Even now he could feel her presence as gentle breezes carried his ship across the waves.
As his ship sailed onto the open sea, Odysseus thought of Circe’s warnings and the dangers he and his men would soon face.
It is not fair, he thought, that I should know what horrors await us, while my men know nothing.
Odysseus stood up and called for his crew to listen.
“Friends!” he said. “Circe has told me much about the journey ahead. Now you shall hear her warnings as well. We will soon approach the island of the Sirens. The Sirens are beautiful women who sing from a field of flowers near the sea.”
The men laughed, certain they had nothing to fear from lovely singers.
“Take heed,” said Odysseus. “Circe has warned me that any man who hears the song of the Sirens will drown himself trying to get to them. You must plug your ears so that you cannot hear the enchanting song. I alone may listen, but only if you bind my hands and feet so tightly to the mast of the ship that I cannot break loose. If I beg you to set me free, you must bind me tighter still.”
As Odysseus spoke, the wind picked up, filling the sail and carrying the black ship faster and faster across the waves. Then, just as suddenly, the wind ceased. The water grew ominously still.
The men looked about with fear.
“Where is the breeze?” one whispered.
“There is not a ripple on the waves,” said another. “What has become of the wind?”
“We must be nearing the island of the Sirens,” Odysseus said. “Quick! Let down the sail and stow it away! Be silent. Be swift.”
The men did as Odysseus commanded. They lowered the sail and stowed it in the hold. Then they picked up their oars and rowed silently through the eerie, still waters.
While the men rowed, Odysseus grabbed a wheel of beeswax. He held the wax in the sun until it was soft, then cut it into many small pieces. He molded the pieces with his fingers, then handed two to each man.
“Use these to keep the song of the Sirens from reaching your ears,” he said. “And then you must bind me to the mast.”
The men sealed their ears with the wax. Then they took long cords of rope and tied Odysseus to the mast of the ship. They tied the knots so tightly that no man could loosen them.
The Greeks then picked up their oars again and began to row.
As the black ship moved closer to the island, Odysseus began to hear singing waft through the mist. The sound was more beautiful than he had even imagined—high, sweet, and lilting. The words of the Sirens floated on the soft wind:
Harken, brave Odysseus,
Listen to us now!
No one can pass our island without staying
To hear our song.
He who listens will be all the wiser,
He who listens
Will discover the secrets of the gods.
The ship sailed closer and closer to the shore. Through the mist beyond the still waters, Odysseus saw two lovely women in a flowery meadow.
To his amazement, he saw that the women had wings like birds. Their feathers were translucent in the early morning light.
Odysseus felt an unbearable longing to be with the beautiful creatures. He yearned to spend the rest of his life with them.
As his ship drew closer, Odysseus saw heaps of bleached bones around the bird women. He saw the rotten skin of decaying bodies. He knew he was looking at the remains of sailors who had been enchanted by the Sirens.
But even such a ghastly sight did not keep Odysseus from yearning to throw himself into the sea and swim to the island.
As the Sirens sang their sweet song over and over, Odysseus nearly went mad. He twisted and turned, trying to break free from his bonds.
His men quickened their rowing. Two of them bound Odysseus with more ropes. They rowed faster and faster over the still waters. As they rowed, the song of the Sirens grew fainter.
Odysseus strained to hear the lovely singing as it faded away in the distance. His heart was filled with grief as it grew softer and softer…until finally it was gone and all was silent again.
Suddenly the wind picked up. Waves rippled and rolled. Seagulls swooped and cawed.
Odysseus’ grief turned to joy. He began to laugh. He was safe! His men were safe! The song of the Sirens was behind them, and they were all safe and well.
FOUR
THE WHIRLPOOL MONSTER
When Odysseus’ men saw him laughing, they pulled the wax from their ears.
“Untie the ropes!” Odysseus ordered them. “Set me free!”
As his men untied Odysseus, he thanked them.
“I am grateful to you all,” he said. “I have heard the song of the Sirens, and I have survived.”
The men asked him to describe the beautiful singing. But before Odysseus could speak, he heard a deep rumbling in the distance.
Everyone looked toward the sound. The sea had grown eerily dark. Huge ripples began to rock the ship from side to side.
The rumbling grew louder and louder until it was a deafening roar. Waves billowed and broke with great force against the ship’s hull.
Only Odysseus understood what was happening. His ship and all aboard it were being pulled into the whirlpool of Charybdis.
“Row! Row for your lives!” Odysseus said.
But Odysseus’ men shouted in fear and threw down their oars. The ship began to spin in the sea.
Odysseus knew that to escape the whirlpool, he must steer the ship swiftly and steadily toward the cave of the monstrous Scylla. But he could not bear to tell his men the horror that awaited them there.
Instead, Odysseus went around the deck, urging each man not to surrender to fear.
“We have had great trials,” he told them, “but we escaped the monstrous Cyclops. We survived the enchantment of Circe. We journeyed to the Land of the Dead and returned unharmed. Pick up your oars now! Row swiftly! Whatever is to come, we must face it with courage!”
Odysseus’ heart was heavy as he spoke to his men. He alone knew that at least six of them would soon die hideously in the jaws of the monster Scylla.
Ignorant of their fate and heartened by their leader’s words, the Greeks picked up their oars again and began rowing through the wildly rushing waters.
As the helmsman struggled to hold the ship steady, the whirlpool’s roar grew unbearably loud. Ferocious waves crashed over the ship.
Soon Odysseus saw a towering cliff looming ahead. The cliff seemed to reach to heaven itself—its peak lost in a cloud. No man could climb to its top, for the cliff’s steep sides were as smooth as marble.
Near the cliff’s summit was a dark cave. The home of Scylla, the six-headed monster, Odysseus thought with dread.
Again Odysseus chose not to tell his men about the monster waiting in her lair. If they knew, their courage would leave them and they would cease to row—and all would be lost in the whirlpool of Charybdis.
Better six shall die than all, Odysseus thought bitterly.
So again, he urged his men to summon their courage:
“Do as I say—trust in Zeus—row with all your might! Steer close to the tall cliff that disappears into the clouds.”
Odysseus tried to speak calmly. But he was enraged that six of his comrades were about to die. His fury grew until it led him to make a rash decision: he would defy the counsel of Circe. He would slay the monster before she devoured even one of his men.
Odysseus strapped on his armor. He seized two long spears. Gripping a spear in each hand, he stared up at the looming gray cliff.
Mist partially covered the mouth of Scylla’s cave. The cave was so high that even the best warrior could not send an arrow or spear inside it. Odysseus would have to wait for the monster to emerge.
As his men rowed furiously through the dark sea, Odysseus listened for the puppylike yelps of the monster. He waited to see her six long necks and her hideous heads with their rows of gleaming teeth.
He stood on the foredeck of the black ship, ready
to slay her.
FIVE
SCYLLA
As the Greeks drew closer and closer to Scylla’s lair, Odysseus glared fiercely at her mist-shrouded cave.
But suddenly Odysseus forgot all about Scylla, for his attention was seized by the roaring sea. Just off the bow of the ship, the whirlpool monster, Charybdis, was sucking up tons of black water and vomiting it out.
Spray from the monster’s mouth rained down on the deck. The sea around the ship bubbled and churned like water roiling in a giant cauldron.
Odysseus could see into the center of the whirlpool—a deep cavity filled with black ooze and mud. If his ship veered even slightly toward the swirling water, it would surely be sucked down into the darkness.
Odysseus dropped his spears. “Hold our course!” he shouted to his men. “Row with all your might toward the towering cliff!”
Odysseus’ men cried out in fear. At that moment, Scylla stuck her hideous heads out of her cave.
In an instant, the monster’s six long necks swooped down toward the sea. She grabbed Odysseus’ best warriors in her six mouths. As she lifted the helpless Greeks high into the air, the men writhed like fish caught by a giant fisherman.
Odysseus saw bloody hands and feet dangling from Scylla’s mouths. He heard the men scream his name, begging for help.
The hideous monster devoured her victims before Odysseus’ eyes. It was the most terrible sight of his life.
Odysseus knew now that Circe had been right. He had been foolish to think he could slay the monster. The only way to save the rest of his men was to speed away from her as swiftly as possible.
“Row! Row!” he shouted. “If you value your lives, row with all your strength!”
The men rowed frantically past the tall cliff. With Odysseus urging them on, they sped through the channel, until they were finally safe from both sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis.
SIX
ISLAND OF THE SUN GOD
Odysseus stood at the helm of his ship. He stared into the churning sea behind him, horrified by the cruel slaughter of his men. Their screams still rang in his ears. The sight of their bloody, struggling limbs was imprinted on his memory forever.
But Odysseus knew that the rest of his men needed him now—their fear and trembling forced him to rally himself and take command.
“Row on!” he said, lifting his head in the wind. “Do not look back! Do not think about what you have seen, or we will never find our way home!”
Too stunned even to speak, the Greeks picked up their oars. Like obedient children, they rowed on.
The black ship sped across the wine-dark sea. Soon the Greeks saw a sun-drenched island in the distance. They heard the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep.
Odysseus’ men rejoiced at the sounds. After their terrible ordeal, they yearned for rest and shelter and food.
“Soon we will feast on beef and mutton!” they exclaimed.
Odysseus did not rejoice. He knew that he and his men were approaching the island of the sun god. He remembered the stern warnings of the prophet Tiresias and the counsel of Circe.
“Heed what I tell you,” he said to his crew. “I know you crave food and rest. But the island ahead belongs to Helios, the sun god. We cannot seek provisions there. I have been warned by the prophet Tiresias and by Circe. They told me that the sun god adores his cattle and sheep, and that if one of you even dares touch them, you all will die.”
Upon hearing these words, the men nearly collapsed with weariness and anguish.
“Then let us die there,” said one, “for we will surely die at sea if we do not eat and rest soon.”
“Listen to me,” Odysseus said. “If we stop now, all our trials—all our triumphs and all our losses—will have been for naught. We must move past this island. We must keep rowing.”
The men protested again. When Odysseus would not hear their pleas, Eurylochus, the second in command on the ship, shouted at him in anger.
“Odysseus, you are too strong!” he said. “You are made of iron; the rest of us are not! We are only human. These men need rest from their labor and time to mourn their losses. They cannot row through the night. Let us heed the darkness. Let us stop on the island to rest. We will cook our own food and sleep on the sand. We will set sail again at dawn without even laying eyes upon the precious cattle and sheep of the sun god.”
The men cheered the plan put forth by Eurylochus, but Odysseus’ heart was filled with dread. Even though the plan seemed sound, Odysseus felt as if some angry god were plotting against him. Still, he knew there was no way now he could convince his men to row on.
“You force me to surrender to your will,” he said. “I cannot fight you all. But if we do as Eurylochus asks, you must swear an oath—you must promise not to touch a single head of the sun god’s cattle or sheep. You must be satisfied only with the food that Circe has given us.”
The men swore to do as Odysseus commanded. Soon they dropped anchor in a sheltered bay of Helios’ island.
Near the shore, the Greeks found a spring of fresh water. They set up camp and made a meal from Circe’s gifts of meat and bread and wine.
Once the men had satisfied their hunger and thirst, painful memories swept over them. They wept for their six comrades eaten alive by the monster Scylla. Her victims had been the strongest and best of Odysseus’ warriors.
The Greeks wept also for the others on their voyage who had been slain by monsters and giants. They mourned their losses deep into the night, until sleep mercifully overcame them.
SEVEN
THE TEMPEST
In the darkest period of the night, just before the dawn, Zeus sent a terrible storm to the island of the sun god. Fierce winds shook the trees. Cold rain poured down from the heavens.
The Greeks scrambled into a huge cave near the shore. They huddled together, listening to the roar of the storm. At the first light of dawn, as the wind and rain raged on, Odysseus ordered his men to drag their ship ashore and pull it into the cave with them.
Once the ship was safely in the cave, Odysseus gathered his crew around him.
“Friends, we cannot leave the island this morning,” he told them. “So I command you again: do not touch the sheep or cows that belong to Helios, the sun god. He sees all and he hears all. He will know at once if you try to feast upon his treasures. We have all the food we need now in our ship. As soon as this tempest ends, we will sail on.”
The Greek warriors promised to do as Odysseus commanded. But day after day, fierce storm winds from the south and east pummeled the sun god’s island. The days grew into weeks, and still the tempest did not end. Never did the storm cease long enough for the Greeks to set sail.
For over a month, Odysseus and his men remained stranded on the island. At first, they ate only the food given them by Circe. But when those provisions were gone, the men were forced to roam the stormy coast, spearing fish and birds and anything else they might eat.
As the tempest raged on and on, Odysseus and his men could not find enough food. Each day, they ate less. Each day, they grew weaker. Hunger gnawed at their bellies and despair seized their souls.
Odysseus grew more and more frightened that the men would lose control of themselves. He feared their hunger would eventually drive them to slay the cattle and sheep of the sun god. And he knew that the sun god’s anger would bring death upon them all.
Early one morning while the others were still sleeping, Odysseus slipped from the cave. He ran through the storm and took shelter in a solitary outcropping of rock near the shore.
Odysseus knelt on the ground. He raised his arms and called out to the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. He begged them to show pity: “Give us courage to withstand our hunger and despair,” he prayed. “Send us fair weather so we might sail away soon. Help us follow the counsel of Tiresias and overcome temptation….”
As Odysseus prayed, a great drowsiness overtook him. He closed his eyes. His head fell forward and he sank into a deep, drea
mless sleep.
EIGHT
PUNISHMENT OF THE GODS
Odysseus woke with a start. He could tell from the morning light that several hours had passed since he had fallen asleep. With a feeling of dread, he leapt from the ground and started running back to his men.
As Odysseus neared the cave, his heart sank. The smell of burning meat filled the air.
Odysseus was seized with rage and horror. Rushing into the cave, he grabbed the first man he came upon. “What have you done?” he demanded. “Have you disobeyed my orders and defied the gods?”
“We were following Eurylochus!” the man said. “He told us that starvation was the most terrible of all deaths! He urged us to slay the cattle of the sun god! He said we could appease Helios by building a great temple in his honor when we return to Ithaca.”
Odysseus nearly wept with despair.
“We were so hungry, we could not stop ourselves,” the man said. “We killed the best of the cattle and roasted them over the fire.”
Odysseus cried out in agony. He fell to his knees and called to the gods: “Zeus and all immortal gods, why did you allow me to fall asleep? I begged you to give my men strength and courage! Now they have defied my command and slain the cattle of Helios! Have mercy on us! Have mercy on us all!”
But Odysseus knew his prayers were in vain. The rage of Helios was surely more powerful than the anguished pleas of a mere mortal. Odysseus imagined that the sun god might threaten never to shine upon the earth again unless the gods helped him take his revenge.
Odysseus rose to his feet and looked about the cave. The scene was horrible and unnatural. The hides of the slain cattle crawled across the ground. On the spits, the roasting meat bellowed like living beasts.
Odysseus’ men cowered before him. As he glared at their terrified faces, the rage drained from his heart. It was too late for rage now. The cattle of Helios were dead, and the men who had slain them would soon die also. Nothing less, Odysseus knew, would appease the sun god’s anger.
For the next six days, as the winds blew harshly outside the cave, Odysseus’ men feasted on the sun god’s cattle.
Tales from the Odyssey, Part 1 Page 6