i
- It is January and the narrator looks down to the beach from the window of his hotel.
- He sees what appears to be a coconut bobbing on the ocean waters, but it's acting kind of strangely… Huh.
- Next, he speaks of the "floating head," and though the waves name him Omeros, the narrator knows him to be Seven Seas.
- Hold on to your hats, Shmooper—there's about to be a lot of shape shifting up in this joint.
- He sees Omeros arise with his "marble head," but in the next instant, it's Seven Seas with his dark complexion and familiar dialect.
- This changing of identities goes on for the rest of the section, and the narrator goes down to the beach to meet "them."
ii
- As the narrator walks down to the sea, there is a sense that he is walking to his death. He remarks that dying on the sea is the best way to go—ever.
- He walks past the places already traversed by Philoctete and has a vision of St. Lucia as she really is, which he chalks up to the clarity of mind given to the dying.
iii
- The narrator meets Omeros on the beach and reveals that he saw him in London, being kicked off the church steps by the English churchwarden.
- Omeros explains that he was evicted because he's a heathen, and he tells the narrator that the hero of his story is a drifter.
- The narrator tells Omeros that he's never read his book all the way through. What are the odds he's telling the truth here?
- An awkward, terse reply from Omeros ensues, and the narrator blunders through the next lines of the conversation.
- He finally composes himself enough to say that he hears Omeros's voice in the sea and that he's always been a big fan.
- Omeros cuts to the chase: It's time to go on a little trip.
- They make their way to the shore and Omeros asks where he learned his proper name in Greek; the narrator mentions his ex-girlfriend.
- Omeros is flattered that a lovely smelling girl would remember his name, and he asks, very indiscreetly, if they made love often.
- The narrator lies.
- Omeros is disappointed to find out that wars are no longer fought over beautiful women, but he tells the narrator, "The love of your own people is greater."