roof, woke up confused, missed the ladder, and broke his neck. The tragedy? Nobody noticed.

Odysseus and the crew sailed away, leaving Elpenor’s body unburied in the bushes. When Elpenor’s ghost pops up in the underworld, Odysseus is shocked: “Oh, you’re dead? I last saw you in the sitting room!”

Dr. Noe suggests this might be a form of black comedy. It highlights the absurdity of the human condition. You can be traveling with the greatest hero in the world (Odysseus), yet you can die in a landscaping accident and be left behind while the hero goes on to glory. Elpenor is trapped in a liminal space—neither fully in the world of the living nor at rest in the world of the dead—because he lacks a proper burial (sepultura in Latin).

The Prophecies of Tiresias: The Winnowing Fan

Odysseus’s primary mission is to consult Tiresias, the blind Theban prophet. Tiresias drinks the blood and delivers a “five-piece combo” of information. He warns Odysseus about the cattle of the Sun and the suitors eating him out of house and home in Ithaca.

But the most bizarre part of the prophecy concerns Odysseus’s death and his final journey. Tiresias tells him that after he reclaims his throne, he must take an oar and walk inland until he finds a people who “know nothing of the sea” and “eat their food unsalted”.

How will he know he has arrived? A local will stop him and ask why he is carrying a “winnowing fan” on his shoulder.

What is a Winnowing Fan? For those of us who didn’t grow up on an ancient farm, Dr. Noe explains: A winnowing fan is a large, flat, pancake-shaped basket or shovel used to throw grain into the air so the wind can blow away the chaff.

The Joke: The inland person has never seen a boat. They look at the oar and assume it is a farming tool.
The Meaning: Odysseus must carry the symbol of Poseidon (the oar) to a place where Poseidon is unknown, plant it in the ground, and offer a sacrifice (a ram, a bull, and a boar in its prime). Only then will the god’s wrath be appeased.

Anticlea and the “Stiff Arm”

Before Tiresias speaks, Odysseus sees his own mother, Anticlea. This is a shock—she was alive when he left for Troy 20 years ago. However, in a moment that reveals Odysseus’s intense focus (or perhaps his coldness), he gives his mom the “stiff arm”. He holds her back from the blood pit with his sword because he must speak to the prophet first. Business before family.

When they finally speak, the conversation is heartbreaking. Anticlea reveals she died of grief (luctus) longing for her son. Odysseus then asks three questions in a specific order that reveals the paterfamilias structure of the ancient family:

How is my Father (Laertes)? (Tradition/Past)
How is my Son (Telemachus)? (Legacy/Future)
How is my Wife (Penelope)? (Present Alliance)

He tries to hug her three times. Three times she slips through his arms like a shadow or a dream (umbra or somnium). As Dr. Noe phrases it, referencing an imaginary Nabisco lunch product, Anticlea has no “huggable portions”. It is the ultimate denial of human connection.

The DMV vs. The Department Store

One of the most illuminating parts of the discussion is the comparison between the Greek view of the Underworld (Homer) and the Roman view (Vergil).

The Roman Underworld (Aeneid Book 6): Dr. Winkle compares Vergil’s underworld to a Department Store. It is highly organized.

“Did you die of a broken heart? Aisle 4 (The Fields of Mourning).”
“Are you a war hero? Aisle 6 (Elysium).”
“Are you a sinner? Basement Level (Tartarus).”

Everything has a place. It reflects the Roman genius for administration, law, and order.

The Greek Underworld (Odyssey Book 11): Homer’s underworld is different. Dr. Noe compares it to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

It is a gray, bureaucratic limbo.
You take a number. You sit in a plastic chair.
Everyone looks jaundiced, tired, and aged in their photos.
There is no great torment for the average person, but there is no joy. It is the torture of boredom. It is a place of shadows, dust, and tinny music playing on a loop.

This bleak view of the afterlife—the sheer taedium—possibily helps explain why the Greeks eventually developed Mystery Religions (like the Eleusinian Mysteries) to promise something more than an eternity in the waiting room.

Language Spotlight

For our students and Latin enthusiasts, here are the key terms from this episode to add to your vocabulary:

Katabasis (Catabasis): The descent. A fundamental trope of the epic genre.
Nekyia: The rite of questioning the dead.
Manes: The spirits of the dead (Roman concept).
Umbra: Shadow or shade (what Odysseus tries to hug).
Pietas: Duty. While a Roman term, Odysseus shows a form of it by asking about his father and son first.
Biothanati: Those who died by violence (the bloodstained warriors in the pit).
Liminal: The threshold state (Elpenor in the bushes).

The Gustatory Parting Shot

We leave you with a thought from the modern philosopher Daniel Tosh, regarding the economics of nutrition and undergarments:

“A hamburger shouldn’t cost 99 cents. Eating right is expensive, but what you spend on organic food, you save on new underwear.”

Because, as Dr. Winkle deduces, expanding girth demands “more and bigger skivvies.” It is not worth the girth.Valete! (And stay out of the bushes).