Odyssey, Book 12 Notes

The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis; The Cattle of the Sun God

Major concepts:

• the burial of Elpenor
• Circe's helpfulness
• Odysseus leadership - its success and failures
• Eurylochus' role
• the South Wind
• the absoluteness of the Gods
• Odysseus' endurance

Study Guide Questions:

1. Why should Odysseus be wary of the Sirens?
2. What should he and his men do to keep safe from the Sirens?
3. Describe Scylla.
4. What will Charybdis do if Odysseus's ship gets too close?
5. What does Odysseus keep secret from his men?
6. What advice does Odysseus take that Circe gives him about Scylla and Charybdis? What does this tell us about leadership?
7. Why are the cattle of Helios' island so tempting?
8. What warning does Odysseus give his men?
9. This is not the first time Odysseus' warnings are ignored. Whose fault is this?
10. This is also not the first time Odysseus's orders are defied. Does this absolve him of responsibility?

Page 127.
Vocabulary: none.

• Format of book 12 also follows that of books 9 & 10 -- two smaller incidents followed by a larger, more complex one
• "...then drew our ship on to the sands..." --> why don't Odysseus's men just stay on the ship to eat and sleep? Greek ships were designed merely as tools of transport -- there wasn't a designated area for eating / sleeping
• "I sent some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor...." --> note the care they take when preparing / burying Elpenor
• "...you will have died twice, to other people's once..." --> because Odysseus visited the land of the dead

Page 128.
Vocabulary: unwarily

• "Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from the others..." --> Circe tells Odysseus advice in secret -- leaving it up to him to decide what to share with his men -- note in the next few pages what he decides to share and what he decides to keep secret
• "First you will come to the Sirens..." --> Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens -- they will hypnotize Odysseus and his men through their singing; she tells him he may listen to them but must first protect himself and his men -- how does she suggest doing this?
• Sirens may have come from the Greek seire, meaning "rope" --> their music / singing "binds" people, like rope
• "Inside it Scylla sits and yelps..." --> note the intricate description of Scylla -- what does she look like?

Page 129.
Vocabulary: none.

• "A large fig tree..." --> this is important; take note of this
• "...the sucking whirlpool of Charybdis..." --> Circe warns Odysseus about Charybdis -- what does she look like?
• "You will now come to the Thrinacian island...seven herds of catlle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock...." --> 350 total cattle -- does this represent the days of the year? is this a clever warning about not "wasting time" ?
• Phaesthusa = "radiant" ; Lampetie = "shining"
• "If you leave these flocks unharmed..." --> does this warning sound familiar? Check out Teiresias's speech on 117

Page 130.
Vocabulary: none.

• "I will therefore tell you about them..." --> Odysseus tells his men that he wants them to know the whole truth -- does he tell it to them?
• "I had hardly finished telling everything to the men..." --> they reach the island of the Sirens -- will Odysseus take Circe's advice? what does he do to protect himself? what does he do to protect his men?
• "Come here, renowned Odysseus, honor to the Achaean name..." --> a curious person like Odysseus would have had trouble resisting the knowledge the Sirens had to offer
• How do Odysseus's men react when he motions for them to release him?
• Possibly, the Sirens represented irresistible temptation to those who desire knowledge -- which ultimately leads to death or destruction -- does this moral reflect any other "myths" or stories we know about?
• "This is not the first time that we have been in danger..." --> true, but look at his next statement on the next page

Page 131.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel saved us then..." --> really? I mean, really really?
• "I said nothing about the awful monster..." --> wasn't Odysseus going to be up-front and honest with all of his men?
• "...one thing only did I disobey Circe's strict instructiosn -- I put on my armor...." --> out of selfishness? no one else was able to put on armor
• "...we could see the water all inside whirling..." --> what happens when Odysseus and his men encounter Scylla and Charybdis?
• The death of his men with Scylla is even more horrible than the Cyclops because it was drawn out and because the men were calling out to him as they were being carried away / eaten by the monster
• "Then I remembered what the blind Theban prophet Teiresias had told me..." --> Odysseus remembers the warning -- will he follow through?

Page 132.
Vocabulary: behests

• "...listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me..." --> does he really tell them anything?
• Eurylochus convinces Odysseus and the men that they need to stay on the island and rest. Why does Odysseus give in when he knows the risk?
• "...each one of you must take his solemn oath..." --> Odysseus makes them promise not to hurt the cattle
• "In the third watch of the night..." --> in the Iliad, Greeks divided the day into 3 parts, not 2
• "We have meat and drink in the ship, let us mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle..." --> Odysseus reminds them not to eat the cattle
• "For a whole month..." --> they are stranded for a month -- will the food last?

Page 133.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...catching birds, and taking whatever they could lay their hands on..." --> food ran out
• "I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show me some means of getting away....by and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep..." --> why is it when the most important moment comes that Odysseus falls asleep???
• "All deaths are bad enough but there is none so bad as famine...." --> Eurylochus leads the men in a rebellion -- what makes famine, according to Eurylochus, so bad?
• Eurylochus realizes the calculated risk, but is willing to take it -- what will the men do for the Sun God if/when they reach home safely?
• "...no barley left..." --> therefore, they didn't have wine and couldn't perform a proper sacrifice
• "I began to smell hot roast meat..." --> Odysseus realizes what happened while he was gone -- who does he blame for his falling asleep?
• "If they do not square accounts with me about my cows..." --> Sun God tells Zeus -- if you don't fix this, I'll hide (the sun will no longer shine); Zeus agrees to help the Sun God by "shiver{ing} their ship into little pieces with a bolt of white lightning..."

Page 134.
Vocabulary: backstay

• "I was told all this by Calypso..." --> was anyone else wondering how Odysseus knew what Zeus said to the Sun God?
• "...the hides of the cattle crawled about..." --> the chopped up cattle pieces move about and still moo -- wouldn't people consider this 'tainted meat' and avoid eating it? Odysseus's men don't.
• "...the son of Cronus raised a black cloud..." --> Zeus crashes Odysseus's ship
• "...but I was carried aloft toward the fig tree..." --> Odysseus catches onto the fig tree -- which saves his life from Charybdis

Page 135.
Vocabulary: none.

• "Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the gods stranded me on the Ogygian island..." --> Odysseus arrives at Calypso's island in his story -- which finally brings us to the present

Additional Notes:

• Interesting that with Poseidon as the antagonist that the Sun God (not Poseidon) is ultimately responsible for the death of his shipmates
• Did the men deserve death as a punishment? Were they guilty? (1) they were warned; (2) they swore an oath not to touch the cattle; (3) they were fully aware of a risk of disobeying; (4) they did not have resources to conduct a proper sacrifice; (5) the moo-ing meat did not deter them from further slaughtering / eating the meat
• Is the men's betrayal to Odysseus and subsequent slaughter / outrageous behavior similar to any other groups in the Odyssey?

Bibliography

Odyssey, Book 10 Notes

Aeolus; The Laestrygones; Circe

Major concepts:

• King Aeolus's gift to Odysseus
• Odysseus letting his "guard down"
• Aeolus's belief that Odysseus is not favored by the gods
• Aeolus's attitude toward second chances
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches the land of the Laestrygonians
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches Aeaea
• Circe's initial reception of Odysseus's men and her witchcraft
• the role of Hermes
• Odysseus as seducer and seduced
• the importance of Circe's promise
• the luxury of the palace
• Circe's ultimate support and hospitality
• the need to visit Hades and hear from Teiresias

Study Guide Questions:

1. What favor does Aeolus do for Odysseus and his men?
2. What stupid mistake do some of the men make on the ship? Was it preventable? Explain.
3. How does Odysseus lose 11 of his 12 ships and a very large portion of his men?
4. What sort of character is Circe? Why (aside from her magic) is she able to turn Odysseus's men into pigs? What have they done to offend her or what weakness do they show?
5. What does Hermes give to Odysseus? What is it supposed to do?
6. What makes Odysseus succumb for a time to Circe's enticements? What is his mistake here?
7. How does Odysseus get Circe to release his men?
8. How long does Odysseus stay with Circe in her palace?
9. Why does Odysseus need to visit the Land of the Dead and consult with Teiresias?
10. How is Circe like Calypso? How is she different?

• the formatting of book 10 mimics that of book 9: two shorter incidents followed by a longer, more complex one
• themes started in book 9 will continue to develop in book 10: tension between Odysseus and his men; Odysseus's vulnerability to accusations of cowardice and obstinancy (Odyssey seems more set to stay with Circe than his men)

Page 103.
Vocabulary: savor, flayed

• Aeolian island: stop # 5
• Aeolus --> name means "changeful" -- appropriate (1) ruler of the winds; (2) lives on a floating island; and (3) treats Odysseus different two times
• Hippotas --> name means "horseman" -- connections to Poseidon (god of horses)
• "...so he made the sons marry the daughters..." --> a practice of the gods, not humans
• "All day long the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savor of roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all." --> personification
• "Aeolus entertained me for a whole month" --> verbal cue
• "...he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up in the hide as in a sack..." --> Aelous bags up all the winds except for the West wind "which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose"
• "...for we were lost through our own folly..." --> foreshadowing / will pride play a role in this?
• "Nine days and nine nights did we sail..." --> they can see Ithaca by the tenth day

Page 104.
Vocabulary: prevailed, lamented

• "...for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands..." --> because he didn't trust them?
• "...the men fell to talking among themselves..." --> what do the men decide to do here? what is their motivation? how does this reflect on Odysseus as a leader?
• distrust is mutual between Odysseus and his men
• "They loosed the sack...raised a storm that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country." --> what happens when they open the sack?
• "...knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on..." --> Odysseus contemplates suicide
• "We took pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go...." --> INFER: how will Aeolus react when Odysseus asks him for help again?
• "My men have undone me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me." --> Odysseus blames his men mostly for what happened. Who do you believe is at fault?
• "Vilest of mankind, get you gone....Be off, for you come here as one abhorred of heaven." --> Odysseus has not said or done anything to indicate the gods hate him (he fell asleep -- not by any god or goddess's commands; his men unleashed the winds, again, of their own free will) so why would Aeolus assume he is hated by the gods?
• "Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day, we reached the rocky stronghold of Lamus -- Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians...." --> stop # 6

Page 105.
Vocabulary: reconnoitre, forthwith

• "...we found it land-locked under steep cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands..." --> does this place sound dangerous? why/why not?
• "I kept my own ship outside..." --> important that Odysseus's ship is isolated from the others
• the Laestrygonians have "a level road" for firewood transport (industrialized) and a "place of assembly" (law and order) --> so are they "civilized"?
• "...so she directed them to her father's house...they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain...." --> the guide leads them straight to danger -- are the laws of hospitality broken here?
• "He snatched up one of them, and began to make his dinner off him then and there..." --> cannibals, like the Cyclops
• "...they threw vast rocks at us from the cliffs as through they had been mere stones..." --> the ships in the harbor are destroyed before they have the opportunity to leave
• "While they were thus killing my men within the harbor I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and told my men to row with all their might..." --> is Odysseus acting like a coward here? how does this reflect on his leadership? is he doing the right thing?
• "As for the others there was not one of them left...." --> Odysseus loses 11 of his 12 ships at the land of the Laestrygonians
• "...glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades..." --> repetition, page 101
• "...came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives..." --> stop # 7

Page 106.
Vocabulary: fathom

• "...send some of them instead of going myself..." --> Odysseus sends his men to investigate instead of himself; how does this reflect on his leadership?
• "...sent a fine stag..." --> Odysseus kills a large deer and tries to rally his crew
• "...they uncovered their heads..." --> they had been mourning the loss of the other crewmembers
• "...the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> epithet
• "...so I divided them into two companies...I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of the other myself...." --> 22 men + 1 leader X 2 groups = 46 men; they lost 6 with the Cicones and 6 at the Cyclops's home = around 60 men total per ship

Page 107.
Vocabulary: fawned

• "...mountain wolves and lions..." --> compare and contrast this image with other descriptions of Nature so far (Calypso's island; Cyclops's island)
• similarities with Calypso: (1) both live alone; (2) both are unmarried goddesses; (3) both live on islands; (4) both have strange powers; (5) both are untrustworthy; (6) both sing and weave; (7) both compel Odysseus to stay with them for a time [Calypso = 7 years; Circe = 1 year]
• "As hounds crowd round their master..." --> Homeric simile
• "...all except Eurylochus, who suspected mischief and stayed outside..." --> INFER: does he have something to fear?
• "...she drugged it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes...she turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand..." --> Circe turns them into pigs
• Eurylochus returns to tell Odysseus what happened with the other men

Page 108.
Vocabulary: lairs

• "...let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that are left..." --> Eurylochus doesn't want Odysseus to go back -- does he perhaps remember what happened in the past when Odysseus couldn't control his adventurous spirit?
• "...for I am most urgently bound to do so...." --> what is Odysseus's motivation here? does he feel guilty about abandoning the other men or will this rescue bring further glory to him?
• "Hermes with his golden wand, disguised as a young man..." --> PROBLEM: if Odysseus is the one telling the story and Hermes never reveals that he is, in fact, Hermes, then how does Odysseus know this?
• "I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty..." and "...the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it..." --> Hermes offers Odysseus a root to protect him against Circe's powers
• Note the detail of Hermes's instructions to Odysseus about how to defeat / overcome Circe in the fourth paragraph: (1) Circe will mix a potion for him to drink; (2) she will strike him with the wand in an attempt to change him, like the others; (3) Odysseus should draw his sword and act as if he's going to kill her; (4) she will ask him to bed; (5) he must not refuse her but first make her promise not to hurt him

Page 109.
Vocabulary: lair, arrayed, dumb

• "Who and whence are you...?" --> Circe is frightened; Odysseus is able to overcome Circe's powers by way of the Moly from Hermes
• Odysseus makes Circe promise not to hurt him and then goes to bed with her
• Note the hospitality in the fifth paragraph
• Circe notices Odysseus sad in the last paragraph on this page

Page 110.
Vocabulary: halloa-ballooing

• "If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes..." --> Odysseus makes Circe release his men
• "...hide all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men...." --> Circe tells Odysseus to return to the others and bring them back to her palace; he agrees
• "Eurylochus tried to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will become of us...It was all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.' " --> finally someone stands up to Odysseus and makes clear his poor leadership in the past; what does Odysseus consider doing in the next paragraph?

Page 111.
Vocabulary: flit

• "Eurylochus was not left behind after all..." --> Eurylochus had considered staying behind but feared Odysseus if he would not go
• "...so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca..." --> RECALL: what is Odysseus's main goal?
• "We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity of both meat and wine...." --> stayed for 1 year with Circe
• "Sir, it is time you began to think about going home..." --> it is his men who remind him of his goal (interesting change since in the past, it was Odysseus who had to remind his men of this)
• "You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Persephone to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias..." --> Circe tells Odysseus that he must go to the Land of the Dead

Page 112.
Vocabulary: gossamer

• "...poplars and willows..." --> trees associated with death
• Note Circe's detailed instructions of how to get Teiresias to speak to him starting at the end of paragraph 2: (1) go to where the two rivers run together; (2) dig a trench a cubit deep and a cubit wide; (3) pour a drink offering of honey mixed with milk, then wine, then water; (4) sprinkle barley meal over the whole thing; (5) offer prayers to the dead; (6) promise the dead to sacrifice his very best barren heifer and put many 'good things' on the pyre; (7) promise Teiresias to sacrifice the finest black sheep in all the flocks; (8) offer the dead a ram and a black ewe; (9) have the men skin the two sacrificed sheep; (10) offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and Persephone; (11) prevent any other dead from coming near the spilt blood until Teiresias has answered the questions
• "...certain youth named Elpenor..." --> Elpenor slept on the roof of Circe's house and heard the noise downstairs

Page 113.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...coming down by the main staircase..." --> after hearing the noise, Elpenor forgot where he was and stumbled off of the roof; he broke his neck and died; interesting that Odysseus and his men leave him without giving him a proper burial first; Odysseus will see Elpenor in the Land of the Dead

Bibliography

Odyssey Notes, Circe, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, Lord Helios, Calypso, Phaecia

Circe

• Circe warns: “The Sirens are in your path
• The Sirens will sing your mind away
• There are bones around them on the rocks
• Plug your men’s ears with beeswax, but
• If you want to hear the Sirens’ singing, have your men tie you to the mast”
• Circe also warns about Scylla – 12 legs, 6 heads, 3 rows of teeth in each head – a serpent-like monster
• She’ll take one man for each mouth
• Charybdis is next, a giant whirlpool
• Circe says: go closer to Scylla – less risk
• Circe also warns of Helio’s cattle: don’t kill and eat them (the cattle are immortal) and it’ll upset Helios
• Circe says: your men will probably kill the cattle
• O doesn’t tell men about what Circe said

Sirens

• Sirens are ½ bird, ½ woman
• O stuffed his men’s ears with beeswax
• The men tied O to the mast
• When O hears the sirens, he asks to be released but his men do not release him

Scylla and Charybdis

• Scylla stole 6 of O’s men; Charybdis tried to eat the ship, but the ship wasn’t close enough

Land of the Sun God

• O wants to pass by this island, but men want to stop
• O says: “don’t eat the cattle”
• It stormed for a month; they ran out of food
• O leaves men alone to pray to gods
• Eurylochus urges men: “let’s kill cattle”
• “starvation is the worst way to die”
• So, the men kill the cattle
• O returns and is upset at his men
• Helios prayed to Zeus for help: “they killed my cattle”
• Zeus punishes O’s men with a thunderbolt striking the ship
• Only O survives
• He washes up on Calpyso’s shore
  

Calypso

• O spent 7 years as Calypso’s prisoner
• Athena begs Zeus to let O go home
• Calypso is bad b/c she keeps O from his home
• Hermes arrives and likes Calypso’s house
• Hermes tells Zeus’s decree: “release him”
• Calypso tells O: “I thought it over. I’ll let you go.”
• Calypso wants to know why O still wants his wife when she’s not as pretty as Calypso is
• Calypso also offers O immortality if he stays
• O still says he wants to go home
• Calypso helps O build a raft
• Poseidon is still angry; crashes O’s raft

Phaecia, King Alcinous

• O washes up on the Phaecian shore
• O is found by King Alcinous’s daughter
• O is taken to King’s palace; treated very well
• He tells the whole story to the kingdom
• King Alcinous gives O a ship to go home

Please make your comment something meaningful or add something you noted in Book 12 as you read. First or last names only.

Odyssey Notes, Teresias and the Land of the Dead

Teresias was from Thebes
O must make 2 sacrifices to make the dead talk:
a cow which has not given birth
a lamb
O must dig a trench and let blood run into it
The dead will drink the blood and will be able to talk
Teresias says to O:
Poseidon is still really mad at you
when you get to Thrinakia, don’t kill Helios’ cattle
your men will probably kill the cattle
your men will all die
you’ll be lost for many years
you’ll come home on someone else’s ship
men are at your house, eating your food and trying to marry your wife
Teresias tells O that O will kill all suitors, but this will anger the gods
So, he must:
take an oar and go inland until people don’t know what an oar is
wait until someone asks what the oar is
plant the oar in the ground
make a sacrifice to Poseidon
If O does this, he will die an old man

While there, O also sees mother
His mother died of a broken heart for her lost son
O also sees his soldier, Elpenor, who fell asleep on Circe’s roof, fell, broke his neck, and died
Elpenor wants O to return to Circe’s island to bury him
(proper burials were very important to Greeks)
O agrees to return

Odyssey Notes, Laestrygonians & Circe

Land of the Laestrygonians

• Laestrygonians = giant cannibals
• Laestrygonians destroy all ships but O’s

The Island of Aeaea and the Witch Circe

• Eurylochus (a liar) takes 23 men to explore island
• Men find Circe in small stone house
• Wild animals around the house act tame
• She is pretty, singing, and weaving a rug
• All men went inside house but Eurylochus
• Eurylochus thought it was a trick
• Circe turns O’s men into pigs
• Eurylochus goes back to O and tells; no one believes
• O finally decides to investigate
• Hermes stops him on the way; gives him moly
• Moly is special plant which will protect him from Circe’s magic spells
• Moly is poisonous to humans unless a gift from a god
• Hermes tells O:
• act like you will kill her
• She’ll ask you to stay with her; agree to do so
• Tell her to promise: no more tricks
• Tell her: “Release my men”
• O stays with Circe 1 year
• Circe tells O to visit Tereisias