#imprefs

what she really means: In Homer's "The Odyssey," Teiresias the blind seer told Odysseus, "...after you have killed [the suitors], you must take a well-made oar and carry it till you come to a country where the people have never heard of the sea and do not even mix salt with their food, nor do they know anything about ships, and oars that are as the wings of a ship... A wayfarer will meet you and will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have upon your shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Poseidon. Then go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very gently when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you. All that I have said will come true." Teiresias had just prophesied the sequel to "The Odyssey." But where is this sequel? Did Homer die before he could get that far into his series? It can't be coincidence what Teiresias the blind seer told Odysseus at the house of Hades. And why would Odysseus have to carry an oar to a far-away place that doesn't even know what a ship is or how to salt their meats? What place can't know what a ship is by now? Where does Odysseus have to go? Africa? The Americas? What place is so primitive that they can't know about ships by now? Teiresias continues to say that upon meeting the wayfarer (who must be part of an agricultural-centered society to mistake Odysseus's oar for a shovel), Odysseus has to stick the oar in the ground, sacrifice animals to Poseidon, then go back home to praise the gods. Could that oar stuck in the ground be a reference to the cross in Christianity? Without knowing it, had Odysseus created a new religion for the primitive people there? Lastly, Teiresias finishes his prophecy saying Odysseus will die old, his cause of death being the sea. Does that mean Poseidon is still angry with Odysseus for blinding his cyclops son? And if so, why didn't the offerings of bull, boar, and ram earlier appease Poseidon? Poseidon was still bitter at the end of "The Odyssey," but those offerings should've appeased him. Why is Poseidon so mean about it? What did Odysseus ever do to Poseidon? Didn't Odysseus learn his lesson by now? Even Athene told him to give up his arrogant attitude when he arrived back on Ithaca. What's Poseidon so angry about? Wasn't almost killing Odysseus the first time enough? Why did Homer even include Teiresias's prophecy in his epic poem? What purpose did it have? Why weren't the loose ends tied? Where can the amazing sequel be? Why was it lost in time?