The death of Elpenor in the Odyssey provides a psychodynamic model for self-destructive behavior in certain male adolescents. Odysseus, the primal father, has among his company Elpenor, a youth a little older than his own son, Telemachus, whom he had left at home. Elpenor's silent love for Odysseus fails in its defensive function against his own repressed incest drives when he feels rejected by him. The revival of these incest wishes follows Odysseus' seduction by Circe, the temptress. Elpenor's aggression toward Odysseus, the negative component of his attachment, is turned against himself. His suicide symbolically contains the punishment for his wishes and a wish fulfilment: he is reunited with the mother. Moreover, his death is an accusation of Odysseus.