Omeros Chapter XLVI Summary

i

  • Hector is buried by the sea, and Achille crouches by the grave and has a little chat with his dead friend about the settlement and what he will see when the ancestors welcomed him.
  • Philoctete comforts him and Achille lays an oar to rest with Hector; Seven Seas and Helen are there but do not approach the grave.
  • Achille cannot express certain things in words to his friend, but the narrator lets us see Achille's admiration for Hector and his understanding that this was his best friend for life.
  • Achille salutes Helen with the bailing tin (the one he once fought over with Hector).

ii

  • Helen changes after Hector's death, becoming more proud and distant in her grief. 
  • As for her pregnancy, it only makes her more beautiful.

iii

  • We see the movement of day and night on the island after Hector's death; Achille and Philoctete attend to their respective gardens (a.k.a. the sea and the yam plot).
  • The island continues to be cleared for more buildings, displacing wildlife.
  • The moon travels across Hector's grave, and Philoctete tends to his ever-weeping wound.