This is the end of Odysseus’ adventures in getting home after the Trojan War. Having managed to escape from the cyclops, Odysseus and his men sail on, encountering the witch Circe on her island. Eventually, they escape from her as well, but with warnings of the sirens and the two sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. This story, from Kline's translation of Homer's Odyssey, sums up the last of his adventures, after which it returns to the present setting (Odysseus telling his story to the people who found him washed up on shore).
Reading Notes
- Odysseus explains to his men that he wants to hear the sirens' song (although he doesn't appear to explain why) and what he has planned for them.
- The sirens' song lures men to their death (the sirens eat them)
- The crew all stuff their ears with wax, and Odysseus is tied to the mast of the ship.
- Although he is enchanted by the sirens' song, he can't break free of the ropes, and as the men can't hear him, they don't obey his order to let him free.
- They free him after they're out of range
- (This gets copied a lot in various fictions)
- They go towards the two sister sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis
- Odysseus was warned of them by Circe, but he doesn't totally obey her instructions about staying unarmed.
- Charybdis is a whirlpool, while Scylla is a six-headed monster.
- The ship is so focused on avoiding Charybdis that Odysseus loses six of his crewmen to Scylla, who eats them, one per head.
- Odysseus describes the site as the saddest thing he's seen on the sea (this from a man who fought a ten-year-long war).
I feel like Odysseus was probably tied more securely to the mast than is shown. (Source: Wikipedia)
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