The Gospel of Hellas - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

the world of homer
Finally we see Odysseus meeting with his father, Laertes. It is the necessary
finale of the Prodigal Son’s Return and at the same time a certain reflection of
the occurrences in the netherworld, coinciding with Odysseus’ encounter with
the Fathers.
Hermes and Athena, the two divine guides of Odysseus, leading him by
calling forth reverence and kindling wisdom, now, in the twenty-third and
twenty-fourth cantos of the epic conclude the human destiny of the spiritually
crowned king of Ithaca. Hermes is connected with the challenge: “Look into
Thyself.” Athena guides to the wonders of the world: “Look around Thyself.”
Both gods work together continuously within the soul of Odysseus, the representative
of man in Hellas, the human being who reaches initiation at the dawn
of the intellect. The significance of his initiation is that his knowledge of the
world is transmuted into self-knowledge.
The work of Homer fulfills the behest of Apollo in Delphi: “Know Thyself.
Know the god.” Homer, the “second sun of Hellas, the light of the muses, the
imperishable mouth of the cosmos,” appeared as the blind seer and became the
patriarch of the Hellenes at the very outset of their history.
He was one of the last seers at the turning point of consciousness. The
golden treasure of the old clairvoyance was then transmuted into the substance
and forms of art. The soul grew blind within. The eyes of the forehead opened.
Man beheld the outer world. The Odyssey is the archetypal document of the
human individuality on the path to self-knowledge which at last becomes
knowledge of the divine world.