Who Is Elpenor?
The youngest crewman, who fell from a roof
Elpenor is the youngest sailor among Odysseus's men. The original poem describes him as an ordinary young man, "not especially brave in battle, nor very sound in mind."
In this story, on the last night at Circe's hall, he gets drunk and falls asleep on the cool roof. Woken by the commotion on the morning of departure, he forgets to use the ladder, falls from the roof, and dies. The crew leaves in a hurry, so his body is left unburied. In the Underworld, his is the first ghost to appear, and he begs Odysseus to burn his body, raise a burial mound, and plant on it the oar he rowed with in life.
In the manga, he also appears from Episode 1 as one of the young men celebrating at a feast (an addition in the manga version).
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 1
The Fruit That Makes You Forget HomeThe Lotus-Eaters
Odysseus won the Trojan War with the trick of the wooden horse. Now his crew won't stop feasting ("just one more cup!"), and he himself gave the order to raid a city. Between the two, seventy-two of his men are lost. Then a storm drives the fleet to a land of sweet fruit that makes anyone who eats it stop wanting to go home.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
The Man Who Said His Name Was NobodyThe Cyclops Polyphemus
Trapped in the cave of a one-eyed giant, Odysseus survives by giving up his own name. But once safe aboard his ship, he shouts his real name back at the shore — and brings the sea god's curse down on himself.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
Pigs on the Outside, Still Men InsideCirce
Deep in a forest stands a beautiful mansion, and the scouts who go there are turned into pigs by the goddess Circe. Odysseus walks in alone. With a white flower from the messenger of the gods and the nerve to stand his ground, he wins the witch over. But after a year of peace, she tells him something he never wanted to hear: "First, you must go to the Land of the Dead."
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
What the Greatest Hero Said After DeathThe Nekyia — Journey to the Underworld
At the lightless edge of the world, Odysseus summons the dead—yet even when his own mother appears, he keeps his sword raised so the prophet can drink the blood first. Three times her shade slips through his arms, and the heroes of Troy speak their hearts. Odysseus learns what it truly means to come home alive.
19 pages