Land of the Dead- Odysseyus

I just wanted to go home. I missed everything from there, and my memories of Ithaca and my wife Penelope were the only thing that kept me going through the land of the dead. Fortunately Circe gave us supplies before we left because as we went north to get to the underworld, it got colder and colder until we could almost not even function properly. We finally made it to a giant wall of fog. Having no choice, we went into it and sailed through it for what seemed like forever. The grayness and gloom of this endless ordeal was unbearable. At long last we made it to a sand bank, and my men and I took a few sheep and began to walk into the living nightmare that was the land of the dead. The bleakness of the underworld infected my men and I. I felt like all my worst fears were coming true and I could barely think. My mental and psychical capabilities were so subdued I felt as though I had been drugged. At last we came to a dark oily river, which I recognized as the river of forgetfulness. Across the river through the fog was the land of the dead. We dug a little hole in the sand and slit the throats of the sheep we brought along as a sacrifice to the dead. The ghosts of the dead rose up, and were more terrifying than any war of bloody combat me and my men had ever seen. I told my men to keep the ghosts back so Tiresias could drink the blood and then tell us the prophesy. They were so horrified they could only stand and stare. I tried to keep the eerie specters at bay, and fortunately I saw one ghost more dignified than the others, and I knew it must have been Tiresias. I let him drink and when he had had his fill I inquired about my fate. He told me that my journey would be hard because of Poseidon fury. However if I could control my crews and my urges by not slaughtering the sacred cattle of Hyperion we could make it home safely. The catch was, if we weren't able to control ourselves and did slaughter his cattle, Hyperion would go to Zeus and demand revenge so the only way I could ever reach my homeland was alone, unknown, under a strange sail, and find danger waiting where there should have been welcome. And even if I could overcome all this stuff, the only way for me to ultimately avoid the wrath of Poseidon would be to go inland, plant and oar in the ground, and make sacrifices. Only then could I be at peace with him, and I could live a long and happy life. The easier option was obviously to just show my humility by not slaughtering the cattle. If I could just do that I'd be home quickly. Then among the ghosts I saw the saddest thing yet, my mothers ghost. That meant even once I got home, she would be gone. I left the underworld with a deep sadness because I knew I would never see my mother again, but also with a sense of hope, because I was now closer to being able to get back to my beloved homeland of Ithaca than I had been in thirteen long years.