Book 10 Circe

Aeolus and the winds(17) For a full month Aeolus made me welcome and questioned me about each thing, [15] about Ilium, and the ships of the Argives, and the return of the Achaeans. And I

told him all the tale in due order. But when I, on my part, asked him that I might depart and bade him send me on my way, he, too, denied me nothing, but furthered my sending. He gave me a bag, made of the hide of an ox nine years old, which he

flayed, [20] and therein he bound the paths of the blustering winds.

(46) [40] Much goodly treasure is he carrying with him from the land of Troy from out the spoil, while we, who have accomplished the same journey as he, are

returning, bearing with us empty hands. And now Aeolus has given him these gifts, granting them freely of his love. Nay, come, let us quickly see what is here, [45]

what store of gold and silver is in the bag.’

Laestrygonians (89) (125) At once she called from the place of assembly the glorious Antiphates, [115] her husband, and he devised for them woeful destruction. Straightway he seized one of my comrades and made ready his meal, but the other two

sprang up and came in flight to the ships.

(142) [130] And they all tossed the sea with their oar-blades in fear of death, and joyfully seaward, away from the beetling cliffs, my ship sped on; but all

those other ships were lost together there.

Circe(145) From there we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our dear comrades; [135] and we came to the isle of Aeaea, where dwelt fair-tressed Circe, a dread goddess of human speech, own sister to Aeetes of baneful mind;

and both are sprung from Helius, who gives light to mortals, and from Perse, their mother, whom Oceanus begot.

Hermes’ moly (325) When Circe hits you with her long wand, then draw your

sharp sword from beside your thigh, [295] and rush upon Circe, as though you would slay her. And she will be seized with fear, and

will bid you lie with her. Do not refuse the couch of the goddess, so that she may set free your comrades, and give you hospitality. But bid her swear a great oath by the blessed gods, [300] that she will not plot against you any fresh mischief to hurt you, so that when

she has you stripped she may not render you a weakling and unmanned.’

So saying, Argeiphontes gave me the herb, drawing it from the ground, and showed me its nature. At the root it was black, but its flower was like milk. [305] Moly the gods call it, and it is hard for

mortal men to dig; but with the gods all things are possible.

(539) You must first complete another journey, and come to the house of Hades and

dread Persephone, to seek soothsaying of the spirit of Theban Teiresias, the blind seer, whose mind abides steadfast. To him even in death Persephone has granted reason,

[495] that he alone should have understanding; but the others flit about as shadows.’

(557) The breath of the North Wind will bear your ship onward. But when in your ship you have crossed the stream of Oceanus, there is a level shore and the groves of

Persephone — [510] tall poplars, and willows that shed their fruit — there beach your ship by the deep eddying Oceanus, and go yourself to the dank house of Hades. There into Acheron flow Periphlegethon and Cocytus, which is a branch of the water of the

Styx; [515] and there is a rock, and the meeting place of the two roaring rivers.

Pyriphlegethon (fire) and Styx (hate) Kokytos (wailing) flow into Acheron (woe)

Book 11 The Dead

eschat/ology

kata/basis

nekuia

Cimmerians (Men of Winter 14)

Nekuia(25) “Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, [25] and dug a pit of a cubit's length

this way and that, and around it poured a libation to all the dead, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine, and in the third place with water, and I sprinkled thereon white barley meal. And I earnestly

entreated the powerless heads of the dead, [30] vowing that when I came to Ithaca I would sacrifice in my halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and

pile the altar with goodly gifts, and to Teiresias alone would sacrifice separately a ram, wholly black, the goodliest of my flocks.

Elpenor (79) Leave me not unwept and unburied as you go from there, and do not turn away from me, lest perhaps I bring the wrath of the gods upon you. No,

burn me with my armour, all that is mine, [75] and heap up a mound for me on the shore of the grey sea, in memory of an unhappy man, that men yet to be may learn of me. Fulfil this my prayer, and fix upon the mound my oar wherewith I rowed in life when I was among my comrades.’

(136) But when you have slain the wooers in your halls, [120] whether by guile or openly with the sharp sword, then go forth, taking a shapely oar, until you come to men who know nothing of the sea and eat no food mingled with salt, and they know nothing of ships with purple cheeks or of shapely oars that are as wings unto ships. And I will

tell you a very clear sign, which will not escape you. When another wayfarer, on meeting you, says that you have a winnowing-fan on your stout shoulder, then fix in

the earth your shapely oar [130] and make goodly offerings to lord Poseidon — a ram, and a bull, and a boar that mates with sows — and depart for your home and offer sacred hecatombs to the immortal gods who hold broad heaven, to each one in due

order.

(233) So she spoke, and I pondered in heart, and longed [205] to clasp the spirit of my dead mother. Thrice I sprang towards her, and my heart bade me clasp her, and thrice she flitted from my arms like a shadow or a dream, and pain grew ever sharper at my

heart.

(247) [215] “So I spoke, and my honored mother straightway answered: ‘Ah me, my child, ill-fated above all men, in no way does Persephone, the daughter of Zeus,

deceive you, but this is the appointed way with mortals when one dies. For the sinews no longer hold the flesh and the bones together, [220] but the strong might of blazing

fire destroys these, as soon as the life leaves the white bones, and the spirit, like a dream, flits away, and hovers to and fro. But make haste to the light with what speed you may, and bear all these things in mind, that you may hereafter tell them to your

wife.’

(417) But upon you is grace of words, and within you is a heart of wisdom, and your tale you have told with skill, as does a minstrel, even the grievous woes of all the Argives and of yourself. [370] But come, tell me this, and

declare it truly, whether you saw any of thy godlike comrades, who went to Ilium together with you, and there met their fate. The night is before us, long,

wondrous long, and it is not yet the time for sleep in the hall.

Agamemnon(499) ‘Therefore in your own case never be gentle even to your wife. Declare

not to her all the thoughts of your heart, but tell her somewhat, and let somewhat also be hidden. Yet not upon you, Odysseus, shall death come from

your wife, [445] for very prudent and of an understanding heart is the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope.

Achilles(555) Seek not to speak soothingly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I should choose, so I might live on earth, to serve as the hireling of another, [490] of some portionless man whose livelihood was but small, rather than to be lord over all the dead that have

perished. But come, tell me tidings of my son, that lordly youth, whether or not he followed to the war to be a leader.

Neoptolemus, Ajax, Minos, Orion, Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Heracles