The Odyssey has many instances throughout the last books, where the story could have been concluded. But the one Homer chose might not have been the best one. Even though the ending was not only abrupt and short-lived, but it also was able to piece together all but one major detail. The Odyssey is concluded after Athena calls off the battle between the Ithacans and Odysseus. They restore order to Ithaca by removing all the memories of the death of the suitors, thus bringing peace and prosperity to Ithaca. Most of the events throughout the book were wrapped up nicely. For example, in book twenty-three, Odysseus finally reunites with his wife, Penelope. All the way back in book two, during the assembly, the wise Halitherses prophesizes, “Odysseus will not be gone for long: he is already near, carrying in him a bloody doom for all these men…” (Odyssey. 172). Halitherses prophecy was a foreshadow as to what was to come in …show more content…
But one major event was still left unfolded. In book eleven, Teiresias tells Odysseus, “But after you have dealt out death… go overland on foot and take an oar, until one day you come where men have lived with meat unsalted, never known the sea, nor seagoing ships… Halt, and implant your smooth oar in the turf and make fair sacrifice to Lord Poseidon: a ram, a bull, a great buck boar…” (133). Since Odysseus, in the beginning if the epic, did not thank Poseidon for his help in the victory during the Trojan war, Poseidon made it his duty to make sure that Odysseus would not make it home to Ithaca as punishment. Now that Odysseus has made it home, he must find Poseidon, and offer him sacrifices, in order to appease the god, and regain peace between them. But the poem ends before Odysseus is able to take this journey. So after the end of the epic poem, one could assume the first thing Odysseus does is set sail to reclaim the harmony between Poseidon and