Further Travels

BOOK 10


Next Odysseus come to the island of Aeolus where they stay for a month. Aeolus sends them away with the four winds in a bag; however the men don’t know this, they sail on and are to the point where they can see the smoke raising from Ithaca. The men being jealous of Odysseus, saying look at the treasure he brings home and we have none, and they open the bag. The four winds escape, and they end up at the island of Aeolus again, where Aeolus sends them away with no further help.

They sail on and come to rocky Lamas where the Laestrygonians live. The other eleven ships go into the harbor while Odysseus stays just outside. Odysseus sends three men to look for the people of the place, they find them, and they were not welcomed. These people turned out to be ogres, Antiphates began to eat one the men, the other two run back to the ship. A hue and cry is raised by Antiphates and thousands come from everywhere. From the hill above the harbor they throw rocks and spear the men in the ships below. All are wiped out, none survive, and only Odysseus and his men are left.

Next they come to the Aeaean island where Circe lives, she is cunning goddess. Odysseus scouts out the land and sees smoke from Circe’s house. On the way back to the ship he kills a stag from their dinner that night. In the morning Odysseus calls the men together and divides them into two groups, he leads one group and the other he sends to Circe’s house. When they get there Circe turns them into pigs except one who returns to ship to tell the others what had happened. Odysseus goes to Circe’s house on the way he is met by Hermes, and Hermes gives him instructions on how to deal Circe. Odysseus gets her to change men back to themselves again, then after a year they leave. Circe tells them first they must go the house of Hades to inquire of Teiresias, and gives instructions on how to go about that.