The Wanderings (Books 10–12)

"We came to the floating island of Aeolia, where Aeolus lived, son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. For a whole month he entertained me and asked me about Troy, and when I asked to be sent on my way, he gave me a bag of oxhide, in which he had bound all the paths of the howling winds, for Zeus had made him keeper of the winds, to stir them up or calm them as he wished. He tied it fast in my hollow ship with a shining silver cord, so that not the least breath could escape, and sent the West Wind to blow us home.

"For nine days we sailed, night and day, and on the tenth our native land came in sight, so near that we could see men tending fires. Then sweet sleep came over me, for I was worn out; I had held the sheet myself all the way, and given it to no one else. And my comrades talked among themselves, and said that I was bringing home gold and silver from Aeolus. 'How loved and honored he is by all men! He brings home many treasures from Troy, and we, who made the same journey, come home with empty hands. Let us quickly see what is in the bag.' So they spoke, and their evil counsel prevailed. They untied the bag, and all the winds burst out, and the storm caught them and carried them, weeping, out to sea, away from their native land. I woke, and wondered whether to throw myself overboard and die, or endure in silence and stay among the living. I endured, and lay down in the ship, covering my head. And we were carried back to the island of Aeolus. But he drove me away: 'Away from my island, quickly, most shameful of living men! I may not help or send on his way a man whom the blessed gods hate.'

"Then we came to Telepylus of the Laestrygonians, a harbor with steep cliffs on both sides. All my other ships went into the harbor, but I kept my black ship outside, moored to a rock. The Laestrygonians came running from every side, thousands of them, like giants, and pelted us from the cliffs with huge rocks, and speared the men like fish and carried them off to their loathsome feast. I drew my sword and cut the cable of my ship, and we rowed for our lives. Glad to have escaped death, we sailed on, grieving for our dear comrades.

"We came to the island of Aeaea, where Circe lived, the dread goddess with lovely hair and human voice. I sent half my men, with Eurylochus, to her house. Circe opened the shining doors and invited them in, and all followed, except Eurylochus, who suspected a trap. She gave them cheese and barley meal and honey and Pramnian wine, and mixed with it wicked drugs, to make them forget their native land. When they had drunk, she struck them with her wand and penned them in the sties. They had the heads and voices and bristles and bodies of pigs, but their minds stayed as before. Eurylochus came running back with the news.

"I went to her alone. On the way, Hermes of the golden wand met me, in the likeness of a young man, and gave me a herb, dug from the ground: its root was black, but its flower like milk. The gods call it moly; it is hard for mortals to dig, but the gods can do all things. Circe gave me the drugged drink, and struck me with her wand, and said: 'Go now to the sty, and lie with your comrades.' But the drug did not change me, and I drew my sharp sword and rushed at her as if to kill her. She screamed, and ran under my arm, and clasped my knees: 'Surely you are Odysseus, the man of many turns, who Hermes always told me would come here on his way from Troy.' She swore not to harm me, and turned my comrades back into men, younger than before, and taller, and handsomer. And there we stayed, day after day, for a whole year, feasting on endless meat and sweet wine.

"When the year was over, my comrades called me aside: 'Strange man, it is time to think of your native land.' And Circe told me that before I went home I must make another journey, to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, to consult the soul of the blind Theban prophet Tiresias, whose mind is still whole, for Persephone granted him alone to have understanding among the dead. On the morning we left, Elpenor, the youngest of us, not very brave in war nor very sound in his wits, who had lain down drunk on the roof of Circe's house to sleep in the cool, heard the noise and bustle, sprang up suddenly, and forgot to go back by the long ladder. He fell headlong from the roof, his neck was broken, and his soul went down to Hades.

"We came to the edge of deep-flowing Ocean, where the Cimmerians live, wrapped in mist and cloud. There I dug a pit a cubit square, and poured offerings to all the dead, honey and milk, sweet wine and water, and white barley; then I cut the throats of the sheep over the pit, and the dark blood flowed. And the souls of the dead came swarming up out of Erebus: brides and young men, old men worn out with suffering, tender girls with hearts new to sorrow, and many warriors wounded with bronze spears, still in their bloodstained armor.

"The first to come was the soul of Elpenor, for he had not yet been buried. He begged me to burn his body with his armor and heap a mound for him on the shore, and plant on it the oar with which he had rowed among his comrades. Then came Tiresias, with a golden staff, and he drank the dark blood, and spoke: 'You seek a honey-sweet homecoming, glorious Odysseus, but a god will make it hard for you. Yet you may still come home, after many sufferings, if you can restrain your desire and your comrades', when you come to the island of Thrinacia and find the cattle and fat sheep of Helios grazing there. If you leave them unharmed, you may yet reach Ithaca. But if you harm them, I foresee destruction for your ship and your comrades; and if you yourself escape, you will come home late and in misery, having lost all your comrades, in a stranger's ship, and find trouble in your house: arrogant men devouring your living, wooing your godlike wife. And even when you have killed them, you must set out again, carrying a well-made oar, until you come to men who know nothing of the sea, and when a wayfarer meets you and says that you carry a winnowing fan on your shoulder, then fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice to Poseidon. And death will come to you away from the sea, gently, in a sleek old age, with your people prosperous around you.'

"Then came the soul of my mother, Anticleia, whom I had left alive when I went to Troy. She told me that it was longing for me that had taken away her life. Three times I sprang toward her, my heart urging me to embrace her, and three times she slipped through my hands like a shadow or a dream. Then I saw Agamemnon, who told me how Aegisthus and his accursed wife had killed him at his own table, like an ox at the manger. And I saw Achilles, and called him blessed, for he had been honored like a god when alive, and now he ruled among the dead. But he answered: 'Do not speak lightly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I would rather be a hired laborer on earth, working for a poor man with little to live on, than be king over all the dead who have perished.' Only the soul of Ajax, son of Telamon, stood apart, still angry over the victory I had won against him for the arms of Achilles. I spoke to him gently, but he made no answer, and went away into Erebus among the other souls of the dead. Then the dead gathered in their countless thousands, with an unearthly cry, and pale fear seized me that Persephone might send up the head of the Gorgon, and I fled to the ship.

"We returned to Circe and buried Elpenor; and she warned me of what lay ahead. First we came to the Sirens, who bewitch all men who come near them. I stopped my comrades' ears with wax, softened in the sun, and they bound me hand and foot to the mast. And the Sirens sang with their clear voices: 'Odysseus, pride of the Achaeans, turn your ship this way and listen to us! No sailor ever passed our shore without stopping to hear our song, and none went on unchanged: he leaves us charmed, and wiser. We know all the toils that the gods laid on Greeks and Trojans before Troy, and whatever comes to pass anywhere upon the earth.' My heart longed to listen, and I signaled to my comrades with my brows to set me free; but they bent to their oars, and two of them bound me tighter still.

"Then we passed between the two cliffs. On one side was Scylla, yelping terribly, with twelve dangling feet and six long necks, and on each a terrible head with three rows of teeth. On the other, divine Charybdis sucked down the salt water, three times a day, and three times spewed it up, seething like a cauldron on a great fire. While we stared in terror at Charybdis, Scylla snatched six of my comrades from the ship, the best in strength and hands, and I saw their feet and hands as they were lifted high, calling to me by name for the last time. That was the most pitiful sight I saw with my eyes, of all that I endured.

"Then we came to the island of the Sun, and I begged my comrades to sail past it; but Eurylochus answered me bitterly, and they forced me to land. For a whole month the South Wind blew without stopping. When our food was gone, while I had gone inland to pray and had fallen asleep, Eurylochus persuaded the others: 'Every kind of death is hateful to us poor mortals; but starving is the worst of all.' And they drove off the best of the Sun's cattle, and killed them. And the gods showed signs: the hides crawled, and the meat on the spits, both cooked and raw, lowed like cattle.

"When we sailed, Zeus sent a black cloud over the ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it, and he struck the ship with his thunderbolt. It shook all over, and was filled with sulfur, and my comrades fell overboard, and were carried on the waves like sea crows around the black ship, and the god took from them their homecoming. I lashed the keel and the mast together, and rode on them, and was carried back to Charybdis. When she sucked down the water, I sprang up and clung to a great fig tree that grew above her, like a bat, until she spewed up my mast and keel again; then I dropped down on them, and rowed with my hands. For nine days I drifted, and on the tenth night the gods brought me to the island of Ogygia, where Calypso lived. But why go on? I told you and your queen the rest of it yesterday, here in your hall, and I have no wish to tell the same story twice."

(End of Episode 4 — continued in Episode 5: Ithaca)