The Odyssey - Book 10 - Odysseus recounts his odyssey: Circe

• Reading time: about 37 minutes

• The Aeolean Wind

• Coming off the triumph of his escape from the Cyclops, no wonder Odysseus feels he is invincible. They land on the floating island of Aeolus, the master of the winds, winds that are so important to sailors like Odysseus. Here we find another inbred society, somewhat like the Phaeacians (who, don't forget, are still listening to his story), only worse — six brides for six brothers, except here it's incest, but what the heck. What better gift for a sailor to get than the bag of winds? Odysseus now has it made. In fact, after nine days' sailing, he sees his home of Ithaca in sight. Why not take a nap? Which he does. Unluckily, his men's jealousy comes out and they open the bag, to disastrous results. Blown back to Aeolus, Odysseus asks for help again, but this time he is cruelly rejected. In fact, Aeolus calls him the most cursed man alive. What could be worse?

• The Laestrygonians, that's what.

• It can't get much worse than more cannibal giants. Here Odysseus loses all the rest of his men except for those on his ship. He is in despair. Where's his renown now?

Odysseus and Circe

• Circe.

• Powerpoint on the Cyclops and Circe.
• Circe, like Calypso in Book 5, is a witch-figure who detains Odysseus. Calypso conceals him, while Circe tries to enchant and reduce men to slaves. What Circe has, men want. She drugs the delicious mixture that Odysseus's men eat and the men are turned into swine.
• It is important to notice the contrast between Odysseus and Odysseus's man Eurylochus around line 299. Eurylochus observes the men's transformation and, in a panic, reports the horrible happening to Odysseus. Notice that Odysseus does not play it safe but feels he MUST rescue his men (300).
• Almost in response to Odysseus's daring, the god Hermes appears to provide Odysseus with an antidote to Circe's spell. For the first time, when Circe tries to ensnare a man, the man has power to resist. For the first time, Circe is enchanted by a man: "Never has any other man withstood my potion, never, once it's past his lips and he has drunk it down. You have a mind in you no magic can enchant! You must be Odysseus, man of twists and turns!" (362-365)
• She immediately recognizes something in him that she has never found in a man before: "let's go to bed together." But Odysseus resists: "Circe, Circe, … you lure me to your room to mount your bed, so once I lie there naked you'll unman me."
• Odysseus enforces an oath from Circe never to harm him, which she consents to. What is it about Odysseus's attitude toward life that brings the favor of the gods and the respect of Circe to him? Is this a trait you have seen not just here but elsewhere in the epic so far? [Discuss Ody Bk10 Q01]