Morrison, drawing parallels with epic journeys of classical literature, presents a sharp contrast between Paul D's and Sethe's breaks with slavery. Recall that Sethe, her body impelling her toward a nursing baby, moved directly through the forest, crawling to spare her sore, swollen feet, pausing to give birth in a canoe, and ignoring cold, damp, and hunger in her obsessive urge to reunite with Beloved and her boys. Focused solely on her family, Sethe lacked Paul D's drive to put the past behind him, including "Halle, his brothers, Sethe", and the other reminders of Sweet Home.
After his sale to Brandywine and incarceration on a chain gang for attempted murder, Paul D follows the examples of Odysseus, Aeneas, and Jason from Greek mythology by making a meandering tour of escape. The threat of his burial in a mudslide is reminiscent of the forays that Odysseus, Aeneas, and Orpheus made into the underworld. Paul D is rejuvenated by his brief sojourn with Native Americans, who suffered their own share of the white man's hell. Then — like Odysseus's Circe, Jason's Medea, and Aeneas's Dido — an accommodating female weaver took Paul D to bed.
