Last time, I offered the first part of the workshop based on the work of Helen Luke in her study of the journey into old age which draws on a number of classic stories. Luke’s writing on this subject is found in her book – Old Age; Journey Into Simplicity. Here is the second part of that material.
Section 2
In this section we will examine Helen Luke’s imagined epilogue to Homer’s Odyssey. The epilogue was introduced by Homer in the middle of the story but never fulfilled. Let us explore the final journey of Odysseus, which is his journey into Old Age. I have summarized Helen Luke’s story and provided commentary on the different sections.
I. The story: The peace and order ordained by Zeus has now been established for our hero Odysseus. His reunion with Penelope long delayed is now enjoyed. The hero watches his son gain manhood as Odysseus had these many years before.
Within Odysseus, rested but no longer at peace, restlessness stirs. He yearns once more for the sea voyages of his years gone by where he once more would be the hero of years long gone. Our hero falls into a sleep, which reveals to him a different journey now unleashed by forces stirring within him.
The seer long absent to his waking life is now present once more. Teiresias will reveal that fate, which has always been there waiting to be revealed. The destiny revealed is no longer one of youth waiting to be lived out. Rather it is one of completion to be fulfilled.
Teiresias reveals the journey that Odysseus now must make. It is a journey unlike the others Odysseus embraced with joy and anticipation in his youth. This journey will be by land not by sea. It is his final journey he must now embark upon in his maturity. It is a hero’s journey to be sure but not one for loot or conquest or glory. Rather it is one of sacrifice and repentance.
Teiresias, the wise old man, had appeared to Odysseus and revealed the journey that awaits him if he chooses. This journey in his maturity will be unlike the one that he made as the hero in his youthful pride and exuberance. It will be a journey by land and not the familiar sea, which he embraced, in earlier days.
This different journey reveals the challenge of old age – particularly in our culture of eternal youth in which youth is prized and old age is devalued and ignored. The journey so tempting to our Ego will be one, “tempting us towards repetition of our life’s triumph, tempting us toward wreckage and the inferno, the other coaxing us towards the true journey of the soul that has lived long and well, and must turn away from mere continuation of accustomed efforts to new significant, perhaps painful, soul-journeys.” (Old Age viii)
Exercise: Imagine what it would mean for you to ‘Grow Old’ rather than succumbing into the aging process. How will this journey be different from the journey of your youth?
I will continue with the next part of the material next time Blessings on you journey.
