The Odyssey

They could hear Circe within, singing in her beautiful voice as she went to and fro at her great and everlasting loom, on which she was weaving one of those delicate, graceful and dazzling fabrics that goddesses make. (Location 2918)

Tolites, an authoritative man and the one in my party whom I liked and trusted most, now took the lead. “Friends,” he said, “there is someone in the castle working at a loom. The whole place echoes to that lovely voice. It’s either a goddess or a woman. Let us call to her (Location 2920)

immediately.” [230] ‘So they called and Circe came out at once, opened the polished doors, and invited them to enter. In their innocence, the whole party followed her in. But Eurylochus suspected a trap and stayed outside. Circe ushered the rest into her hall, gave them seats and chairs to sit on, and then prepared them a mixture of cheese, barley-meal, and yellow honey flavoured with Pramnian wine. But into this dish she introduced a noxious drug, to make them lose all memory of their native land. And when they had emptied the bowls which she had handed them, she drove them with blows of a stick into the pigsties. Now they had pigs’ heads and bristles, and they grunted like pigs; but their [240] minds were as human as they had been before. So, weeping, they were penned in their sties. Then Circe flung them some forest nuts, acorns and cornel-berries – the usual food of pigs that wallow in the mud. (Location 2922)

‘When I heard this story I slung my big bronze silver-studded sword in its silver scabbard over my shoulder, then my bow, and I told Eurylochus to take me back with him by the way he had come. But he threw his arms round my knees in supplication and broke into a pitiful appeal. ‘ “Favourite of Zeus,” he said, “leave me behind; don’t force me to go with you there. You will never come back yourself and you won’t rescue a single man of your crew. I am certain of it. Let us get away quickly with those that are left here. We might still escape the evil day.” [270] ‘ “Very well, Eurylochus,” I replied; “stay where you are, and eat and drink by the black ship’s hull. But I shall go. I have absolutely no choice.” (Location 2936)

‘With this, I turned my back on the ship and the sea, and struck inland. But, threading my way through the enchanted glades, I was nearing the sorceress’s palace when I met Hermes, god of the golden wand, looking like a young man at that most charming age when the beard first starts to grow. He took my [280] hand in his and greeted me amiably. ‘ “Where are you off to now, my poor fellow,” he said, “wandering alone through the wilds in unknown country, with your friends in Circe’s house penned like pigs in their crowded sties? Have you come here to free them? I think you are more likely to stay with them yourself and never see your home. However, I will save you and deliver you from your trouble. Look: here is a drug of real virtue that you must take with you into Circe’s palace; it will make you immune from evil. I will [290] tell you how she works her black magic. She will begin by preparing you a mixture, into which she will put her drug. But even with its help she will be unable to enchant you, for this antidote that I am going to give you will rob it of its power. I will tell you exactly what to do. When Circe strikes you with her long stick, you must draw your sword from your side and rush at her as though you mean to kill her. She will shrink from you in terror and invite you to her bed. You must not refuse the goddess’s favours, if you want her to free your men and look [300] after you. But make her swear a solemn oath by the blessed gods not to try any more of her tricks on you, or when she has you stripped naked she may rob you of your courage and your manhood.” ‘Then the Giant-killer handed me a herb he had plucked from the ground, and showed me what it was like. It had a black root and a milk-white flower. The gods call it moly, and it is a dangerous plant for mortal men to dig up. But the gods, after all, can do anything. ([Location 2942](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003P9XDA2&l...

...ocation=2942))

Your next encounter will be with the Sirens, who bewitch everybody who [40] approaches them. There is no homecoming for the man who draws near them unawares and hears the Sirens’ voices; no welcome from his wife, no little children brightening at their father’s return. For with their high clear song the Sirens bewitch him, as they sit there in a meadow piled high with the mouldering skeletons of men, whose withered skin still hangs upon their bones. Drive your ship past the spot, and to prevent any of your crew from hearing, soften some beeswax and plug their ears with it. But if you wish to listen yourself, make them bind you[50] hand and foot on board and place you upright by the housing of the mast, with the rope’s ends lashed to the mast itself. (Location 3355)

‘What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles, when it is their own transgressions which bring them suffering that was not their destiny. (Location 911)

The goddess spoke and the next moment she was gone, [320] vanishing like a bird through a hole in the roof. In Telemachus’ heart she had implanted spirit and daring, and had brought the image of his father to his mind even more strongly than before. He felt the change and was overcome with awe, for he realized a god had been with him. Then, godlike himself, he rejoined the Suitors. (Location 1031)

Athene endowed him with such supernatural grace that all eyes were turned on him in admiration when he came up. The elders made way for him as he took his father’s seat. (Location 1090)