August 12, 2025 • 29 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Book twelve, The sirens Scylla and Cherabdies the Cattle of
the Sun. After we were clear of the river Oceanus
and had got out into the open sea, we went
on till we reached the Aegean Island, where there was
(00:21):
dawn and sunrise, as in other places. We then drew
our ship onto the sands and got out of her
on to the shore, where we went to sleep and
waited till day should break. Then, when the child of morning,
rosy fingered dawn appeared, I sent some men to Circe's
(00:41):
house to fetch the body of Elpinor. We cut firewood
from a wood where the head land jutted out into
the sea, and after we had wept over him and
lamented him, we performed his funeral. Rites When his body
and armor had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn,
(01:03):
set a stone over it, and at the top of
the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been
used to row with. While we were doing all this, Circe,
who knew that we had got back from the House
of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast
as she could, and her maid servants came with her,
bringing us bread, meat, and wine. Then she stood in
(01:28):
the midst of us and said, you have done a
bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades,
and you will have died twice to other people's wants. Now,
then stay here for the rest of the day, feast
your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak
tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will tell Ulysses about
(01:51):
your course, and will explain everything to him so as
to prevent your suffering from misadventure, either by land or
by We agreed to do as she had said, and
feasted through the livelong day to the going down of
the sun. But when the sun had set and it
came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep
(02:13):
by the stern cables of the ship. Then Circe took
me by the hand and bade me be seated away
from the others, while she reclined by my side and
asked me all about our adventures. So far, so good,
said she, when I had ended my story, and now
(02:34):
pay attention to what I am about to tell you.
Heaven itself indeed will recall it to your recollection. First
you will come to the sirens who enchant all who
come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too
close and hears the singing of the sirens, his wife
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and children will never welcome him home again, for they
sit in a green field and warble him to death
with the sweetness of their song. There is a great
heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the
flesh still rotting off them. Therefore, pass these sirens by,
(03:15):
and stop your men's ears with wax, that none of
them may hear. But if you like, you can listen yourself,
For you may get the men to bind you as
you stand upright on a cross piece half way up
the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to
the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening.
(03:37):
If you beg and pray the men to unloose you,
then they must bind you faster. When your crew have
taken you past these sirens, I cannot give you coherent
directions as to which of two courses you are to take.
I will lay the two alternatives before you, and you
must consider them for yourself. On the one hand, there
(04:01):
are some overhanging rocks against which the deep blue waves
of the amphitrite beat with terrific fury. The blessed gods
call these rocks the wanderers. Here. Not even a bird
may pass, No, not even the timid doves that bring
ambrosia to Father Jove. But the sheer rock always carries
(04:24):
off one of them, and Father Jove has to send
another to make up their number. No ship that ever
yet came to these rocks has got away again. But
the waves and whirlwinds of fire are freighted with wreckage
and with the bodies of dead men. The only vessel
(04:46):
that ever sailed and got through was the famous Argo
on her way home from the House of Aetes, and
she too would have gone against these great rocks. Only
the Juno piloted her pass them for the love she
bore to Jason. Of these two rocks, the one riches heaven,
(05:07):
and its peak is lost in a dark cloud. This
never leaves it, so that the top is never clear,
not even in summer and early autumn. No man, though
he had twenty hands and twenty feet, could get a
foothold on it and climb up. For it runs sheer up,
as smooth as though it had been polished. In the
(05:30):
middle of it, there is a large cavern, looking west
and turned towards Erebus. You must take your ship this way,
But the cave is so high up that not even
the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside
the Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you
(05:51):
might take to be that of a young hound. But
in truth she is a dreadful monster, and no one,
not even a god, could face her without being terror struck.
She has twelve misshapen feet and six necks of the
most prodigious length, and at the end of each neck
she has a frightful head, with three rows of teeth
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in each, all set very close together, so that they
would crunch any one to death in a moment. And
she sits within her shady cell, thrusting out her heads
and peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins, or dogfish,
or any larger monster that she can catch. Of the
thousands with which Amphitrite teams, no ship ever yet got
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past her without losing some men, for she shoots out
all her heads at once and carries off a man
in each mouth. You will find the other rock lie lower,
but they are so close together that there is not
more than a bow shot between them. A large fig
tree in full leaf grows upon it, and under it
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lies the sucking whirlpool of Cheribdis. Three times in a
day does she vomit forth her waters, and three times
she sucks them down again. See that you be not
there when she is sucking. For if you are Neptune
himself could not save you. You must hug the scilla
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aside and drive ship by as fast as you can,
for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.
Is there no way, said I, of escaping Charibdis and
at the same time keeping Sylla off when she is
trying to harm my men. You dare devil, replied the goddess.
(07:42):
You are always wanting to fight somebody or something. You
will not let yourself be beaten even by the immortals,
for Scylla is not mortal. Moreover, she is savage, extreme, rude, cruel,
and invincible. There is no help for it, for if
you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on
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your armor, she may catch you with the second cast
of her six heads and snap up another half dozen
of your men. So drive your ship past her at
full speed and roar out lustily to Cretaeus, who is
scyll is dam bad luck to her. She will then
stop her from making a second raid upon you. You
(08:26):
will now come to the Threnatian Island, and here you
will see many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep
belonging to the Sun god. Seven herds of cattle and
seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock.
They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number,
and they are tended by the goddesses Pethusa and Lampity,
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who are children of the sun god Hyperion by Nea'era.
Their mother, when she had borne them and had done
suckling them, sent them to the Threnatian Island, which was
a long way off, to live there and look after
their father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks
unharmed and think of nothing but getting home, you may yet,
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after much hardship, reach Ithaca. But if you harm them,
then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your
ship and of your comrades. And even though you may
yourself escape, you will return late in bad plight, after
losing all your men. Here she ended and Dawn enthroned
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in gold began to show in heaven, whereon she returned inland.
I then went on board and told my men to
loose the ship from her moorings. So they at once
got into her, took their places, and began to smite
the gray sea with their oars. Presently, the great and
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cunning goddess Sir befriended us with a fair wind that
blew dead aft, and stayed steadily with us, keeping our
sails well filled. So we did whatever wanted doing to
the ship's gear, and let her go as wind and
helmsman headed her. Then, being much troubled in mind, I
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said to my men, my friends, it is not right
that one or two of us alone should know the
prophecies that Circe has made me. I will therefore tell
you about them, so that whether we live or die,
we may do so with our eyes open. First, she
said we were to keep clear of the sirens, who
(10:41):
sit and sing most beautifully in a field of flowers.
But she said I might hear them myself, so long
as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind
me to the cross piece half way up the mast.
Bind me as I stand upright with a bond, so
fat that I cannot possibly break away and lash the
(11:04):
rope's ends to the mast itself. If I beg and
pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly.
Still I had hardly finished telling everything to the men
before we reached the island of the two Sirens, for
the wind had been very favorable. Then all of a
sudden it fell dead calm. There was not a breath
(11:27):
of wind, nor a ripple upon the water. So the
men furled the sails and stowed them. Then, taking to
their oars, they whitened the water with the foam they
raised in rowing. Meanwhile, I took a large wheel of
wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then
I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till it
(11:50):
became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and
the rays of the sun, God's sun of hyperion. Then
I stopped the ears of all my men, and they
bound me hands and feet to the mast as they
stood upright on the cross piece. But they went on
rowing themselves. When we had got within earshot of the land,
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and the ship was going at a good rate, the
Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began
with their singing, Come here, they sang, renowned Ulysses, honor
to the Achaean name, and listened to our two voices.
No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear
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the enchanting sweetness of our song. And he who listens
will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser,
for we know all the ills that the gods laid
upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell
you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.
(12:56):
They sang these words most musically, and as I longed
to hear them further, I made signs by frowning to
my men that they should set me free. But they
quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Paramedes bound me with
still stronger bonds till we had got out of the
hearing of the sirens voices. Then my men took the
(13:18):
wax from their ears and unbound me. Immediately after we
had got past the island, I saw a great wave
from which spray was rising, and I heard a loud,
roaring sound. The men were so frightened that they loosed
hold of their oars, for the whole sea resounded with
the rushing of the waters, but the ships stayed where
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it was, for the men had left off rowing. I
went round therefore, and exhorted them, man by man not
to lose heart. My friends, said I, this is not
the first time that we have been in danger, and
we are in nothing like so bad a case as
when the Cyclops shut us up in his cave. Nevertheless,
(14:02):
my courage and wise counsel saved us then, and we
shall live to look back on all this as well. Now, therefore,
let us all do as I say, Trust in Jove
and row on with might and main. As for you, Coxswain,
these are your orders. Attend to them, for the ship
(14:23):
is in your hands. Turn her head away from these
steaming rapids and hug the rocks, or she will give
you the slip and be over yonder before you know
where you are, and you will be the death of us.
So they did as I told them, But I said
nothing about the awful monster Scylla, for I knew the
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men would not go on rowing if I did, but
would huddle together in the hold. In one thing only
did I disobey Circe's strict instructions. I put on my armor, then,
seizing two strong spears. I took my stand on the
ship's bows, for it was there that I expected first
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to see the monster of the rock, who was to
do my men so much harm. But I could not
make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes with
looking the gloomy rock all over and over. Then we
entered the straits in great fear of mind, for on
the one hand was Scylla, and on the other dread
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cherubdis kept sucking up the salt water as she vomited
it up. It was like the water in a cauldron
when it is boiling over upon a great fire, and
the spray reached the top of the rocks on either side.
When she began to suck again, we could see the
water all inside, whirling round and round, and it made
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a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We
could see the bottom of the whirlpool all black with
sand and mud, and the men were at their wits
ends for fear. While we were taken up with this
and were expecting each moment to be our last, Sylla
pounced down suddenly upon us and snatched up my six
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best men. I was looking at once, after both ship
and men and in a moment I saw their hands
and feet ever so high above me, struggling in the
air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard
them call up my name in one last despairing cry.
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As a fisherman, seated spear in hand upon some jutting rock,
throws bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes,
and spears them with the ox's horn with which his
spear is shod, throwing them gasping onto the land as
he catches them one by one. Even so did Silla
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land these panting creatures on her rock and munched them
up at the mouth of her den, while they screamed
and strod out their hands to me in their mortal agony.
This was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout
all my voyages. When we had passed the wandering rocks
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with Scylla and terrible Charibdis, we reached the noble island
of the Sun God, where were the goodly cattle and
sheep belonging to the Sun Hyperion. While still at sea
and my ship, I could bear the cattle lowing as
they came home to the yards, and the sheep bleeding.
Then I remembered with the blind theban prophet Terseus had
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told me, and how carefully Aegean Circe had warned me
to shun the island of the Blessed Sun God. So,
being much troubled, I said to the men, my men,
I know you are hard pressed, but listen while I
tell you the prophecy that Terseus made me, and how
carefully Aegean Circe warned me to shun the island of
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the Blessed Sun God, for it was here She said
that our worst danger would lie head the ship therefore
away from the island. The men were in despair at this,
and Eurylochus at once gave me an insolent answer. Ulysses said, he,
you are cruel. You are very strong yourself, and never
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get worn out. You seem to be made of iron.
And now, though your men are exhausted with toil and
want of sleep, you will not let them land and
cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but bid
them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on
through the watches of the flying night. It is by
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night that the winds blow hardest and do so much damage.
How can we escape should one of those sudden squalls
spring up from southwest or west, which so often wreck
a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious. Now, therefore,
let us obey the beheat of night and prepare our
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supper here hard by the ship. Tomorrow morning we will
go on board again and put out to sea. Thus
spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw
that Heaven meant us a mischief, and said, you've forced
me to yield, for you are many against one. But
at any rate, each one of you must take his
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solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of
cattle or a large flock of sheep, he will not
be so mad as to kill a single head of either,
but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has
given us. They all swore as I bade them, And
when they had completed their oath, we made the ship
fast in a harbor that was near a stream of
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fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers.
As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
they began talking about their poor comrades, whom Scylla had
snatched up and eaten. This them weeping, and they went
on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
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In the third watch of the night, when the stars
had shifted their places, Jove raised a great gale of
wind that flew a hurricane, so that land and sea
were covered with thick clouds, and nights sprang forth out
of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy fingered
dawn appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew
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her into a cave, wherein the sea nymphs hold their
courts and dances. And I called the men together in council.
My friends said I. We have meat and drank in
the ship. Let us mind therefore, and not touch the cattle,
or we shall suffer for it. For these cattle and
sheep belonged to the mighty Sun, who sees and gives
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ear to everything. And again they promised that they would obey.
For a whole month, the wind blew steadily from the south,
and there was no other wind, but only south and east.
As long as corn and wine held out, the men
did not touch the cattle when they were hungry. When however,
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they had eaten all there was in the ship, they
were forced to go further afield with hook and line,
catching birds and taking whatever they could lay their hands on,
for they were starving. One day, therefore, I went up
inland that I might pray Heaven to show me some
means of getting away. When I had gone far enough
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to be clear of all my men, and had found
a place that was well sheltered from the wind, I
washed my hands and prayed to all the gods and
Olympus till by and by they sent me off into
a sweet sleep. Meanwhile, Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel
to the men. Listen to me, said he, my poor comrades.
(21:59):
All deaths are bad enough, but there is none so
bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the
best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to
the immortal gods. If we ever get back to Ithaca,
we can build a fine temple to the Sun God,
and enriched with every kind of ornament. If, however, he
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is determined to sink our ship, but of revenge for
these home and cattle, and the other gods are of
the same mind, I, for one, would rather drink salt
water once for all and have done with it, than
be starved to death by inches in such a desert
island as this is. Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men
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approved his words. Now the cattle, so fair and goodly,
were feeding not far from the ship. The men therefore
drove in the best of them, and they all stood
round them, saying their prayers, and using young oak shoots
instead of barley meal, for there was no barley left.
When they had done praying, they killed the cows and
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dressed their carcasses. They cut out the thigh bones, wrapped
them round in two layers of fat, and set some
pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had
no wine with which to make drink offerings over the
sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on
a little water from time to time while the inward
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meats were being grilled. Then, when the thigh bones were
burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut
the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
By this time, my deep sleep had left me, and
I turned back to the ship and to the sea shore.
As I drew near, I began to smell hot roast meat.
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So I groaned out of prayer to the immortal gods,
Father Jove, I exclaimed, and all you other gods who
live in everlasting bliss, you have done me a cruel
mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me.
See I would find work these men of mine have
been making in my absence. Meanwhile, Lampity went straight off
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to the Sun and told him we had been killing
his cows. Whereon he flew into a great rage and said,
to the immortals, Father Jove, and all you other gods
who live in everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on
the crew of Ulysses's ship. They have had the insolence
to kill my cows, which were the one thing I
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loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven
or down again. If they do not square accounts with
me about my cows, I will go down to Hades
and shine there among the dead, son, said Jove, go
on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over the
fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces
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with a bolt of white lightning as soon as they
get out to sea. I was told all this by Calypso,
who said she had heard it from the mouth of Mercury.
As soon as I got down to my ship and
to the sea shore, I rebuked each one of the
men separately, and we could see no way out of it,
for the cows were dead already, and indeed the gods
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began at once to show signs and wonders among us,
for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and the
joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and
the meat, whether cooked or raw, kept on making a noise,
just as cows do. For six days my men kept
driving in the best cows and feasting upon them. But
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when Jove, the son of Saturn, had added a seventh day,
the fury of the gale abated. We therefore went on board,
raised our masts, spread sail, and put out to sea.
As soon as we were well away from the island
and could see nothing but sky and sea, the sun
of Saturn raised a black cloud over our ship, and
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the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get
on much further, for in another moment we were caught
by a terrific squaw from the west that snapped the
four stays of the mast, so that it fell aft,
while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom
of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of
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the helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones
of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell
overboard as though he were diving, with no more life
left in him. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts,
and the ship went round and round, and was filled
with fire and brimstone. As the lightning struck it, the
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men all fell into the sea. They were carried about
in the water round the ship, looking like so many
sea gulls, but the God presently deprived them of all
chance of getting home again. I stuck to the ship
till the sea knocked her sides from her keel, which
drifted about by itself, and struck ruck the mast out
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of her in the direction of the keel. But there
was a back stay of stout ox thong still hanging
about it, and with this I lashed the mast and
keel together, and, getting astride of them, was carried wherever
the winds chose to take me. The gale from the
west had now spent its force, and the wind got
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into the south again, which frightened me. Lest I should
be taken back to the terrible whirlpool of Charibdis. This
indeed was what actually happened, for I was borne along
by the waves all night, and by sunrise had reached
the rock of Scylla and the whirlpool. She was then
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sucking down the salt sea water. But I was carried
aloft toward the fig tree, which I caught hold of
and clung onto like a bat. I could not plant
my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the
roots were a long way off, and the boughs that
over shadowed the whole pool were too high, too vast,
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and too far apart for me to reach them. So
I hung patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge
my mast and raft again. And a very long while
it seemed a jury man is not more glad to
get home to supper after having been long detained in
court by troublesome cases, than I was to see my
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raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again.
At last, I let go with my hands and feet,
and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft,
unto which I then got and began to row with
my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods and
men would not let her get further sight of me,
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otherwise I should have certainly been lost. Hence I was
carried along for nine days till on the tenth night,
the gods stranded me on the ogagean island where dwells
the great and powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in
and was kind to me. But I need say no
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more about this, for I told you and your noble
wife all about it yesterday, and I hate saying the
same thing over and over again. End of Book twelve.
Book twelve, The sirens Scylla and Cherabdies the Cattle of
the Sun. After we were clear of the river Oceanus
and had got out into the open sea, we went
on till we reached the Aegean Island, where there was
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dawn and sunrise, as in other places. We then drew
our ship onto the sands and got out of her
on to the shore, where we went to sleep and
waited till day should break. Then, when the child of morning,
rosy fingered dawn appeared, I sent some men to Circe's
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house to fetch the body of Elpinor. We cut firewood
from a wood where the head land jutted out into
the sea, and after we had wept over him and
lamented him, we performed his funeral. Rites When his body
and armor had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn,
(01:03):
set a stone over it, and at the top of
the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been
used to row with. While we were doing all this, Circe,
who knew that we had got back from the House
of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast
as she could, and her maid servants came with her,
bringing us bread, meat, and wine. Then she stood in
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the midst of us and said, you have done a
bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades,
and you will have died twice to other people's wants. Now,
then stay here for the rest of the day, feast
your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak
tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will tell Ulysses about
(01:51):
your course, and will explain everything to him so as
to prevent your suffering from misadventure, either by land or
by We agreed to do as she had said, and
feasted through the livelong day to the going down of
the sun. But when the sun had set and it
came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep
(02:13):
by the stern cables of the ship. Then Circe took
me by the hand and bade me be seated away
from the others, while she reclined by my side and
asked me all about our adventures. So far, so good,
said she, when I had ended my story, and now
(02:34):
pay attention to what I am about to tell you.
Heaven itself indeed will recall it to your recollection. First
you will come to the sirens who enchant all who
come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too
close and hears the singing of the sirens, his wife
(02:54):
and children will never welcome him home again, for they
sit in a green field and warble him to death
with the sweetness of their song. There is a great
heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the
flesh still rotting off them. Therefore, pass these sirens by,
(03:15):
and stop your men's ears with wax, that none of
them may hear. But if you like, you can listen yourself,
For you may get the men to bind you as
you stand upright on a cross piece half way up
the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to
the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening.
(03:37):
If you beg and pray the men to unloose you,
then they must bind you faster. When your crew have
taken you past these sirens, I cannot give you coherent
directions as to which of two courses you are to take.
I will lay the two alternatives before you, and you
must consider them for yourself. On the one hand, there
(04:01):
are some overhanging rocks against which the deep blue waves
of the amphitrite beat with terrific fury. The blessed gods
call these rocks the wanderers. Here. Not even a bird
may pass, No, not even the timid doves that bring
ambrosia to Father Jove. But the sheer rock always carries
(04:24):
off one of them, and Father Jove has to send
another to make up their number. No ship that ever
yet came to these rocks has got away again. But
the waves and whirlwinds of fire are freighted with wreckage
and with the bodies of dead men. The only vessel
(04:46):
that ever sailed and got through was the famous Argo
on her way home from the House of Aetes, and
she too would have gone against these great rocks. Only
the Juno piloted her pass them for the love she
bore to Jason. Of these two rocks, the one riches heaven,
(05:07):
and its peak is lost in a dark cloud. This
never leaves it, so that the top is never clear,
not even in summer and early autumn. No man, though
he had twenty hands and twenty feet, could get a
foothold on it and climb up. For it runs sheer up,
as smooth as though it had been polished. In the
(05:30):
middle of it, there is a large cavern, looking west
and turned towards Erebus. You must take your ship this way,
But the cave is so high up that not even
the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside
the Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you
(05:51):
might take to be that of a young hound. But
in truth she is a dreadful monster, and no one,
not even a god, could face her without being terror struck.
She has twelve misshapen feet and six necks of the
most prodigious length, and at the end of each neck
she has a frightful head, with three rows of teeth
(06:14):
in each, all set very close together, so that they
would crunch any one to death in a moment. And
she sits within her shady cell, thrusting out her heads
and peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins, or dogfish,
or any larger monster that she can catch. Of the
thousands with which Amphitrite teams, no ship ever yet got
(06:39):
past her without losing some men, for she shoots out
all her heads at once and carries off a man
in each mouth. You will find the other rock lie lower,
but they are so close together that there is not
more than a bow shot between them. A large fig
tree in full leaf grows upon it, and under it
(07:01):
lies the sucking whirlpool of Cheribdis. Three times in a
day does she vomit forth her waters, and three times
she sucks them down again. See that you be not
there when she is sucking. For if you are Neptune
himself could not save you. You must hug the scilla
(07:21):
aside and drive ship by as fast as you can,
for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.
Is there no way, said I, of escaping Charibdis and
at the same time keeping Sylla off when she is
trying to harm my men. You dare devil, replied the goddess.
(07:42):
You are always wanting to fight somebody or something. You
will not let yourself be beaten even by the immortals,
for Scylla is not mortal. Moreover, she is savage, extreme, rude, cruel,
and invincible. There is no help for it, for if
you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on
(08:04):
your armor, she may catch you with the second cast
of her six heads and snap up another half dozen
of your men. So drive your ship past her at
full speed and roar out lustily to Cretaeus, who is
scyll is dam bad luck to her. She will then
stop her from making a second raid upon you. You
(08:26):
will now come to the Threnatian Island, and here you
will see many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep
belonging to the Sun god. Seven herds of cattle and
seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock.
They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number,
and they are tended by the goddesses Pethusa and Lampity,
(08:50):
who are children of the sun god Hyperion by Nea'era.
Their mother, when she had borne them and had done
suckling them, sent them to the Threnatian Island, which was
a long way off, to live there and look after
their father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks
unharmed and think of nothing but getting home, you may yet,
(09:15):
after much hardship, reach Ithaca. But if you harm them,
then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your
ship and of your comrades. And even though you may
yourself escape, you will return late in bad plight, after
losing all your men. Here she ended and Dawn enthroned
(09:38):
in gold began to show in heaven, whereon she returned inland.
I then went on board and told my men to
loose the ship from her moorings. So they at once
got into her, took their places, and began to smite
the gray sea with their oars. Presently, the great and
(09:58):
cunning goddess Sir befriended us with a fair wind that
blew dead aft, and stayed steadily with us, keeping our
sails well filled. So we did whatever wanted doing to
the ship's gear, and let her go as wind and
helmsman headed her. Then, being much troubled in mind, I
(10:20):
said to my men, my friends, it is not right
that one or two of us alone should know the
prophecies that Circe has made me. I will therefore tell
you about them, so that whether we live or die,
we may do so with our eyes open. First, she
said we were to keep clear of the sirens, who
(10:41):
sit and sing most beautifully in a field of flowers.
But she said I might hear them myself, so long
as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind
me to the cross piece half way up the mast.
Bind me as I stand upright with a bond, so
fat that I cannot possibly break away and lash the
(11:04):
rope's ends to the mast itself. If I beg and
pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly.
Still I had hardly finished telling everything to the men
before we reached the island of the two Sirens, for
the wind had been very favorable. Then all of a
sudden it fell dead calm. There was not a breath
(11:27):
of wind, nor a ripple upon the water. So the
men furled the sails and stowed them. Then, taking to
their oars, they whitened the water with the foam they
raised in rowing. Meanwhile, I took a large wheel of
wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then
I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till it
(11:50):
became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and
the rays of the sun, God's sun of hyperion. Then
I stopped the ears of all my men, and they
bound me hands and feet to the mast as they
stood upright on the cross piece. But they went on
rowing themselves. When we had got within earshot of the land,
(12:14):
and the ship was going at a good rate, the
Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began
with their singing, Come here, they sang, renowned Ulysses, honor
to the Achaean name, and listened to our two voices.
No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear
(12:34):
the enchanting sweetness of our song. And he who listens
will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser,
for we know all the ills that the gods laid
upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell
you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.
(12:56):
They sang these words most musically, and as I longed
to hear them further, I made signs by frowning to
my men that they should set me free. But they
quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Paramedes bound me with
still stronger bonds till we had got out of the
hearing of the sirens voices. Then my men took the
(13:18):
wax from their ears and unbound me. Immediately after we
had got past the island, I saw a great wave
from which spray was rising, and I heard a loud,
roaring sound. The men were so frightened that they loosed
hold of their oars, for the whole sea resounded with
the rushing of the waters, but the ships stayed where
(13:39):
it was, for the men had left off rowing. I
went round therefore, and exhorted them, man by man not
to lose heart. My friends, said I, this is not
the first time that we have been in danger, and
we are in nothing like so bad a case as
when the Cyclops shut us up in his cave. Nevertheless,
(14:02):
my courage and wise counsel saved us then, and we
shall live to look back on all this as well. Now, therefore,
let us all do as I say, Trust in Jove
and row on with might and main. As for you, Coxswain,
these are your orders. Attend to them, for the ship
(14:23):
is in your hands. Turn her head away from these
steaming rapids and hug the rocks, or she will give
you the slip and be over yonder before you know
where you are, and you will be the death of us.
So they did as I told them, But I said
nothing about the awful monster Scylla, for I knew the
(14:44):
men would not go on rowing if I did, but
would huddle together in the hold. In one thing only
did I disobey Circe's strict instructions. I put on my armor, then,
seizing two strong spears. I took my stand on the
ship's bows, for it was there that I expected first
(15:04):
to see the monster of the rock, who was to
do my men so much harm. But I could not
make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes with
looking the gloomy rock all over and over. Then we
entered the straits in great fear of mind, for on
the one hand was Scylla, and on the other dread
(15:26):
cherubdis kept sucking up the salt water as she vomited
it up. It was like the water in a cauldron
when it is boiling over upon a great fire, and
the spray reached the top of the rocks on either side.
When she began to suck again, we could see the
water all inside, whirling round and round, and it made
(15:48):
a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We
could see the bottom of the whirlpool all black with
sand and mud, and the men were at their wits
ends for fear. While we were taken up with this
and were expecting each moment to be our last, Sylla
pounced down suddenly upon us and snatched up my six
(16:11):
best men. I was looking at once, after both ship
and men and in a moment I saw their hands
and feet ever so high above me, struggling in the
air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard
them call up my name in one last despairing cry.
(16:32):
As a fisherman, seated spear in hand upon some jutting rock,
throws bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes,
and spears them with the ox's horn with which his
spear is shod, throwing them gasping onto the land as
he catches them one by one. Even so did Silla
(16:52):
land these panting creatures on her rock and munched them
up at the mouth of her den, while they screamed
and strod out their hands to me in their mortal agony.
This was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout
all my voyages. When we had passed the wandering rocks
(17:13):
with Scylla and terrible Charibdis, we reached the noble island
of the Sun God, where were the goodly cattle and
sheep belonging to the Sun Hyperion. While still at sea
and my ship, I could bear the cattle lowing as
they came home to the yards, and the sheep bleeding.
Then I remembered with the blind theban prophet Terseus had
(17:36):
told me, and how carefully Aegean Circe had warned me
to shun the island of the Blessed Sun God. So,
being much troubled, I said to the men, my men,
I know you are hard pressed, but listen while I
tell you the prophecy that Terseus made me, and how
carefully Aegean Circe warned me to shun the island of
(17:58):
the Blessed Sun God, for it was here She said
that our worst danger would lie head the ship therefore
away from the island. The men were in despair at this,
and Eurylochus at once gave me an insolent answer. Ulysses said, he,
you are cruel. You are very strong yourself, and never
(18:21):
get worn out. You seem to be made of iron.
And now, though your men are exhausted with toil and
want of sleep, you will not let them land and
cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but bid
them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on
through the watches of the flying night. It is by
(18:41):
night that the winds blow hardest and do so much damage.
How can we escape should one of those sudden squalls
spring up from southwest or west, which so often wreck
a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious. Now, therefore,
let us obey the beheat of night and prepare our
(19:02):
supper here hard by the ship. Tomorrow morning we will
go on board again and put out to sea. Thus
spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw
that Heaven meant us a mischief, and said, you've forced
me to yield, for you are many against one. But
at any rate, each one of you must take his
(19:23):
solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of
cattle or a large flock of sheep, he will not
be so mad as to kill a single head of either,
but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has
given us. They all swore as I bade them, And
when they had completed their oath, we made the ship
fast in a harbor that was near a stream of
(19:45):
fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers.
As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
they began talking about their poor comrades, whom Scylla had
snatched up and eaten. This them weeping, and they went
on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
(20:06):
In the third watch of the night, when the stars
had shifted their places, Jove raised a great gale of
wind that flew a hurricane, so that land and sea
were covered with thick clouds, and nights sprang forth out
of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy fingered
dawn appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew
(20:27):
her into a cave, wherein the sea nymphs hold their
courts and dances. And I called the men together in council.
My friends said I. We have meat and drank in
the ship. Let us mind therefore, and not touch the cattle,
or we shall suffer for it. For these cattle and
sheep belonged to the mighty Sun, who sees and gives
(20:51):
ear to everything. And again they promised that they would obey.
For a whole month, the wind blew steadily from the south,
and there was no other wind, but only south and east.
As long as corn and wine held out, the men
did not touch the cattle when they were hungry. When however,
(21:13):
they had eaten all there was in the ship, they
were forced to go further afield with hook and line,
catching birds and taking whatever they could lay their hands on,
for they were starving. One day, therefore, I went up
inland that I might pray Heaven to show me some
means of getting away. When I had gone far enough
(21:35):
to be clear of all my men, and had found
a place that was well sheltered from the wind, I
washed my hands and prayed to all the gods and
Olympus till by and by they sent me off into
a sweet sleep. Meanwhile, Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel
to the men. Listen to me, said he, my poor comrades.
(21:59):
All deaths are bad enough, but there is none so
bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the
best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to
the immortal gods. If we ever get back to Ithaca,
we can build a fine temple to the Sun God,
and enriched with every kind of ornament. If, however, he
(22:19):
is determined to sink our ship, but of revenge for
these home and cattle, and the other gods are of
the same mind, I, for one, would rather drink salt
water once for all and have done with it, than
be starved to death by inches in such a desert
island as this is. Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men
(22:40):
approved his words. Now the cattle, so fair and goodly,
were feeding not far from the ship. The men therefore
drove in the best of them, and they all stood
round them, saying their prayers, and using young oak shoots
instead of barley meal, for there was no barley left.
When they had done praying, they killed the cows and
(23:02):
dressed their carcasses. They cut out the thigh bones, wrapped
them round in two layers of fat, and set some
pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had
no wine with which to make drink offerings over the
sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on
a little water from time to time while the inward
(23:23):
meats were being grilled. Then, when the thigh bones were
burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut
the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
By this time, my deep sleep had left me, and
I turned back to the ship and to the sea shore.
As I drew near, I began to smell hot roast meat.
(23:46):
So I groaned out of prayer to the immortal gods,
Father Jove, I exclaimed, and all you other gods who
live in everlasting bliss, you have done me a cruel
mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me.
See I would find work these men of mine have
been making in my absence. Meanwhile, Lampity went straight off
(24:07):
to the Sun and told him we had been killing
his cows. Whereon he flew into a great rage and said,
to the immortals, Father Jove, and all you other gods
who live in everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on
the crew of Ulysses's ship. They have had the insolence
to kill my cows, which were the one thing I
(24:27):
loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven
or down again. If they do not square accounts with
me about my cows, I will go down to Hades
and shine there among the dead, son, said Jove, go
on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over the
fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces
(24:50):
with a bolt of white lightning as soon as they
get out to sea. I was told all this by Calypso,
who said she had heard it from the mouth of Mercury.
As soon as I got down to my ship and
to the sea shore, I rebuked each one of the
men separately, and we could see no way out of it,
for the cows were dead already, and indeed the gods
(25:14):
began at once to show signs and wonders among us,
for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and the
joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and
the meat, whether cooked or raw, kept on making a noise,
just as cows do. For six days my men kept
driving in the best cows and feasting upon them. But
(25:35):
when Jove, the son of Saturn, had added a seventh day,
the fury of the gale abated. We therefore went on board,
raised our masts, spread sail, and put out to sea.
As soon as we were well away from the island
and could see nothing but sky and sea, the sun
of Saturn raised a black cloud over our ship, and
(25:58):
the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get
on much further, for in another moment we were caught
by a terrific squaw from the west that snapped the
four stays of the mast, so that it fell aft,
while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom
of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of
(26:18):
the helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones
of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell
overboard as though he were diving, with no more life
left in him. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts,
and the ship went round and round, and was filled
with fire and brimstone. As the lightning struck it, the
(26:40):
men all fell into the sea. They were carried about
in the water round the ship, looking like so many
sea gulls, but the God presently deprived them of all
chance of getting home again. I stuck to the ship
till the sea knocked her sides from her keel, which
drifted about by itself, and struck ruck the mast out
(27:00):
of her in the direction of the keel. But there
was a back stay of stout ox thong still hanging
about it, and with this I lashed the mast and
keel together, and, getting astride of them, was carried wherever
the winds chose to take me. The gale from the
west had now spent its force, and the wind got
(27:22):
into the south again, which frightened me. Lest I should
be taken back to the terrible whirlpool of Charibdis. This
indeed was what actually happened, for I was borne along
by the waves all night, and by sunrise had reached
the rock of Scylla and the whirlpool. She was then
(27:42):
sucking down the salt sea water. But I was carried
aloft toward the fig tree, which I caught hold of
and clung onto like a bat. I could not plant
my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the
roots were a long way off, and the boughs that
over shadowed the whole pool were too high, too vast,
(28:04):
and too far apart for me to reach them. So
I hung patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge
my mast and raft again. And a very long while
it seemed a jury man is not more glad to
get home to supper after having been long detained in
court by troublesome cases, than I was to see my
(28:26):
raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again.
At last, I let go with my hands and feet,
and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft,
unto which I then got and began to row with
my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods and
men would not let her get further sight of me,
(28:47):
otherwise I should have certainly been lost. Hence I was
carried along for nine days till on the tenth night,
the gods stranded me on the ogagean island where dwells
the great and powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in
and was kind to me. But I need say no
(29:08):
more about this, for I told you and your noble
wife all about it yesterday, and I hate saying the
same thing over and over again. End of Book twelve.
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