Why must Odysseus go to the land of the dead?

" '...you have to make another journey to the Halls of Hades and dread Persephone, to consult the soul of Teiresias, the blind Theban prophet.  His faculties are unimpaired, for dead though he is, Persephone has granted him, and him alone, continuing wisdom.' "

Book X: 490-495

" '...he [the dead prophet Teiresias] will prophesy your route, the stages of your journey and how you will reach home across the teeming seas.' "

Book X: 539-541

        In excerpts #'s 1 and 2, Circe is telling Odysseus why he must go to the land

of the dead: to receive direction from the dead prophet Teiresias.  Though this is an

obvious reasonfor him to go, there is also a significant emotional reason why he

must go to the land of the dead.  He must go to see all the deaths and sorrow he

caused in his past.  If he does this, he will be freed from his greedy and wicked

state. But first, he must go back and face his past.  This is why he must go to the

land of the dead:  to receive direction from the dead prophet Teiresias and to face

his past.