Sailing into the underworld, Odysseus and his crew pass by the souls of his slain fleet, including Polites, as well as Odysseus's mother Anticlea, whom he now realizes had died while waiting for him to return home. Odysseus eventually reaches Tiresias, who states that despite having clairvoyant vision of the past and future, he does not see any future in which Odysseus returns home unchanged. Distraught upon hearing this, Odysseus decides to bury his softer side, embracing ruthlessness and resolving to return home by any means necessary, comparing himself to the other monsters he'd fought on his travels.
