“She departed and in her place came other women, wives of famous heroes I had known. They, too, drank of the blood and told me of their fate. My heart swelled as I beheld the spirits of dear friends floating near who had once been my companions before Troy—Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, and the excellent Ajax, all of whom death had overtaken before they saw their native land again. I was most astonished to see Agamemnon here. I questioned him and, lamenting, he told me his sad fate. He inquired about his living son, Orestes, but alas, I could tell him nothing of the Greeks. But I was able to tell Achilles of many glorious deeds done by his son Neoptolemus, of whose bravery in war I had often been witness after his father’s death. Even in the pale world of shades Achilles rejoiced in his son’s valor, and floated proudly down to the fields of asphodel where dwell the spirits of brave heroes. “I saw also the heroes of ancient times. Minos, the wise ruler and lawgiver of Crete, was even now holding judgment over the souls of the dead in Hades; and Orion, the great hunter, with his mighty bow drove innumerable game before him. Tityus, that gigantic son of earth, who had once dared to dishonor the divine Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis, lay fast bound upon the ground in punishment, two vultures on either side tearing at his entrails which ever grew again and were anew destroyed. Not less terrible was the penalty of Sisyphus, a king who had practised many cruelties during his lifetime. He was obliged to push a heavy block of marble up a steep hill, and as often as he had nearly reached the top it would glide from his hands and roll thundering down to the bottom of the valley. Then, bathed in cold perspiration and in a cloud of dust, he would begin the difficult task over again. “I saw Tantalus also, that celebrated king whom Jupiter allowed to sit at his own table and feast with the gods. His vain heart was unworthy of the honor. He misused their confidence and betrayed their secrets; and for this he was undergoing a terrible martyrdom in Hades. A burning thirst consumes him continually, and though he stands up to his throat in water, and delicious pear, fig, and apple trees hang their sweet fruits above his head, he can never satisfy his vehement desires; for as often as he bends down to the water the pool suddenly dries up, and as often as he raises his hand to pluck of the juicy fruit, a furious wind quickly tosses the branches toward the clouds. I saw also the shade of Hercules. He lives in Olympus with the gods and is married to Hebe, enjoying the pleasures of the gods in return for all his labor on earth. Only his shade is in Hades. Theseus and Pirithous also glided by at a distance.