Elpenor

In Greek mythology, Elpenor was a good friend of Odysseus. Elpenor was not especially notable for his intelligence or strength, but he survived the Trojan War, and appears in the Odyssey. When Odysseus landed on Aeaea, Circe's island, Elpenor became intoxicated and climbed onto the roof of Circe's palace to sleep. The next morning he forgot he was on the roof and fell to his death. Odysseus and his men did notice, but, they had to leave very quickly and did not have time to give him a proper funeral. Odysseus sailed on, following his quest to visit Hades. Elpenor was the first to meet Odysseus in the underworld, and pleaded with him to return to Aeaea and give him a proper cremation and burial. After finishing his task in the underworld, Odysseus returned to Aeaea and cremated Elpenor's body, then buried him with his armour and marked the grave with an oar of his ship. Elpenor's death in a careless accident is very much a symbol for the foolish behavior of the men throughout the book.

Later uses

Elpenor is the subject of the short novel Elpénor by Jean Giraudoux, published in 1919, which retells some of the stories of the Odyssey in humorous fashion. Elpenor is generally regarded as the inspiration for the character of Patrick "Paddy" Dignam, whose funeral is the focus of Episode 6 ("Hades") of Ulysses by James Joyce.

The story of Elpenor can be described as a mirror to the story of Palinurus in Virgil's The Aeneid. In the Aeneid, Palinurus, one of Aeneas' men, falls overboard and ends up swimming to an island nearby. He is killed on the island by the natives that live there. Later on in the story, Aeneas travels to the underworld where he sees Palinurus. There, Palinurus pleads with Aeneas to give him a proper burial.