The Odyssey - Book 10 (CIRCE)

• They went by the "floating island of Aeolia" which is the home of Aeolus. 
• Aeolus is the favourite of the immortal gods. 
• Aeolus shares his house with his family of twelve, six daughters and six grown up sons- he has gives his sons to his daughters in marriage. 
• For a month Aeolus entertained and questioned Odysseus on everything and he answered everything exactly as it was. 
• Aeolus gave Odysseus a leather bad, which was made from the flayed skin of a full grown ox. Inside the bag was imprisoned the energies of all the winds. 
• Zeus had put Aeolus in charge of the winds. 
• He then called up a breeze from the west to blow my ships and their crews across the sea. 
• For nine days and nights they sailed on. On the tenth day they were in sight of Ithaca. 
• Odysseus was utterly exhausted from driving the ship himself without a break. 
• The crew started to discuss what was in the bag which Aeolus had given them- they thought that it was gold or silver. 
• the crew undid the bag of winds and all of the winds rushed out, therefore pushing them away from their native land. 
• When Odysseus awoke he was debating on whether to jump over the ship and drown or whether to carry on. 
• The winds pushed the ship all the was back to Aeolus. 
• The men disembarked the ship and started having things to eat and drink, and Odysseus told his messenger to accompany him to the palace of Aeolus. 
• they saw Aeolus at dinner with his wife and family. 
• When Aeolus noticed them he asked what had happened, why Odysseus had come back when he had given them the power to reach home. 
• Odysseus replied saying that his "untrustworthy crew" had opened the bag of wind when he was asleep. 
• Aeolus replied telling him to get off the island instantly as there is no one more damnable than Odysseus. "It is not right for me to entertain and equip a man detested by the blessed gods". 
• Odysseus and his men left the island in deep distress. 
• "It was our own stupidity that had deprived us of the winds". 
• For six days and nights the men sailed on. On the seventh day they came to Telepylus (in the Laestrygonian land). 
• "Here we found an excellent harbour, closed in on all sides by an unbroken ring of precipitous cliffs, with two jutting headlands facing each other at the mouth so as to leave only a narrow channel in between". 
• Odysseus brought his ship to rest upon the harbour. He then climbed the headland to get a view from the top. 
• There were no cultivated fields in sight but he did see a wisp of smoke rising from the countryside. 
• Odysseus therefore sent a party of his men to find out what sort of people inhabited the land. 
• The men found a well used track which had been used for carrying timber down the mountains to the town. 
• The men came across Antiphates daughters, a strong girl, drawing water outside the town. She had come to the spring "Artacie" which the people of the town draw their water out of. 
• The girl pointed to her father's, (Antiphates) high roofed dwelling. 
• When they arrived they found Antiphates wife- "a woman of mountainous proportions". 
• Antiphates' wife called her husband who automatically showed his murderous intentions by pouncing on one of his men trying to eat him.
• The other two men ran back to the ship as fast as they could. 
• Antiphates raised a huge cry through the town which brought loads of Laestrygonians running from every direction. 
• They started a massacre throwing rocks at Odysseus' men and carrying the dead men off to make a meal. 
• Odysseus jumped on the ship and told his men to start rowing if they wanted to save their lives. 
• Once again they continues travelling with heavy hearts grieving for the loss of their men but rejoicing at their own escape. 
• They came to the island of Aeaea, "the home of the beautiful Circe, a formidable goddess, with a mortal woman's voice". 
• They brought the ship into the shelter and as some god guided them into it. 
• They lay on the beach for two days and two nights. 
• On the third day Odysseus took his spear from the ship and went to see whether he could find any signs of cultivation. 
• He climbed a rocky height and saw smoke rising from the distance of Circes house. 
• Odysseus then thought to return to the ships, give his men some food and drink and send out an exploration team. 
• When Odysseus had almost reached his ship he came across a stag, Odysseus killed it with his bronze spear and dragged it back to the ship.
• Odysseus' men then washed their hands and prepared a meal. 
• Odysseus then addressed his comrades saying that they are completely loser and so the sooner they think of a plan the better. 
• In the end Odysseus divided his crew into the two different parties with a leader for each. The two party members were Odysseus himself and Eurylochus. 
• Eurylochus went with his twenty two men. 
• They came across Circes house, built of polished stone. Prowling around her palace were mountain wolves and lions which Circe had bewitched with her magic drugs. 
• The men could hear Circe singing with her beautiful voice as she weaved with a dazzling fabric which a goddess made. 
• Eurylochus told the men that they must approach Circe and question her on whether she is a goddess or a mortal. 
• They called out and Circe came to the door and invited them in. The whole party followed her inside the apart from Eurylochus who stayed outside, suspicious. 
• Circe rushed the rest of the men inside and sat them all on chairs whilst she prepared them a mixture of cheese, barley-meal and yellow honey flavoured wine as well as a noxious drug to make them lose all memory of their native land. 
• Once they had finished their bowls they turned into pigs however their minds were just as human as before. 
• They were penned and Circe threw in some pig food. 
• Eurylochus came back to the ship to report what had happened but when he arrived was so horrified he couldn't say a word. After being bombarded by so many questions he finally was able to tell the rest of the crew what had happened. 
• As soon as Odysseus heard the story he threw on his sword and asked Eurylochus to take him back to the palace of Circe. 
• Odysseus ended up going by himself and as he was just starting to walk he came across Hermes. 
• hermes asked him where he is off to and about how Circe uses her black magic to create a drug which will turn people into animals. Hermes then picks up a drug of real virtue and gives it to Odysseus telling him that if he takes it then Circe's drug will have no effect on him. Then when Circe sees this she will invite him into bed with her and if he is to refuse then he will never get his crew back. 
• The drug which Hermes gave to Odysseus to protect him is called Moly and it is dangerous for mortal men to pick it up. 
• Odysseus stood outside Circes home and called out to her, she came to the doors and opened them and invited him inside. 
• Odysseus followed her inside and sat whilst she prepared brew in a golden cup for him. 
• As soon as Odysseus was handed the golden bowl he ate it all so quickly and nothing changed. 
• Odysseus snatched his sword and rushed at Circe but all of a sudden she clasped his knees, slipped below his blade and burst into tears. 
• She asked him to who he was and where he came from, she then asked him to bed with her. 
• Odysseus replied to her asking her why she is asking him to be gentle with her when she has turned half of his crew into pigs. He says he will sleep with her as long as she promises there is nothing else in store for him. 
• Odysseus sat in a cauldron and Circe washed him. She rubbed him with olive oil. 
• They then sat and ate a meal together. 
• Circe tells Odysseus to go down to the ships and stow his items in a cave and then come back with the rest of the crew members. 
• her. 
• Odysseus goes and tells him men to drag the ships further on shore and then tells his men to follow him up to Circes house in order for them to have more supplies which will last them forever. 
• Eurylochus was against Odysseus' idea and asked if they were looking for trouble. 
• As the months went by Odysseus' men always questioned Odysseus on why he is so possessed to stay with Circe rather than escape to his ancestral home. 
• He then went on to bed with Circe again but this time he asked her to keep her promise and let him go.
• Circe tells him that he does not have to stay unwillingly but first he will have to journey through the hall of Hades and dread Persephone. 
• Odysseus after hearing this news sat on the bed and wept but when he had finished he began to question Circe again. 
• Circe tells Odysseus that he will come to a wild coast and Persephones grove. he will need to beach his boat there and go into Hades Kingdom of decay. She tells him that he needs to sacrifice a ewe holding its head towards Erebus. 
• Odysseus then complained that they had lost Elphenor when he was drunk at Circes home and fell asleep on the roof causing him to fall off in the morning. 
• When Odysseus told his men where they were heading they were heartbroken and wept and tore their hair. 
• Circe had tethered a black ewe to the ship without the men seeing.