I was impressed by the sudden death of poor Elpenor and, also, a little bit surprised of it: why to die in such a stupid way, being probably drunk, without any monster of dread goddess around, just by accident? Couldn’t it be that Homer, with this scene, is telling us something else, reminding us that Hades is for real a place of dead and lost souls? In this case, I could see this scene as a perfect introduction to the journey they are starting right now.
You are raising a very interesting point here–the tragedy of Elpinor is that he has not been properly mourned by the community, and has not received proper burial rites. His mode of death is rather ignominious; inebriated, dying far from home after having fought for ten years at Troy, and falling from a roof unnoticed.
You bring up an outastanding question–does the Elpinor episode add something to the richness of this text? If so, what? I hope you’ll consider elaborating your point here in class!