Epitome

Ulysses, as some say, wandered about Libya, or, as some say, about Sicily, or, as others

And putting to sea from Ilium, he touched at Ismarus, a city of the Cicones, and captured it in war, and pillaged it, sparing Maro alone, who was priest of Apollo.[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses with the Cicones, see Hom. Od. 9.39-66. The Cicones were a Thracian tribe; Xerxes and his army marched through their country (Hdt. 7.110). As to Maro, the priest of Apollo at Ismarus, see Hom. Od. 9.196-211. He dwelt in a wooded grove of Apollo, and bestowed splendid presents and twelve jars of red honey-sweet wine, in return for the protection which he and his wife received at the hands of Ulysses.) And when the Cicones who inhabited the mainland heard of it, they came in arms to withstand him, and having lost six men from each ship he put to sea and fled.

And he landed in the country of the Lotus-eaters,[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses with the Lotus-eaters, see Hom. Od. 9.82-104; Hyginus, Fab. 125. The Lotus-eaters were a tribe of northern Africa, inhabiting the coast of Tripolis (Scylax, Periplus 110; Pliny, Nat. Hist. v.28). As to the lotus, see Hdt. 4.177; Polybius xii.2.1, quoted by Athenaeus xiv.65, p. 651 DF; Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. iv.3.1ff. The tree is the Zizyphus Lotus of the botanists. Theophrastus says that the tree was common in Libya, that is, in northern Africa, and that an army marching on Carthage subsisted on its fruit alone for several days. The modern name of the tree is ssodr or ssidr. A whole district in Tripolis is named Ssodria after it. See A. Wiedemann, Herodots Zweites Buch, p. 385, note on Herodotus, ii.96.) and sent some to learn who inhabited it, but they tasted of the lotus and remained there; for there grew in the country a sweet fruit called lotus, which caused him who tasted it to forget everything. When Ulysses was informed of this, he restrained the rest of his men, and dragged those who had tasted the lotus by force to the ships. And having sailed to the land of the Cyclopes, he stood in for the shore.

And having left the rest of the ships in the neighboring island, he stood in for the land of the Cyclopes with a single ship, and landed with twelve companions.[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses and his companions among the Cyclopes, see Hom. Od. 9.105-542; Hyginus, Fab. 125. The story is a folk-tale found in many lands. See Frazer's Appendix to Apollodorus, “Ulysses and Polyphemus.”) And near the sea was a cave which he entered,

And having lit a fire and sacrificed some of the kids, they feasted. But the Cyclops came, and when he had driven in his flocks, he put a huge stone to the door, and perceiving the men he ate some of them.

But Ulysses gave him of Maro's wine to drink, and when he had drunk, he asked for another draught, and when he had drunk the second, he inquired his name; and when Ulysses said that he was called Nobody, he threatened to devour Nobody last and the others first, and that was the token of friendship which he promised to give him in return. And being overcome by wine, he fell asleep.

But Ulysses found a club lying there, and with the help of four comrades he sharpened it, and, having heated it in the fire, he blinded him. And when Polyphemus cried to the Cyclopes round about for help, they came and asked who was hurting him, and when he said, “ Nobody,” they thought he meant that he was being hurt by nobody, and so they retired.

And when the flocks sought their usual pasture, he opened the cave, and standing at the doorway spread out his hands and felt the sheep. But Ulysses tied three rams together,---and himself getting under the bigger, and hiding under its belly, he passed out with the sheep. And having released his comrades from the sheep, he drove the animals to the ships, and sailing away shouted to the Cyclops that he was Ulysses and that he had escaped

Now the Cyclops had been forewarned by a soothsayer that he should be blinded by Ulysses; and when he learned the name, he tore away rocks and hurled them into the sea, and hardly did the ship evade the rocks. From that time Poseidon was wroth with Ulysses.

Having put to sea with all his ships, he came to the island of Aeolia, of which the king was Aeolus.[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses with Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, see Hom. Od. 10.1-76; Hyginus, Fab. 125; Ov. Met. 14.223-232.) He was appointed by Zeus keeper of the winds, both to calm them and to send them forth. Having entertained Ulysses, he gave him an oxhide bag in which he had bound fast the winds, after showing what winds to use on the voyage and binding fast the bag in the vessel. And by using suitable winds Ulysses had a prosperous voyage; and when he was near Ithaca and already saw the smoke rising from the town,[*](Homer says (Hom. Od. 10.30) they were so near land that they could already see the men tending the fires (πυρπολέοντας); but whether the fires were signals to guide the ship to port, or watchfires of shepherds tending their flocks on the hills, does not appear.) he fell asleep.

But his comrades, thinking he carried gold in the bag, loosed it and let the winds go free, and being swept away by the blasts they were driven back again. And having come to Aeolus, Ulysses begged that he might be granted a fair wind; but Aeolus drove him from the island, saying that he could not save him when the gods opposed.

So sailing on he came to the land of the Laestrygones,[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses and his comrades among the Laestrygones, see Hom. Od. 10.80-132; Hyginus, Fab. 125; Ov. Met. 14.233-244.) and---his own ship he moored last. Now the Laestrygones were cannibals, and their king was Antiphates. Wishing, therefore, to learn about the

And he snatched up one of them and devoured him; but the rest fled, and he pursued them, shouting and calling together the rest of the Laestrygones. They came to the sea, and by throwing stones they broke the vessels and ate the men. Ulysses cut the cable of his ship and put to sea; but the rest of the ships perished with their crews.

With one ship he put in to the Aeaean isle. It was inhabited by Circe, a daughter of the Sun and of Perse, and a sister of Aeetes; skilled in all enchantments was she.[*](As to the adventures of Ulysses and his comrades with the enchantress Circe, see Hom. Od. 10.133-574; Hyginus, Fab. 125; Ov. Met. 14.246-440. The word (φάρμακα) here translated “enchantments” means primarily drugs; but in the early stages of medicine drugs were supposed to be endowed with magical potency, partly in virtue of the spells, that is, the form of words, with which the medical practitioner administered them to the patient. Hence druggist and enchanter were nearly synonymous terms. As Circe used her knowledge of drugs purely for magical purposes, without any regard to the medical side of the profession, it seems better to translate her φάρμακα by “enchantments” or “charms” rather than “drugs,” and to call her an enchantress instead of a druggist.) Having divided his comrades, Ulysses himself abode by the ship, in accordance with the lot, but Eurylochus with two and twenty comrades repaired to Circe.

At her call they all entered except Eurylochus; and to each she gave a tankard she had filled with cheese and honey and barley meal and wine, and mixed with an enchantment. And when they had drunk, she touched them with a wand and changed their shapes, and some she made wolves, and some swine, and some asses, and some lions.[*](In Hom. Od. 10.237ff.) the companions of Ulysses are turned into swine only; nothing is said about a transformation of them into wolves, lions, and asses, though round about the house of the enchantress they saw wolves and lions, which stood on their hind legs, wagged their tails, and fawned upon them, because they were men enchanted (Hom. Od. 10.210-219).)

But Eurylochus saw these things and

Having tarried a year there, he sailed the ocean, and offered sacrifices to the souls,[*](The visit of Ulysses to the land of the dead is the theme of the eleventh book of the Odyssey. Compare Hyginus, Fab. 125. The visit was the subject of one of the two great pictures by Polygnotus at Delphi. See Paus. 10.28-31.) and by Circe's advice consulted the soothsayer Tiresias,[*](As to the consultation with Tiresias, see Hom. Od. 11.90-151.) and beheld the souls both of heroes and of heroines. He also looked on his mother Anticlia[*](As to the interview of Ulysses with his mother, see Hom. Od. 11.153-224.) and Elpenor, who had died of a fall in the house of Circe.[*](In the hot air of Circe's enchanted isle Elpenor had slept for coolness on the roof of the palace; then, suddenly wakened by the noise and bustle of his comrades making ready to depart, he started up and, forgetting to descend by the ladder, tumbled from the roof and broke his neck. In his hurry to be off, Ulysses had not stayed to bury his dead comrade; so the soul of Elpenor, unwept and unburied, was the first to meet his captain on the threshold of the spirit land. See Hom. Od. 10.552-560; Hom. Od. 11.51-83.)

And having come to Circe he was sent on his way by her, and put to sea, and sailed past the isle of the

and from the thighs they had the forms of birds.[*](Similarly Apollonius Rhodius (Ap. Rhod., Argon. iv.898ff.) describes the Sirens as partly virgins and partly birds. Aelian tells us (Ael., Nat. Anim. xvii.23) that poets and painters represented them as winged maidens with the feet of birds. Ovid says that the Sirens had the feet and feathers of birds, but the faces of virgins; and he asks why these daughters of Achelous, as he calls them, had this hybrid form. Perhaps, he thinks, it was because they had been playing with Persephone when gloomy Dis carried her off, and they had begged the gods to grant them wings, that they might search for their lost playmate over seas as well as land. See Ov. Met. 5.552-562. In like manner Hyginus describes the Sirens as women above and fowls below, but he says that their wings and feathers were a punishment inflicted on them by Demeter for not rescuing Persephone from the clutches of Pluto. See Hyginus, Fab. 125, 141. Another story was that they were maidens whom Aphrodite turned into birds because they chose to remain unmarried. See Eustathius on Hom. Od. 12.47, p. 1709. It is said that they once vied with the Muses in singing, and that the Muses, being victorious, plucked off the Siren's feathers and made crowns out of them for themselves (Paus. 9.34.3). In ancient art, as in literature, the Sirens are commonly represented as women above and birds below. See Miss J. E. Harrison, Myths of the Odyssey (London, 1882), pp. 146ff. Homer says nothing as to the semi-bird shape of the Sirens, thus leaving us to infer that they were purely human.) Sailing by them, Ulysses wished to hear their song, so by Circe's advice he stopped the ears of his comrades with wax, and ordered that he should himself be bound to the mast. And being persuaded by the Sirens to linger, he begged to be released, but they bound him the more, and so he

And after that he came to two ways. On the one side were the Wandering Rocks,[*](As to Ulysses and the Wandering Rocks, see Hom. Od. 12.52-72; Hom. Od. 12.201-221. The poet mentions (Hom. Od. 12.70-72) the former passage of the Argo between the Wandering or Clashing Rocks, as to which see above Apollod. 1.9.22, with the note. It has been suggested that in the story of the Wandering Rocks we have a confused reminiscence of some sailor's story of floating icebergs. See Merry, on Homer, Od. xii.61.) and on the other side two huge cliffs, and in one of them was Scylla,[*](As to the passage of Ulysses between Scylla and Charybdis, see Hom. Od. 12.73-126; Hom. Od. 12.222-259; Hyginus, Fab. 125, 199.) a daughter of Crataeis and Trienus or Phorcus,[*](Homer mentions Crataeis as the mother of Scylla, but says nothing as to her father (Hom. Od. 12.124ff.). According to Stesichorus, the mother of Scylla was Lamia. See Scholiast on Hom. Od. 12.124; Eustathius on Hom. Od. xii.85, p. 1714. Apollonius Rhodius represents Scylla as a daughter of Phorcus by the night-wandering hag Hecate (Ap. Rhod., Argon. iv.828ff.), and this parentage has the support of Acusilaus, except that he named her father Phorcys instead of Phorcus (Scholiast on Ap. Rhod., Argon. iv.828; compare Eustathius on Hom. Od. xii.85, p. 1714). Hyginus calls her a daughter of Typhon and Echidna (Hyginus, Fab. 125, 151, and praefat. p. 31, ed. Bunte). A Scholiast on Plat. Rep. 9, 588c, who may have copied the present passage of Apollodorus, calls Scylla a daughter of Crataeis and Tyrrhenus or Phorcus, adding that she had the face and breasts of a woman, but from the flanks six heads of dogs and twelve feet. Some said that the father of Scylla was Triton (Eustathius on Hom. Od. xii.85, p. 1714); and perhaps the name Triton should be read instead of Trienus in the present passage of Apollodorus. See the Critical Note.) with the face and breast of a woman, but from the flanks she had six heads and twelve feet of dogs.