"After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into
the
open sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where
there
is dawn and sunrise as in other places. We then drew our ship on
to
the sands and got out of her on to the shore, where we went to
sleep
and waited till day should break.
"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared,
I
sent some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We
cut
firewood from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea,
and
after we had wept over him and lamented him we performed his
funeral
rites. When his body and armour had been burned to ashes, we
raised
a cairn, set a stone over it, and at the top of the cairn we
fixed
the oar that he had been used to row with.
"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got
back
from the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast
as
she could; and her maid servants came with her bringing us
bread,
meat, and wine. Then she stood in the midst of us and said, 'You
have
done a bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and
you
will have died twice, to other people's once; now, then, stay
here
for the rest of the day, feast your fill, and go on with your
voyage
at daybreak tomorrow morning. In the meantime I will tell
Ulysses
about your course, and will explain everything to him so as to
prevent
your suffering from misadventure either by land or sea.'
"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the
livelong
day to the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and
it
came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern
cables
of the ship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be
seated
away from the others, while she reclined by my side and asked me
all
about our adventures.
"'So far so good,' said she, when I had ended my story, 'and now
pay
attention to what I am about to tell you- heaven itself, indeed,
will
recall it to your recollection. First you will come to the
Sirens
who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in
too
close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children
will
never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and
warble
him to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great
heap
of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still
rotting
off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's
ears
with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can
listen
yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand
upright
on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the
rope's
ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of
listening.
If you beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind
you
faster.
"'When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give
you
coherent directions as to which of two courses you are to take;
I
will lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider
them
for yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks
against
which the deep blue waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury;
the
blessed gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a
bird
may pass, no, not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to
Father
Jove, but the sheer rock always carries off one of them, and
Father
Jove has to send another to make up their number; no ship that
ever
yet came to these rocks has got away again, but the waves and
whirlwinds
of fire are freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead
men.
The only vessel that ever sailed and got through, was the famous
Argo
on her way from the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone
against
these great rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the
love
she bore to Jason.
"'Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost
in
a dark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never
clear
not even in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty
hands
and twenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it
runs
sheer up, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the
middle
of it there is a large cavern, looking West and turned towards
Erebus;
you must take your ship this way, but the cave is so high up
that
not even the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside
it
Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you might take to be
that
of a young hound, but in truth she is a dreadful monster and no
one-
not even a god- could face her without being terror-struck. She
has
twelve mis-shapen feet, and six necks of the most prodigious
length;
and at the end of each neck she has a frightful head with three
rows
of teeth in each, all set very close together, so that they
would
crunch any one to death in a moment, and she sits deep within
her
shady cell thrusting out her heads and peering all round the
rock,
fishing for dolphins or dogfish or any larger monster that she
can
catch, of the thousands with which Amphitrite teems. No ship
ever
yet got past her without losing some men, for she shoots out all
her
heads at once, and carries off a man in each mouth.
"'You will find the other rocks lie lower, but they are so close
together
that there is not more than a bowshot between them. [A large fig
tree
in full leaf grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking
whirlpool
of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her
waters,
and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not
there
when she is sucking, for if you are, Neptune himself could not
save
you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as
you
can, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.'
"'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the
same
time keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?'
"'You dare-devil,' replied the goddess, you are always wanting
to
fight somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten
even
by the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is
savage,
extreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it;
your
best chance will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for
if
you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on your armour,
she
may catch you with a second cast of her six heads, and snap up
another
half dozen of your men; so drive your ship past her at full
speed,
and roar out lustily to Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck
to
her; she will then stop her from making a second raid upon you.
"'You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will
see
many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the
sun-god-
seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head
in
each flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in
number,
and they are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who
are
children of the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when
she
had borne them and had done suckling them sent them to the
Thrinacian
island, which was a long way off, to live there and look after
their
father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed,
and
think of nothing but getting home, you may yet after much
hardship
reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of the
destruction
both of your ship and of your comrades; and even though you may
yourself
escape, you will return late, in bad plight, after losing all
your
men.'
"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in
heaven,
whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my
men
to loose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into
her,
took their places, and began to smite the grey sea with their
oars.
Presently the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with
a
fair wind that blew dead aft, and stayed steadily with us,
keeping
our sails well filled, so we did whatever wanted doing to the
ship's
gear, and let her go as wind and helmsman headed her.
"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, 'My
friends,
it is not right that one or two of us alone should know the
prophecies
that Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so
that
whether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First
she
said we were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most
beautifully
in a field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so
long
as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the
crosspiece
half way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so
fast
that I cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope's ends to
the
mast itself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me
more
tightly still.'
"I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we
reached
the island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been very
favourable.
Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath
of
wind nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails
and
stowed them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water
with
the foam they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel
of
wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in
my
strong hands till it became soft, which it soon did between the
kneading
and the rays of the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the
ears
of all my men, and they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I
stood
upright on the crosspiece; but they went on rowing themselves.
When
we had got within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at
a
good rate, the Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and
began
with their singing.
"'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the
Achaean
name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us
without
staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song- and he who
listens
will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all
the
ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before
Troy,
and can tell you everything that is going to happen over the
whole
world.'
"They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear
them
further I made by frowning to my men that they should set me
free;
but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes
bound
me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of
the
Sirens' voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and
unbound
me.
"Immediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave
from
which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The
men
were so frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the
whole
sea resounded with the rushing of the waters, but the ship
stayed
where it was, for the men had left off rowing. I went round,
therefore,
and exhorted them man by man not to lose heart.
"'My friends,' said I, 'this is not the first time that we have
been
in danger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the
Cyclops
shut us up in his cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise
counsel
saved us then, and we shall live to look back on all this as
well.
Now, therefore, let us all do as I say, trust in Jove and row on
with
might and main. As for you, coxswain, these are your orders;
attend
to them, for the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from
these
steaming rapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip
and
be over yonder before you know where you are, and you will be
the
death of us.'
"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful
monster
Scylla, for I knew the men would not on rowing if I did, but
would
huddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey
Circe's
strict instructions- I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong
spears
I took my stand on the ship Is bows, for it was there that I
expected
first to see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so
much
harm; but I could not make her out anywhere, though I strained
my
eyes with looking the gloomy rock all over and over
"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the
one
hand was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking
up
the salt water. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a
cauldron
when it is boiling over upon a great fire, and the spray reached
the
top of the rocks on either side. When she began to again, we
could see the water all inside whirling round and round, and it
made
a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We could see
the
bottom of the whirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men
were
at their wit's ends for fear. While we were taken up with this,
and
were expecting each moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down
suddenly
upon us and snatched up my six best men. I was looking at once
after
both ship and men, and in a moment I saw their hands and feet
ever
so high above me, struggling in the air as Scylla was carrying
them
off, and I heard them call out my name in one last despairing
cry.
As a fisherman, seated, spear in hand, upon some jutting rock
throws
bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes, and
spears
them with the ox's horn with which his spear is shod, throwing
them
gasping on to the land as he catches them one by one- even so
did
Scylla land these panting creatures on her rock and munch them
up
at the mouth of her den, while they screamed and stretched out
their
hands to me in their mortal agony. This was the most sickening
sight
that I saw throughout all my voyages.
"When we had passed the [Wandering] rocks, with Scylla and
terrible
Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where
were
the goodly cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While
still
at sea in my ship I could bear the cattle lowing as they came
home
to the yards, and the sheep bleating. Then I remembered what the
blind
Theban prophet Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean
Circe
had warned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god. So
being
much troubled I said to the men, 'My men, I know you are hard
pressed,
but listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me,
and
how carefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island of the
blessed
sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would
lie.
Head the ship, therefore, away from the island.'
"The men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me
an
insolent answer. 'Ulysses,' said he, 'you are cruel; you are
very
strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of
iron,
and now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of
sleep,
you will not let them land and cook themselves a good supper
upon
this island, but bid them put out to sea and go faring
fruitlessly
on through the watches of the flying night. It is by night that
the
winds blow hardest and do so much damage; how can we escape
should
one of those sudden squalls spring up from South West or West,
which
so often wreck a vessel when our lords the gods are
unpropitious?
Now, therefore, let us obey the of night and prepare our supper
here
hard by the ship; to-morrow morning we will go on board again
and
put out to sea.'
"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw
that
heaven meant us a mischief and said, 'You force me to yield, for
you
are many against one, but at any rate each one of you must take
his
solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle or a large
flock
of sheep, he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of
either,
but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.'
"They all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed
their
oath we made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream
of
fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers.
As
soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking
about
their poor comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this
set
them weeping and they went on crying till they fell off into a
sound
sleep.
"In the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted
their
places, Jove raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane
so
that land and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night
sprang
forth out of the heavens. When the child of morning,
rosy-fingered
Dawn, appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew her into a
cave
wherein the sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I
called
the men together in council.
"'My friends,' said I, 'we have meat and drink in the ship, let
us
mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer
for
it; for these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who
sees
and gives ear to everything. And again they promised that they
would
obey.
"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and
there
was no other wind, but only South and East. As long as corn and
wine
held out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry;
when,
however, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were
forced
to go further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and
taking
whatever they could lay their hands on; for they were starving.
One
day, therefore, I went up inland that I might pray heaven to
show
me some means of getting away. When I had gone far enough to be
clear
of all my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered
from
the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in
Olympus
till by and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep.
"Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men,
'Listen
to me,' said he, 'my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough
but
there is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the
best
of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal Rods?
If
we ever get back to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the
sun-god
and enrich it with every kind of ornament; if, however, he is
determined
to sink our ship out of revenge for these homed cattle, and the
other
gods are of the same mind, I for one would rather drink salt
water
once for all and have done with it, than be starved to death by
inches
in such a desert island as this is.'
"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the
cattle,
so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men,
therefore
drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them saying
their
prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of barley-meal, for
there
was no barley left. When they had done praying they killed the
cows
and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the thigh bones,
wrapped
them round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat
on
top of them. They had no wine with which to make drink-offerings
over
the sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on a
little
water from time to time while the inward meats were being
grilled;
then, when the thigh bones were burned and they had tasted the
inward
meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces upon the
spits.
"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to
the
ship and to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot
roast
meat, so I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. 'Father
Jove,'
I exclaimed, 'and all you other gods who live in everlasting
bliss,
you have done me a cruel mischief by the sleep into which you
have
sent me; see what fine work these men of mine have been making
in
my absence.'
"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we
had
been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and
said
to the immortals, 'Father Jove, and all you other gods who live
in
everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses'
ship:
they have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one
thing
I loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down
again.
If they do not square accounts with me about my cows, I will go
down
to Hades and shine there among the dead.'
"'Sun,' said Jove, 'go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind
over
the fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces
with
a bolt of white lightning as soon as they get out to sea.'
"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from
the
mouth of Mercury.
"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked
each
one of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it,
for
the cows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to
show
signs and wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled
about,
and the joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the
meat,
whether cooked or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do.
"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting
upon
them, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day,
the
fury of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our
masts,
spread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away
from
the island, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of
Saturn
raised a black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark
beneath
it. We not get on much further, for in another moment we were
caught
by a terrific squall from the West that snapped the forestays of
the
mast so that it fell aft, while all the ship's gear tumbled
about
at the bottom of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the
helmsman
in the ship's stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed
to
pieces, and he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no
more
life left in him.
"Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went
round
and round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the
lightning
struck it. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried
about
in the water round the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but
the
god presently deprived them of all chance of getting home
again.
"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her
keel
(which drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her
in
the direction of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout
ox-thong
still hanging about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel
together,
and getting astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose
to
take me.
"[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind
got
into the South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken
back
to the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what
actually
happened, for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by
sunrise
had reacfied the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then
sucking
down the salt sea water, but I was carried aloft toward the fig
tree,
which I caught hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not
plant
my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the roots were a
long
way off and the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool were too
high,
too vast, and too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung
patiently
on, waiting till the pool should discharge my mast and raft
again-
and a very long while it seemed. A juryman is not more glad to
get
home to supper, after having been long detained in court by
troublesome
cases, than I was to see my raft beginning to work its way out
of
the whirlpool again. At last I let go with my hands and feet,
and
fell heavily into the sea, bard by my raft on to which I then
got,
and began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the father of
gods
and men would not let her get further sight of me- otherwise I
should
have certainly been lost.]
"Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night
the
gods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great
and
powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but
I
need say no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife
all
about it yesterday, and I hate saying the same thing over and
over
again."