AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.
“Thence we on to the Aeolian where Aeolus son of Hippotas, dear to the gods. It is an that (as it were) upon the sea,83 iron with a that it. Now, Aeolus has six and six sons, so he the sons the daughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother, and every of luxury. All day long the of the house is with the of meats till it again, and all; but by night they sleep on their well bedsteads, each with his own wife the blankets. These were the people among we had now come.
“Aeolus me for a whole month me questions all the time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I told him how had happened, and when I said I must go, and asked him to me on my way, he no of difficulty, but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he me a ox-hide to the of the winds, which he up in the as in a sack—for Jove had him captain over the winds, and he or still each one of them according to his own pleasure. He put the in the ship and the mouth so with a that not a of a side-wind from any quarter. The West wind which was for us did he alone let as it chose; but it all came to nothing, for we were through our own folly.
“Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native land on the horizon. We got so close in that we see the burning, and I, being then beat, into a light sleep, for I had let the out of my own hands, that we might home the faster. On this the men to talking among themselves, and said I was gold and in the that Aeolus had me. ‘Bless my heart,’ would one turn to his neighbour, saying, ‘how this man and makes friends to city or country he may go. See what he is taking home from Troy, while we, who have just as as he has, come with hands as empty as we set out with—and now Aeolus has him so much more. Quick—let us see what it all is, and how much gold and there is in the he gave him.’
“Thus they talked and prevailed. They the sack, the wind and a that us out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and not to myself into the sea or to live on and make the best of it; but I it, myself up, and in the ship, while the men as the our to the Aeolian island.
“When we it we to take in water, and hard by the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a and one of my men and to the house of Aeolus, where I him with his wife and family; so we sat as on the threshold. They were when they saw us and said, ‘Ulysses, what you here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took great pains to you on your way home to Ithaca, or it was that you wanted to go to.’
“Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, ‘My men have me; they, and sleep, have me. My friends, me this mischief, for you can if you will.’
“I spoke as as I could, but they said nothing, till their father answered, ‘Vilest of mankind, you gone at once out of the island; him will I in no wise help. Be off, for you come here as one of heaven.’ And with these he sent me from his door.
“Thence we sadly on till the men were out with long and rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we the of Lamus—Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians, where the who is in his sheep and [to be milked] him who is out his [to feed] and this last the salute. In that country a man who do without sleep might earn wages, one as a of cattle, and another as a shepherd, for they work much the same by night as they do by day.84
“When we the we it land-locked under cliffs, with a narrow entrance two headlands. My captains took all their ships inside, and them fast close to one another, for there was so much as a of wind inside, but it was always calm. I my own ship outside, and it to a at the very end of the point; then I a high to reconnoitre, but see no neither of man cattle, only some from the ground. So I sent two of my company with an to out what of people the were.
“The men when they got on a level road by which the people their from the into the town, till presently they met a woman who had come to water, and who was to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going to the Artacia from which the people in their water, and when my men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of that country might be, and over what of people he ruled; so she them to her father’s house, but when they got there they his wife to be a as as a mountain, and they were at the of her.
“She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly, and he set about killing my men. He up one of them, and to make his dinner off him then and there, the other two ran to the ships as fast as they could. But Antiphates a hue-and-cry after them, and thousands of Laestrygonians up from every quarter—ogres, not men. They at us from the as though they had been stones, and I the of the ships up against one another, and the death of my men, as the Laestrygonians them like and took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing my men the I my sword, cut the of my own ship, and told my men to with all their might if they too would not like the rest; so they out for their lives, and we were when we got into open water out of of the they at us. As for the others there was not one of them left.
“Thence we sadly on, to have death, though we had our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives—a great and who is own sister to the Aeetes—for they are children of the sun by Perse, who is to Oceanus. We our ship into a safe without a word, for some god us thither, and having we there for two days and two nights, out in and mind. When the of the third day came I took my and my sword, and away from the ship to reconnoitre, and see if I of handiwork, or the of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I the of Circe’s house a of trees, and when I saw this I whether, having the smoke, I would not go on at once and out more, but in the end I it best to go to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some of them of going myself.
“When I had nearly got to the ship some god took upon my solitude, and sent a right into the middle of my path. He was his in the to drink of the river, for the of the sun him, and as he passed I him in the middle of the back; the point of the clean through him, and he in the until the life out of him. Then I set my upon him, my from the wound, and it down; I also and and them into a or so of good rope, with which I the four of the together; having so done I him my and walked to the ship upon my spear, for the was much too big for me to be able to him on my shoulder, him with one hand. As I him in of the ship, I called the men and spoke man by man to each of them. ‘Look here my friends,’ said I, ‘we are not going to die so much our time after all, and at any we will not so long as we have got something to eat and drink on board.’ On this they their upon the sea and the stag, for he was a fellow. Then, when they had their upon him sufficiently, they their hands and to cook him for dinner.
“Thus through the day to the going of the sun we there and our fill, but when the sun and it came on dark, we upon the sea shore. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a and said, ‘My friends, we are in very great difficulties; therefore to me. We have no idea where the sun either sets or rises,85 so that we do not know East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and one. We are on an island, for I as high as I this morning, and saw the sea all it to the horizon; it low, but the middle I saw from out of a thick of trees.’
“Their as they me, for they how they had been by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the Polyphemus. They in their dismay, but there was nothing to be got by crying, so I them into two and set a captain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took of the other myself. Then we in a helmet, and the upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they wept, as also did we who were left behind.
“When they Circe’s house they it of cut stones, on a site that be from far, in the middle of the forest. There were wild and lions all it—poor she had by her and into subjection. They did not attack my men, but their great tails, upon them, and their against them.86 As their master when they see him from dinner—for they know he will them something—even so did these and lions with their great upon my men, but the men were at such creatures. Presently they the gates of the goddess’s house, and as they there they Circe within, most as she at her loom, making a so fine, so soft, and of such as no one but a weave. On this Polites, I valued and more than any other of my men, said, ‘There is some one at a and most beautifully; the whole place with it, let us call her and see she is woman or goddess.’
“They called her and she came down, the door, and them enter. They, no evil, her, all Eurylochus, who and outside. When she had got them into her house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a with cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she it with to make them their homes, and when they had she them into pigs by a of her wand, and them up in her pig-styes. They were like pigs—head, hair, and all, and they just as pigs do; but their were the same as before, and they everything.
“Thus then were they up squealing, and Circe them some and such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus to tell me about the sad of our comrades. He was so overcome with that though he to speak he no to do so; his with and he only and sigh, till at last we his out of him, and he told us what had to the others.
“‘We went,’ said he, ‘as you told us, through the forest, and in the middle of it there was a house with cut in a place that be from far. There we a woman, or else she was a goddess, at her and sweetly; so the men to her and called her, she at once came down, opened the door, and us in. The others did not any so they her into the house, but I where I was, for I there might be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of them came out, though I sat a long time for them.’
“Then I took my of and it over my shoulders; I also took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come with me and me the way. But he of me with his hands and spoke piteously, saying, ‘Sir, do not me to go with you, but let me here, for I know you will not one of them with you, return alive yourself; let us see if we cannot at any with the that are left us, for we may still save our lives.’
“‘Stay where you are, then,’ answered I, ‘eating and at the ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently to do so.’
“With this I left the ship and up inland. When I got through the grove, and was near the great house of the Circe, I met Mercury with his wand, as a man in the hey-day of his and with the just upon his face. He came up to me and took my hand his own, saying, ‘My man, are you going over this top, alone and without the way? Your men are up in Circe’s pigstyes, like so many wild in their lairs. You surely do not that you can set them free? I can tell you that you will and will have to there with the of them. But mind, I will protect you and you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe’s house, it will be a to you against every of mischief.
“‘And I will tell you of all the that Circe will try to upon you. She will mix a for you to drink, and she will the with which she makes it, but she will not be able to you, for the of the that I shall give you will prevent her from working. I will tell you all about it. When Circe you with her wand, your and upon her as though you were going to kill her. She will then be frightened, and will you to go to with her; on this you must not point blank her, for you want her to set your free, and to take good also of yourself, but you must make her by all the gods that she will plot no against you, or else when she has got you she will you and make you fit for nothing.’
“As he spoke he the out of the ground and me what it was like. The was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, and men cannot it, but the gods can do they like.
“Then Mercury to high Olympus over the island; but I to the house of Circe, and my was with as I walked along. When I got to the gates I there and called the goddess, and as soon as she me she came down, opened the door, and asked me to come in; so I her—much in my mind. She set me on a seat with silver, there was a also under my feet, and she mixed a in a for me to drink; but she it, for she meant me mischief. When she had it me, and I had it without its me, she me with her wand. ‘There now,’ she cried, ‘be off to the pigstye, and make your with the of them.’
“But I at her with my as though I would kill her, she with a loud scream, my knees, and spoke piteously, saying, ‘Who and are you? from what place and people have you come? How can it be that my have no power to you? Never yet was any man able to so much as a taste of the I gave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than the hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day with his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it then; your and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to trust each other.’
“And I answered, ‘Circe, how can you me to be with you when you have just been all my men into pigs? And now that you have got me here myself, you me when you ask me to go to with you, and will me and make me fit for nothing. I shall not to go to with you unless you will take your to plot no against me.’
“So she at once as I had told her, and when she had her then I to with her.
“Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their work. They are the children of the and fountains, and of the that into the sea. One of them spread a cloth over a seat, and a it. Another tables of up to the seats, and set them with of gold. A third mixed some sweet with water in a bowl and put cups upon the tables, while the fourth in water and set it to in a large over a good fire which she had lighted. When the water in the was boiling,87 she cold into it till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a and me from the about the and shoulders, to take the and out of my limbs. As soon as she had done me and me with oil, she me in a good and shirt and me to a seat with silver; there was a also under my feet. A then me water in a and it into a for me to wash my hands, and she a clean table me; an upper me and offered me many of what there was in the house, and then Circe me eat, but I would not, and sat without what was me, still and suspicious.
“When Circe saw me there without eating, and in great grief, she came to me and said, ‘Ulysses, why do you like that as though you were dumb, at your own heart, and meat and drink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I have already that I will not you.’
“And I said, ‘Circe, no man with any of what is right can think of either or in your house until you have set his friends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and them to me that I may see them with my own eyes.’
“When I had said this she through the with her in her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many and looking at her, but she about among them and each with a second drug, the that the had them off, and they men again, than they were before, and much and looking. They me at once, me each of them by the hand, and for till the whole house was with the of their halloa-ballooing, and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said, ‘Ulysses, son of Laertes, go at once to the sea where you have left your ship, and it on to the land. Then, all your ship’s and property in some cave, and come here with your men.’
“I to this, so I to the sea shore, and the men at the ship and most piteously. When they saw me the me as out and their mothers, when they see them home to be after they have been all day, and the with their lowing. They as to see me as though they had got to their own Ithaca, where they had been and bred. ‘Sir,’ said the creatures, ‘we are as to see you as though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the of our comrades.’
“I spoke to them and said, ‘We must our ship on to the land, and the ship’s with all our property in some cave; then come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe’s house, where you will your and in the of great abundance.’
“On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus to them and said, ‘Alas, that we are, what will of us? Rush not on your by going to the house of Circe, who will turn us all into pigs or or lions, and we shall have to keep over her house. Remember how the Cyclops us when our his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all through his that those men their lives.’
“When I him I was in two minds or no to the that by my and cut his off in of his being a near relation of my own; but the men for him and said, ‘Sir, if it may so be, let this here and mind the ship, but take the of us with you to Circe’s house.’
“On this we all inland, and Eurylochus was not left after all, but came on too, for he was by the that I had him.
“Meanwhile Circe had been that the men who had been left were and with oil; she had also them and shirts, and when we came we them all at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other to and one another, they for and till the whole again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said, ‘Ulysses, son of Laertes, tell your men to off crying; I know how much you have all of you at sea, and how you have among on the mainland, but that is over now, so here, and eat and drink till you are once more as and as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are in and mind; you keep all the time of the you have your travels, so that you have no more left in you.’
“Thus did she speak and we assented. We with Circe for a whole upon an quantity of meat and wine. But when the year had passed in the of and the long days had come round, my men called me and said, ‘Sir, it is time you to think about going home, if so be you are to be to see your house and native country at all.’
“Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the day to the going of the sun we our on meat and wine, but when the sun and it came on dark the men themselves to sleep in the cloisters. I, however, after I had got into with Circe, her by her knees, and the to what I had got to say. ‘Circe,’ said I, ‘please to keep the promise you me about me on my voyage. I want to and so do my men, they are always pestering me with their as soon as your is turned.’
“And the answered, ‘Ulysses, son of Laertes, you shall none of you here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another which you have got to take you can sail homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of Proserpine to the of the Theban Teiresias, is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his in death, but the other about aimlessly.’
“I was when I this. I sat up in and wept, and would have no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently when I was of and myself about, I said, ‘And who shall me upon this voyage—for the house of Hades is a port that no ship can reach.’
“‘You will want no guide,’ she answered; ‘raise your mast, set your white sails, still, and the North Wind will you there of itself. When your ship has the of Oceanus, you will the of Proserpine’s country with its of tall and that their fruit untimely; here beach your ship upon the of Oceanus, and go on to the dark of Hades. You will it near the place where the Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) into Acheron, and you will see a near it, just where the two into one another.
“‘When you have this spot, as I now tell you, a a or so in length, breadth, and depth, and into it as a drink-offering to all the dead, first, mixed with milk, then wine, and in the third place water—sprinkling white over the whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the ghosts, and promise them that when you to Ithaca you will a to them, the best you have, and will the with good things. More particularly you must promise that Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the in all your flocks.
“‘When you shall have thus the with your prayers, offer them a and a black ewe, their Erebus; but turn away from them as though you would make the river. On this, many men’s will come to you, and you must tell your men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed, and offer them as a with prayers to Hades and to Proserpine. Then your and there, so as to prevent any other from near the blood Teiresias shall have answered your questions. The will presently come to you, and will tell you about your voyage—what you are to make, and how you are to sail the sea so as to your home.’
“It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she a light over her shoulders, it with a her waist, and she her with a mantle. Then I about among the men all over the house, and spoke to each of them man by man: ‘You must not sleeping here any longer,’ said I to them, ‘we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.’ And on this they did as I them.
“Even so, however, I did not them away without misadventure. We had with us a named Elpenor, not very for or courage, who had got and was on the house-top away from the of the men, to sleep off his in the cool. When he the noise of the men about, he jumped up on a and all about by the main staircase, so he right off the and his neck, and his to the house of Hades.
“When I had got the men together I said to them, ‘You think you are about to start home again, but Circe has to me that of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to the of the Theban Teiresias.’
“The men were broken-hearted as they me, and themselves on the ground and their hair, but they did not by crying. When we the sea shore, and our fate, Circe the and the ewe, and we them fast hard by the ship. She passed through the of us without our it, for who can see the and of a god, if the god not wish to be seen?
