I
Following the same course as on his outward voyage, Odysseus put in
again at the island of Circe, where his first duty was to bury the
body of the young Elpenor, whose ghost he had seen in an attitude of
mute reproach at the threshold of Hades. They were again received with
all hospitality by Circe.
After the evening meal Circe drew Odysseus apart, and questioned him
on all that he had seen and heard on that strange journey, from which
he had returned, as she said, like one ransomed from death. And when
he had told his story she instructed him as to the course which he had
to steer on leaving the island, and warned him against the manifold
perils of the voyage.
"First," said she, "thou wilt come to the rocks of the Sirens, maidens
of no mortal race, who beguile the ears of all that hear them. Woe to
him who draws near to listen to their song! He shall never see the
faces of his wife and children again, or feel their arms about his
neck, but there he shall perish, and there his bones shall rot.
Therefore take heed, and when thou drawest near the place stop the
ears of thy men with wax, and bid them bind thee fast with cords, that
thou mayest hear the song of the Sirens. And when that seducing melody
fills thine ears, thou wilt beg and implore thy comrades to set thee
free, that thou mayest draw near and have speech of the Sirens. Then
let them bind thee more firmly to the mast, and take to their oars,
and fly the enchanted rocks.
"This peril past, thou hast the choice of two different routes. One of
these will bring thee to the Wandering Isles, which stand, front to
front, with steep slippery sides of rock, running sheer down to the
sea. Between them lies a narrow way, which is the very gate of death.
For if aught living attempts to pass between, those rocky jaws close
upon it and grind it to powder. Only the doves which bear ambrosia to
Father Zeus can pass that awful strait, and one of these pays toll
with her life as she passes, but Zeus sends another to fill her place.
And one ship sailed safely through, even the famous _Argo_ when she
bore Jason and his crew on their voyage from the land of Æetes. All
others when they essayed the task perished, and were brought to naught
in a whirlwind of foam and fire.
"But if thou takest the other way thou wilt come to another strait,
guarded day and night by two sleepless sentinels, Scylla and
Charybdis. On one side thereof towers a lofty peak, shrouded, even in
the noon of summer, in clouds and thick darkness. No mortal man could
climb that steep and slippery rock, not though he had twenty hands and
twenty feet; for the side is smooth as polished marble, and in the
midst of the cliff is a shadowy cave overlooking the track by which
thou must guide thy ship, Odysseus. Deep down it goes into the heart
of the mountain, so that a man in his lusty prime could not shoot an
arrow from his ship to the bottom of that yawning pit In the cave
dwells Scylla, and yelps without ceasing. Her voice is thin and
shrill, like the cry of a hound newly littered, but she herself is a
monster horrible to behold, so that neither man nor god could face her
without affright. Twelve feet hath she, and six necks of prodigious
length, and on each neck a fearful head, whose ravening jaws are armed
with triple rows of teeth. As far as her waist she is hidden in the
hollow cave, but she thrusts out her serpent necks from the abyss, and
fishes in the waters for dolphins and sea-dogs and other creatures
whose pasture is the sea. On every ship that passes her den she levies
a tribute of six of her crew.
"On the other side of the strait thou wilt see a second rock, lying
flat and low, about a bowshot from the first. There stands a great
fig-tree, thick with leaves, and under it sits Charybdis, sucking down
the water, and belching it up again three times a day. Beware that
thou approach not when she sucks down the water, for then none could
save thee from destruction, no, not Poseidon himself. Rather steer thy
galley past Scylla's cave, for it is better to lose six of thy men
than to lose them all.
"Next thou shalt come to the island of Thrinacia, where graze the oxen
of Helios and his goodly sheep--seven herds of oxen, and as many fair
flocks of sheep, and fifty in each flock and herd. They are not born,
neither do they die, and two goddesses have charge of them,
fair-haired nymphs, the daughters of Helios. Take heed that thou harm
not the sacred beasts, that it may be well with thee, and that thou
and thy company may come safely home."