Chapter XVII: Book XII: The Sirens--Scylla and Charybdis--the cattle of the Sun

"As soon as we were clear of the river Oceanus, we got
out into the open and reached the Ææan island, where
there is dawn and sunrise. There we landed, camped down
upon the beach, and waited till morning came. At daybreak
I sent my men to fetch the body of Elpenor, which we
burned and buried. We built a barrow over him, and in it
we fixed the oar with which he had been used to row.

"When Circe heard that we had returned, she came down 16
with her maids, bringing bread and wine. 'To-day,' she
said, 'eat and drink, and to-morrow go on your way.'

"We agreed to this, and feasted the live-long day to the 23
going down of the sun, but at nightfall Circe took me
aside, and told me of the voyage that was before us. 'You
will first,' said she, 'come to the island of the two
Sirens, who sit in a field of flowers, and warble all who
draw near them to death with the sweetness of their song.
Dead men's bones are lying strewn all round them; still,
if you would hear them, you can stop your men's ears with
wax and bid them bind you to a cross-plank on the mast.

"'As regards the next point that you will reach I can 55
give you no definite instructions as to which of two
courses you must take. You must do the best you can. I
can only put the alternatives before you. I refer to the
cliffs which the gods call "the wanderers," and which
close in on anything that would pass through them--even
upon the doves that are bringing ambrosia to Father Jove.
The sea moreover is strewn with wreckage from ships which
the waves and hurricanes of fire have destroyed.

"'Of the two rocks,[20] the one rises in a peak to 73
heaven, and is overhung at all times with a dark cloud
that never leaves it. It looks towards the West, and
there is a cave in it, higher than an arrow can reach.
In this sits Scylla yelping with a squeaky voice like
that of a young hound, but she is an awful monster with
six long necks and six heads with three rows of teeth
in each; whenever a ship passes, she springs out and
snatches up a man in each mouth.

"'The other rock is lower, but they are so close that 101
you can shoot an arrow from the one to the other. [On
it there is a fig-tree in full leaf].[21] Underneath it 103
is the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis, which sucks the
water down and vomits it out again three times a day. If
you are there when she is sucking, not even Neptune can
save you; so hug the Scylla side, for you had better lose
six men than your whole crew.

"'You will then arrive at the Thrinacian island, where 127
you will see the cattle of the Sun (and also his sheep)
in charge of the two nymphs Lampetie and Phaëthusa. If 132
you leave these flocks unharmed, after much trouble you
will yet reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, you will
lose your men, and though you may get home after all, it
will be late.'

"Here she ended, and at break of day we set out, with a 142
fair wind which Circe sent us. I then told my men about
the two Sirens, but had hardly done so before we were
at the island itself, whereon it fell a dead calm. I
kneaded wax and stopped the men's ears; they bound me
to a cross-plank on the mast; I heard the Sirens sing,
and when I struggled to free myself they bound me still
tighter. So we passed the island by.

"Shortly after this I saw smoke and a great wave ahead, 201
and heard a dull thumping sound. The sea was in an
uproar, and my men were so frightened that they loosed
hold of their oars, till I put heart into them, bade
them row their hardest, and told the steersman to hug
the Scylla side. But I said nothing about Scylla, though
I kept straining my eyes all over her rock to see if I
could espy her.

"So there we were, with Scylla on the one hand and dread 234
Charybdis on the other. We could see the sea seething as
in a cauldron, and the black ooze at the bottom with a
wall of whirling waters careering round it. While my men
were pale with fear at this awful sight, Scylla shot out
her long necks and swooped down on six of them. I could
see their poor hands and feet struggling in the air as
she bore them aloft, and hear them call out my name in
one last despairing cry. This was the most horrid sight
that I saw in all my voyages.

"Having passed the cliffs,[22] and Scylla and Charybdis, 260
we came to the Thrinacian island, and from my ship I
could hear the cattle lowing, and the sheep bleating.
Then, remembering the warning that Tiresias and Circe had
given me, I bade my men give the island a wide berth. But
Eurylochus was insolent, and sowed disaffection among
them, so that I was forced to yield and let them land for
the night, after making them swear most solemnly that
they would do the cattle no harm. We camped, therefore,
on the beach near a stream.

"But in the third watch of the night there came up a 312
great gale, and in the morning we drew our ship ashore
and left her in a large cave wherein the sea nymphs meet
and hold their dances. I then called my men together, and
again warned them.

"It blew a gale from the South for a whole month, except 325
when the wind shifted to the East, and there was no
other wind save only South and East. As long as the corn
and wine which Circe had given us held out, my men kept
their word, but after a time they began to feel the
pangs of hunger, and I went apart to pray heaven to take
compassion upon us. I washed my hands and prayed, and
when I had done so, I fell asleep.

"Meanwhile Eurylochus set my men on to disobey me, and 339
they drove in some of the cattle and killed them. When
I woke, and had got nearly back to the ship, I began to
smell roast meat and knew full well what had happened.

"The nymph Lampetie went immediately and told the Sun 374
what my men had done. He was furious, and threatened
Jove that if he was not revenged he would never shine in
heaven again but would go down and give his light among
the dead. 'All day long,' said he, 'whether I was going
up heaven or down, there was nothing I so dearly loved to
look upon as those cattle.'

"Jove told him he would wreck our ship as soon as it was 385
well away from land, and the Sun said no more. I know all
this because Calypso told me, and she had it from Mercury.

"My men feasted six days--alarmed by the most awful 397
prodigies; for the skins of the cattle kept walking
about, and the joints of meat lowed while they were being
roasted. On the seventh day the wind dropped and we got
away from the island, but as soon as we were out of sight
of land a sudden squall sprang up, during which Jove
struck our ship with his thunderbolts and broke it up.
All my men were drowned, and so too should I have been,
had I not made myself a raft by lashing the mast (which I
found floating about) and the ship's keel together.

["The wind, which during the squall came from the West, 426
now changed to the South, and blew all night, so that by
morning I was back between Scylla and Charybdis again.
My raft got carried down the whirlpool, but I clung on
to the boughs of the fig tree, for a weary weary while,
during which I felt as impatient as a magistrate who is
detained in court by troublesome cases when he wants to
get home to dinner. But in the course of time my raft
worked its way out again, and when it was underneath me I
dropped on to it and was carried out of the pool. Happily
for me Jove did not let Scylla see me.][23]

"Thence I was born along for nine days in the sea, and 447
was taken to the Ogygian island of Calypso. I told you
about this yesterday and will not repeat it, for I hate
saying the same thing twice over."