The Odyssey - 10

they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus.
We brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god
guided us thither, and having landed we lay there for two days and two
nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day
came I took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to
reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human handiwork, or
hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I
espied the smoke of Circe’s house rising upwards amid a dense forest of
trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke, I
would not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it
best to go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some
of them instead of going myself.
“When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my
solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my
path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the
river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him
in the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean
through him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of
him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and
laid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and twisted them
into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound the four
feet of the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round my
neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag
was much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder,
steadying him with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship,
I called the men and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. ‘Look
here my friends,’ said I, ‘we are not going to die so much before our
time after all, and at any rate we will not starve so long as we have
got something to eat and drink on board.’ On this they uncovered their
heads upon the sea shore and admired the stag, for he was indeed a
splendid fellow. Then, when they had feasted their eyes upon him
sufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him for dinner.
“Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed
there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it
came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning,
rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, ‘My friends,
we are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no
idea where the sun either sets or rises,85 so that we do not even know
East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and
find one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high as I could
this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to the horizon; it
lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out of a thick
forest of trees.’
“Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had
been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre
Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing
to be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a
captain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took
command of the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot
fell upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they
wept, as also did we who were left behind.
“When they reached Circe’s house they found it built of cut stones, on
a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There
were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it—poor
bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged
into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great
tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against
them.86 As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming
from dinner—for they know he will bring them something—even so did
these wolves and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the
men were terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures.
Presently they reached the gates of the goddess’s house, and as they
stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as
she worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such
dazzling colours as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites,
whom I valued and trusted more than any other of my men, said, ‘There
is some one inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the
whole place resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is
woman or goddess.’
“They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them
enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who
suspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her
house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with
cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she drugged it with wicked
poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she
turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her
pig-styes. They were like pigs—head, hair, and all, and they grunted
just as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they
remembered everything.
“Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some
acorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to
tell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with
dismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so;
his eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last
we forced his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the
others.
“‘We went,’ said he, ‘as you told us, through the forest, and in the
middle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place
that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a
goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to
her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and
invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed
her into the house, but I staid where I was, for I thought there might
be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of
them ever came out, though I sat a long time watching for them.’
“Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also
took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and shew me the
way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously,
saying, ‘Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for
I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return
alive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with
the few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.’
“‘Stay where you are, then,’ answered I, ‘eating and drinking at the
ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.’
“With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the
charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe, I
met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the
hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his
face. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, ‘My
poor unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top, alone
and without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe’s pigstyes,
like so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that
you can set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and
will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will
protect you and get 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 talisman to you against every kind of mischief.
“‘And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try
to practice upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she
will drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to
charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will
prevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When
Circe strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as
though you were going to kill her. She will then be frightened, and
will desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank
refuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and to take
good care also of yourself, but you must make her swear solemnly by all
the blessed gods that she will plot no further mischief against you, or
else when she has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for
nothing.’
“As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and shewed me what it
was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk;
the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods
can do whatever they like.
“Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island;
but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with
care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and
called the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened
the door, and asked me to come in; so I followed her—much troubled in
my mind. She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver,
there was a footstool also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a
golden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me
mischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it without its
charming me, she struck me with her wand. ‘There now,’ she cried, ‘be
off to the pigstye, and make your lair with the rest of them.’
“But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,
whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke
piteously, saying, ‘Who and whence are you? from what place and people
have you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you?
Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I
gave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than
the bold 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; sheathe
your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to
trust each other.’
“And I answered, ‘Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you
when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you
have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to
bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall
certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take
your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.’
“So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her
oath then I went to bed with her.
“Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their
work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the
holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair
purple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another
brought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of
gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put
golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set
it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted.
When the water in the cauldron was boiling,87 she poured cold into it
till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began
washing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the
tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me
and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt and
led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a
footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a
beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash
my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant
brought me bread and offered me many things of what there was in the
house, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without
heeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious.
“When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief,
she came to me and said, ‘Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though
you were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and
drink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I
have already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.’
“And I said, ‘Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think
of either eating or drinking 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 bring them to me that I may see them with my own
eyes.’
“When I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand
in her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many
prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and
anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad
drug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than
they were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at
once, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the
whole house was filled with the sound of their halloa-ballooing, and
Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said,
‘Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you
have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all
your ship’s gear and property in some cave, and come back here with
your men.’
“I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men
at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the
silly blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out
and gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be
milked after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds
with their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got
back to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred.
‘Sir,’ said the affectionate creatures, ‘we are as glad to see you back
as though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the
fate of our comrades.’
“I spoke comfortingly to them and said, ‘We must draw our ship on to
the land, and hide the ship’s gear 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 find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great
abundance.’
“On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried
to hold them back and said, ‘Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will
become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who
will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to
keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our
comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all
through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.’
“When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen
blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of his
being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him and
said, ‘Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the
ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe’s house.’
“On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after
all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand
that I had given him.
“Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind
were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them
woollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all
comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other
face to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud
till the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said,
‘Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I
know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have
fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so
stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and
hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are
weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the
hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no
more cheerfulness left in you.’
“Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole
twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But
when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had
come round, my men called me apart and said, ‘Sir, it is time you began
to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your
house and native country at all.’
“Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day
to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but
when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down
to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed
with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what
I had got to say. ‘Circe,’ said I, ‘please to keep the promise you made
me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so
do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon
as ever your back is turned.’
“And the goddess answered, ‘Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall
none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is
another journey which you have got to take before you can sail
homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to
consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias, whose reason
is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding
even in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.’
“I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would
gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently
when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, ‘And who
shall guide 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, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there of
itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will
reach the fertile shore of Proserpine’s country with its groves of tall
poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your
ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark abode of
Hades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon
and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron,
and you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers run
into one another.
“‘When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench a
cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a
drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then
wine, and in the third place water—sprinkling white barley meal over
the whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble
ghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will
sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load the
pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that
Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all
your flocks.
“‘When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer
them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but
yourself turn away from them as though you would make towards the
river. On this, many dead men’s ghosts 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 burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to
Proserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as to prevent any
other poor ghost from coming near the spilt blood before Teiresias
shall have answered your questions. The seer will presently come to
you, and will tell you about your voyage—what stages you are to make,
and how you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home.’
“It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed me
in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light
gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle
round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went
about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to
each of them man by man: ‘You must not lie 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 bade them.
“Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had
with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or
courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the
rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the
noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot
all about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off
the roof and broke his neck, and his soul went down 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 explained to me that instead
of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to
consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.’
“The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on
the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend
matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting
our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard
by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it,
for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not
wish to be seen?


BOOK XI

THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88

“Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the
water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on
board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.
Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew
dead aft and staid steadily with us keeping our sails all the time well
filled; so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship’s gear and let her
go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sails were
full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun went down
and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of the
river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live
enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce
neither at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but
the poor wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there
we beached the ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the
waters of Oceanus till we came to the place of which Circe had told us.
“Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword
and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the
dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with
water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying
earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I
got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best
I had, and would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly
promised that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best
in all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the
throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon
the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus—brides,89 young bachelors, old
men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave
men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched
with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench
with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with
fear. When I saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the
carcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and
at the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I
sat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless
ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my
questions.
“The first ghost that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had
not yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and
unburied in Circe’s house, for we had had too much else to do. I was
very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: ‘Elpenor,’ said I, ‘how
did you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have got here
on foot quicker than I have with my ship.’
“‘Sir,’ he answered with a groan, ‘it was all bad luck, and my own
unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe’s
house, and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase
but fell right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul came down to
the house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have
left behind you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father
who brought you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is the
one hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know that when
you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean
island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you, or
I may bring heaven’s anger upon you; but burn me with whatever armour I
have, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell people in
days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over my grave
the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and with my messmates.’
And I said, ‘My poor fellow, I will do all that you have asked of me.’
“Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the
one side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost
of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the
ghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her
alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her,
but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood
till I had asked my questions of Teiresias.
“Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre
in his hand. He knew me and said, ‘Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why,
poor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the
dead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your
sword that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions truly.’
“So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of
the blood he began with his prophecy.
“‘You want to know,’ said he, ‘about your return home, but heaven will
make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of
Neptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having
blinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you
can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the
Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging
to the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these
flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of 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 men. Even though
you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all
your men, [in another man’s ship, and you will find trouble in your
house, which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring
your substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to
your wife.
“‘When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and
after you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you