Odysseus says, "Wretched man-what becomes of me now, at last? I fear the nymph foretold it all too well-on the high seas, she said, before I can reach my native land I'll fill my cup of pain! And now, look, it all comes to pass. What monstrous clouds-King Zeus crowning the whole wide heaven black-churning the seas in chaos, gales blasting, raging around my head from every quarter-my death-plunge in a flash, it's certain now!"(Book 5, P. 161, Lines 329-337). Here, Odysseus is afraid that he will die without attaining nostos first. Homer may be trying to say that a warrior is afraid to die a useless death. If Odysseus had died in this scene, he wouldn't have made it back to his kingdom and return things back to the way they were. This shows that the attainment of nostos is an onerous task that Odysseus desires to complete.
The scene where Odysseus goes to the underworld can be viewed as the "turning point" of the epic, since Odysseus becomes more concerned with achieving nostos, rather than kleos, or honor in battle. Odysseus' interview with the ghostlike shades (disembodied souls) of his dead friends reveals how critical nostos is. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon, who failed to achieve nostos and had an ignoble death. He says, "My treacherous queen, Clytemnestra, killed her over my body, yes, and I, lifting my fists, beat them down on the ground, dying, dying, writhing around the sword. But she, that whore, she turned her back on me, well on my way to Death-she even lacked the heart to seal my eyes with her hand or close my jaws." (Book 11, P.477-483) .
A stock epithet is used here, describing Clytemnestra as a "treacherous queen" since she shamelessly murdered Agamemnon so that her lover can usurp his throne. Homer may have included this scene in order to show that the attainment of nostos may not contain a fortunate outcome. Agamemnon returned home, however, he did not restore the relationship between him and his wife.