As the ship drew near to the Sirens, they burst into song. “Come closer to us, famous Odysseus,” they sang. “Moor your ship near our coast so that you can listen to our sweet songs forever.”
Odysseus strained against the ropes that bound him to the mast. He signaled frantically to his crew to set him free, but they followed Odysseus’ command and refused to release him. They flung themselves against the oars and rowed harder and harder until the voices of the Sirens faded away. When the crew felt that they were out of danger, they removed the wax in their ears and loosed Odysseus’ bonds.
No sooner had they escaped from the Sirens when Odysseus spied waves booming against another set of cliffs. The passageway between them was so narrow that it seemed impossible to pass through. In a cave on the higher cliff lived Scylla, a long-necked monster with six dogs’ heads and twelve feet. When ships passed by, she stretched out her feet and grabbed sailors from their decks. She tore them to pieces with her many sharp teeth so that they died a terrible death.
Below the cliff directly opposite Scylla lived Charybdis, a deadly whirlpool, that sucked in the water of the passageway three times a day. Then, she spit it out in towering spouts. When a ship entered the whirling spiral, none on board survived. Sometimes, a lucky ship would pass over the whirlpool when she was calm, but the chances of this happening were rare. Odysseus decided that sailing near Charybdis meant certain death for everyone on the ship, so he sailed closer to Scylla. Still, even though his crew rowed furiously, Scylla snatched and ate six of the men.
By this time, Odysseus’ sailors had been rowing for weeks without food and were starving. They landed on the Island of the Sun to rest. Odysseus made them swear that they would leave the cattle untouched. At first, they caught fish and hunted game. But their increasing hunger drove the men to a foolish action. When Odysseus went to sleep, the men could not resist killing and roasting several of the cattle. When Odysseus awoke, he was horrified, for he knew his men would be punished. After the ship set sail again, Zeus took revenge. He sent a thunderbolt which destroyed the ship and sent it spinning to the bottom of the ocean, carrying everyone but Odysseus to their deaths.
For nine days, Odysseus drifted on the sea by clinging to the mast and keel, or bottom, of his ship. On the tenth day, he washed ashore on Ogyia, the island home of the beautiful nymph, Calypso. The long-haired nymph nursed him back to health and fell in love with Odysseus in the process. She planned to keep him with her forever. Without a ship, Odysseus could not escape her island. Calypso plied Odysseus with fine food and drink to tempt him to stay with her. She offered him immortality and eternal youth. She made life so comfortable for him that he stayed on her island for seven years and did not do a single day’s work the entire time. Yet although Calypso begged him to stay with her, Odysseus could not forget Penelope. He began to feel sharp pangs of loneliness for his home and family.
Poseidon, who did not want Odysseus to reach home, rejoiced in the hero’s homesickness. However, Athena decided it was time for Odysseus to receive his wish: to see his wife and son again. Athena waited until Poseidon was occupied somewhere else. Then, she visited Zeus and asked him to command Calypso to let Odysseus go.
Zeus sent his messenger, Hermes, to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. Hermes strapped on his golden, winged sandals and flew over the waves to Calypso’s island. He entered the cave where the nymph with the lovely braids made her home. With a breathtaking voice, she sang as she wove colorful cloths at her loom deep inside the cave.
Calypso recognized Hermes right away. “Messenger god, my dear friend, why have you come?” she asked. “I am eager to do whatever you wish.” She asked Hermes to sit at a table, where she served him ambrosia and roasted meats.
When Hermes had finished eating, he said, “Zeus bade me come. The king of the gods claims that you are keeping beside you Odysseus, a man who set sail for home after helping win the Trojan War. On the way, he faced many adventures and lost all of his men. Now Zeus commands you to let him go, for it is not his fate to die here.”
At first, Calypso was angry at these words. “I saved Odysseus from drowning after Zeus had destroyed his ship with one white-hot lightning bolt. Now the king of the gods wishes me to let Odysseus go?” Calypso sighed in frustration. “I will send Odysseus off, since this is the will of Zeus.”
Hermes flew back to Olympus, while Calypso searched for Odysseus to tell him the news that he was going home. She found him sitting on the beach, weeping because he was so homesick.
“Kind Calypso,” he said, “I am forever grateful that you saved me from certain death in the sea. But I am so lonely for my wife and son.”
“There is no need for you to grieve for them any longer, Odysseus,” Calypso said. “Zeus has commanded that you are to return to Ithaca. I am willing, heart and soul, to send you home now.”
She invited him back to her cave for a farewell feast before he left. Despite her fervent promise to let Odysseus go, Calypso wanted one more chance to try to convince him to stay with her.
“So, Odysseus,” Calypso said as she sipped her cup of ambrosia. “Are you still eager to hurry back to Ithaca? If you only knew what pain your departure causes me. If you stay with me, I will make you immortal. Even though your lovely wife, Penelope, is faithful and true, she will not live forever.”
“Beautiful nymph,” Odysseus answered, “what you say is true. Yet, if I do not leave now, I will long for the rest of my days for a glimpse of the shores of Ithaca and the family that waits for me there.”
So Calypso gave Odysseus a bronze ax and adze, a tool for shaping wood. She led him to the edge of her island where the trees grew tall, perfect for constructing a raft. Odysseus cut twenty sturdy timbers and split them into planks. He bored holes through the planks with drills and joined them together with pegs. Then, he added a mast and an oar to help steer him along the best course home. After four days of work, the raft was ready.
On the morning of the fifth day, Calypso joined Odysseus at the shore to launch the raft. She gave him water and wine and her choicest meats to take along. Then, she summoned a gentle breeze to send him on his way. With the wind lifting his spirits, Odysseus pointed his raft toward home.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: How did Odysseus handle the dangerous Sirens?
A: He plugged the ears of his men so that they could not hear the Sirens’ songs. Odysseus was lashed to the mast of his ship so that he could hear the music, but could not yield to it.
Q: Describe the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis. Did Odysseus avoid these dangers?
A: Scylla was a monster with six dogs’ heads and twelve feet. She grabbed sailors from their ships as they passed by. Charybdis sucked water from the passageway and spit it out in towering spouts. Odysseus sailed near Scylla and she ate six of his men.
Q: What happened on the Island of the Sun?
A: Odysseus’ men were so hungry that they killed some of the sacred cattle on the island. When the ship set sail after this, Zeus sent a thunderbolt that destroyed the ship and killed all the men except Odysseus.
Q: How did Odysseus survive?
A: For several days, he clung to the mast and keel of the ship. Then, he was cast ashore onto the island of Calypso.
Q: How long did Odysseus stay on the island? Why?
A: He was there for seven years, because he did not have a ship to escape.
Q: Was Odysseus happy with Calypso?
A: He enjoyed the leisure life on the island, but he missed his wife and son.
Q: How did Odysseus finally leave the island?
A: Zeus ordered Calypso to let Odysseus go. She helped him build a raft, and he sailed away.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
Scylla was not always a deadly monster:
Scylla was once a beautiful but aloof maiden, the beloved of Glaucus, a sea god. Glaucus asked Circe to prepare a potion that would cause Scylla to fall in love with him. Circe, herself enamored with Glaucus, attempted to seduce him, b
ut the sea god could think only of Scylla. So instead of a love potion, the jealous sorceress gave Glaucus a potion that transformed his beloved into a grotesque monster.2
The story of the Sirens appears in the writings of several ancient authors. However, according to classicists Mark P. O. Morford and Robert J. Lenardon, the Sirens were “said by Homer to be two in number, but by other authors to be more.”3
In his voyage home, Odysseus had to resist not only the temptations of the Sirens, but also many other dangers:
The way in which Odysseus resists the deadly pleasure of the Sirens recalls his own forbearance among the Lotus-Eaters. Odysseus not only faces the challenge of conquering giants and ogres in his quest to return to Penelope. The hero must also deny himself the delights of the lotus, Circe, the Sirens, and later Calypso—or he will never make it home.4
One of the themes of the Odyssey is that of the hero who wants to find his way home. According to classicist Bernard Knox:
Many centuries after Homer, the Florentine Dante Alighieri, who had not read Homer and whose information about Ulysses (the Latin form of Odysseus’ name) came from Virgil and Ovid, saw in the Greek hero a vision of the restless explorer, the man who, discontented with the mundane life of that home he had longed for, set off again in search of new worlds.5
Knox observed that Homer’s view of Odysseus is quite different: “But these visions of Odysseus as the restless explorer, hungry for new worlds, have little to do with Homer’s Odysseus, who wants above all things to find his way home and stay there.”6 Beginning in the ancient world, many geographers tried to plot Odysseus’ journey:
This wild-goose chase had begun already in the ancient world, as we know from the brusque dismissal of such identifications by the great Alexandrian geographer Eratosthenes, who said that you would be able to chart the course of Odysseus’ wanderings when you found the cobbler who sewed the bag in which Aeolus confined the winds. This of course has not deterred modern scholars and amateurs from trying; their guesses run from the possible—Charybdis as a mythical personification of whirlpools in the straits between Sicily and the toe of the Italian boot—to the fantastic: Calypso’s island as Iceland.”7
During his voyage, Odysseus often depended on the kindness of strangers, according to classicist Bernard Knox:
Some of them, like the Phaeacians and Aeolus, king of the winds, will be perfect hosts, entertaining him lavishly and sending him on his way with precious gifts. Others will be savages, threatening his life and taking the lives of his crew. Still others will be importunate hosts, delaying the guest’s departure—an infraction of the code.... Circe is a charming hostess, but she charms her guests out of human shape and keeps them forever. Calypso too would have kept Odysseus forever, but in his own shape, perpetually young. The Sirens would have kept him forever also, but dead. Calypso and Circe, however, when the time comes to speed the parting guest, provide the requisite gifts. Calypso sends a fair wind to send his raft on its way, and Circe gives him precious instructions—how to deal with the Sirens, the warning not to kill the cattle of the Sun.8
9
HOME AT LAST
INTRODUCTION
One of the themes of this story is that a soldier who returns home from war must also reconquer his homeland. As a returning warrior, Odysseus must re-establish his position in the household. This meant driving out the more than 100 suitors who pestered his wife, stole his property, and threatened his son.
Another theme is that of a young boy maturing into a young man. When Odysseus left home to fight in the Trojan War, his son, Telemachus, was an infant. Throughout the Odyssey, Telemachus developed independence and self-confidence as he helped his parents. Athena assisted him in his education by sending him to Sparta and other foreign lands. When his father returned home, Telemachus learned how to implement a battle plan and stood at his father’s side, killing all the suitors.
Penelope represented the ideal of Greek womanhood. She waited faithfully for her husband, no matter what he did. She operated a complex household with skill, despite the threat that came from the presence of the suitors. Penelope also demonstrated intelligence, for in this tale, she tested Odysseus before she would acknowledge him as her husband returned home from the war.
The Greek concept of xenia also played an important part in this myth, as it has in the stories of the judgment of Paris, the Cyclops, and Circe. A stranger was always welcomed by the host. Serving girls anointed, or rubbed, the guest’s body with olive oil and provided him with fresh clothing. Then, the guest would tell of his family and his journey. Above all, a guest was never to harm his host. A host, in turn, was always to act honorably to his guest. The Phaeacians offered hospitality to Odysseus. Then, the Phaeacians set sail to return home to Scheria. Unfortunately, Poseidon was so furious with them for helping Odysseus that he turned the ship and crew into stone as they approached their own harbor. As a result, the Phaeacians never again offered hospitality to strangers.
Home at Last
More danger awaited Odysseus. Poseidon saw him as his raft neared the land of the Phaeacians, a kind people known for being skilled sailors. The god of the sea was furious that Zeus had helped his enemy, Odysseus. Poseidon sent down a huge storm that destroyed the tiny raft. However, the sea goddess Leucothea gave Odysseus her veil. She told him to wrap it around his waist to help keep him afloat and to swim with all his might. After two days and nights, Odysseus reached the shores of Scheria, home of the Phaeacians. He tossed the veil back into the sea and, exhausted, crawled under some bushes to sleep.
The next day, the Princess Nausicaä found him when she went to wash clothes down by the shore. She brought him to her father, King Alcinoüs. The king was known for his hospitality to strangers. Alcinoüs gave Odysseus many precious guest gifts, such as cauldrons filled with silver and garments trimmed with gold. He also gave him a ship and some of his best sailors to take him back to Ithaca.
Once on board ship, Odysseus fell so soundly asleep that the sailors did not want to disturb him. When they arrived at Ithaca, the Phaeacians left Odysseus asleep on the shore, surrounded by the gifts that King Alcinoüs had sent him.
When Odysseus awakened, he did not recognize where he was because he had been away from Ithaca for twenty years. Athena, disguised as a herdsman, appeared to him and reassured him that he was finally home safely. She helped him hide the treasures in a cave. Then, she transformed the mighty warrior into an old beggar in tattered rags. She touched him with her wand and changed his skin into that of an old man. Then she said, “I will be with you when you confront the greedy suitors at your palace. But do not go immediately to the palace. First, visit Eumaeus, your faithful swineherd.” This herder of pigs lived in a hut out in the country. “Stay with him until you find out exactly what has happened at the palace while you have been gone. I will go and fetch your son, Telemachus, from Sparta.”
Eumaeus did not recognize Odysseus, for his disguise was excellent. But the rules of xenia dictated that he must offer hospitality to a stranger. He offered his best food and drink to the beggar. Then Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, asked Eumaeus what the situation was like at the palace.
“The suitors, more than one hundred in number, devour the wealth of Odysseus. They eat his animals and waste his wine with their riotous living,” complained Eumaeus. “Yet, Penelope remains true to her husband and waits anxiously for his return. But come, it is time for sleep. Please, as my guest, take the place of honor near the fire. I will sleep outside. That way, I can be sure that no harm will come to you.”
Odysseus was honored that his servant had been so faithful and treated him as a honored guest. But Odysseus was not yet ready to reveal himself to Eumaeus.
In the meantime, a dire situation had developed for Odysseus’ family on Ithaca. It had been twenty years since Odysseus had sailed for Troy. His baby son was now grown up. By now, everyone except his family and his trusted servants thought that Odysseus was dead. The general feeling was that
Penelope should remarry, since she was queen of a rich land. Many suitors desired the wealth and power that would come with being ruler of Ithaca. They had come from all the nearby islands to try to convince Penelope to marry one of them. They spent many hours sitting in the great hall of the palace, eating and drinking the food and wine that by rights belonged to Odysseus. Even worse, the suitors were rude to Penelope and threatened to harm Telemachus.
At first, Penelope tricked the suitors. She concocted a scheme which she hoped would drive her suitors to boredom and cause them to leave. “I cannot marry again until I have woven a very fine burial garment to cover the body of Laertes, the father of Odysseus. I must have this ready before Laertes dies,” she said.
As rude as the suitors had been, none of them were rude enough to criticize such a task. Little did they know that each night, Penelope picked apart what she had woven during the day. Penelope carried on this scheme for three years until a disloyal servant told the suitors what she was doing. As a result, the suitors pestered Penelope even more to choose one of them to marry. This was the situation when Odysseus landed on Ithaca at the end of his ten years of wandering.
Just before Odysseus had arrived on Ithaca, Athena had sent Telemachus to Pylos and Sparta. There, he learned about leadership from the kings and warriors Nestor and Menelaus. Then, Athena told him he needed to return to Ithaca, for his father was there. She also cautioned him that the suitors planned to ambush him upon his return, so he landed on the opposite side of the island from where they expected him. Then, Telemachus went to Eumaeus’ hut, where the swineherd welcomed him with tears of rejoicing.
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