The Adventures of Ulysses

The ship must pass through a strait guarded by the island of the Siren sisters, two sea witches whose song lures sailors to their deaths. As captain, Ulysses must retain his hearing, so he plugs his men’s ears with wax and has them tie him tightly to the ship’s mast. He orders the crew not to release him, no matter what he says.

As the ship nears the Sirens’ island, Ulysses hears their heavenly music. Overwhelmed by its beauty, he bursts through his bonds and dashes to the rail, but his men grab him, return him to the mast, and tie him with the ship’s anchor rope. Unable to break free, Ulysses gazes longingly at the island and sees the sisters, who are shaped like giant birds with women’s faces. They sing while standing on the bones of dead sailors.

Their frightening appearance blunts the effect of their song, and Ulysses begins to calm down. His sailors, alarmed by the Sirens’ appearance and unable to hear them, row quickly past. When he no longer can hear the music, Ulysses signals to his men to unplug their ears. Ulysses now hears a new sound, that of a giant whirlpool up ahead.

The ship must pass through another strait on its way to Sicily. Hiding behind a huge rock on the strait’s left side lies Charybdis. Once a beautiful water-nymph ally of Poseidon, Charybdis was transformed by Poseidon’s enemy Zeus into “a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers” (92). Charybdis thirsts for water, gulping the tide three times a day and spitting it back in a deadly whirlpool.

Behind the right-hand rock is Scylla, also a once-beautiful nymph who made Poseidon’s wife jealous; she turned Scylla into a giant, spider-like monster with six heads. Ulysses must avoid her hungry mouths without sliding down into the whirlpool.

He takes the helm and guides the ship as close to the middle as he can. Then he gives the helm to Eurylochus, dons his armor, and draws his weapons, ready to fight Scylla. The men row carefully, but Scylla grabs two oars and draws the ship toward her. Tentacles with hands at the ends reach over the rail, searching for sailors. Ulysses hacks at them, but they snatch six sailors. Ulysses grabs an oar and helps row; glancing at Scylla’s rock, he sees her eating the six men alive.

The ship makes it through the strait. Ahead lies Sicily and fresh supplies.

At Sicily, also called Thrinacia, Ulysses drops anchor offshore and consults with his lieutenants. He warns them that the men mustn’t eat a single cow on the giant island or they’ll be forever barred from returning home. Eurylochus promises that the men won’t touch the cows.

On this journey, Ulysses has seen many promises broken, and he’d rather continue to another island. Perimedes points out that the ship is empty of Circe’s provisions, the men are exhausted, and the winds are wrong for any travel except by arduous rowing. Ulysses agrees to make landing but tells the officers to kill any man who approaches a herd.

The men beach the ship and set out in search of game, water, and pitch to re-caulk the ship. They find water but only a few wild pigs to eat. All night, Ulysses stands watch. In the morning, a strong wind blows against the shore, preventing them from sailing. The wind continues for a month while the men try to find food. Soon, they’re eating fish heads and sand crabs.

One night, as Ulysses sleeps, Eurylochus gathers the men and tells them it’s better to feast and die than starve to death. The men go into the field, kill six magnificent cows, and offer sacrifice to the gods—they know they’re defying the deities and want to placate them. Then they roast the meat and devour it.

The Sun-Titan learns of the slaughter and begs Zeus to avenge it. Zeus promises to do so. Meanwhile, Ulysses wakes to the aroma of roasting meat. He rushes toward the cook fire, sword drawn, but Eurylochus insists the food comes from seven stags they found elsewhere on the island. Ulysses doesn’t believe him, but Eurylochus insists that the gods must have taken pity on them. Ulysses allows himself to eat some meat. The roasting carcasses begin to moo, and a hide crawls toward Ulysses, who sees it’s golden like the god’s cattle. Again he confronts his lieutenant who points out that the wind has shifted, a sure sign of the gods’ favor, and therefore they can leave the island. The men load the ship with meat and sail away.

At dawn, dark clouds cover an angry sun. A sudden gale blows across the ship, breaking the mast. A lightning bolt sets the ship ablaze. The men dive overboard, but Ulysses stays on deck, trying to save the ship. The flaming vessel breaks apart; clinging to the broken mast, Ulysses lashes it to the keel to form a raft. He looks about: No men can be found.

All day and night, pushed by the wind, the raft drifts back toward Scylla and Charybdis. At dawn, Ulysses hears the sucking sound of the whirlpool. Just as his raft drops into the vortex, Ulysses jumps onto a rock, grasps a handhold of lichen, and hangs on for hours until Charybdis spits out the tide. The whirlpool fills up and the raft pops out. Ulysses drops onto it and keeps it far from Scylla.

He escapes the strait and floats for nine days and nights. He tries to fish but catches nothing. He pretends to be dead until gulls land on him to eat his eyes, and he kills and eats them.

On the 10th day he floats toward a fog-shrouded island; “the black mist covered him” (105), and he falls asleep.

Ulysses awakens lying on sweet grass in a shady grove. He thinks he’s died and gone to the Elysian Fields, the afterworld for Greek heroes. A voice says he hasn’t, but that he has “come home.” Ulysses gazes up at a tall, blond woman who looks like a nymph or goddess. He asks if he is at Ithaca; she replies that he is on Ogygia and that her name is Calypso. She owns the island and everything on it, including him. He is her new husband.

Thinking he’s dreaming, Ulysses lies back and closes his eyes. When he awakens again, he’s still in the lovely grove; nearby are streams and a meadow of flowers. Calypso emerges from a flower-bedecked grotto and announces their wedding feast. Ulysses is still weak, so she picks him up effortlessly and carries him to the grotto’s hearth, strewn with animal skins, where a stag roasts on a spit.

Calypso explains that she was waiting for his arrival when she saw him float toward the island. When he fell off his raft, she changed him into a fish and caught him in a net, changed him back into a man, fed him a healing broth, and let him sleep. Now he is her husband and cannot leave. Ulysses decides that “things could be worse. In fact they have been much worse. This may turn out to be quite a pleasant interlude” (109).

Calypso says her father is the god Atlas and that they are Titans, an older group of deities for whom time doesn’t exist. She has watched Ulysses’s adventures by poking the hearth’s burning log until pictures appear in the flames. Ulysses asks to see his wife in Ithaca; she stirs the log, and Penelope appears, sewing. She looks older. Calypso pokes the log, and Telemachus, now tall with reddish hair, stands holding a spear. He resists his mother’s many suitors—she is wealthy and desirable, and everyone thinks Ulysses is dead—and the young man tries to honor his father by protecting her.

The goddess tells Ulysses that he doesn’t realize how great a hero he is. She stirs the fire and Ulysses watches scenes from his recent exploits, including his battle with the Cyclops, his struggle with the bag of winds, cavorting with Circe’s wolves, and wielding his sword against Scylla. He sees himself hiding inside the Trojan Horse and emerging to defeat the enemy, as well as the many battles fought side-by-side with friends. Beaming with pride, he forgets about Ithaca, thanks Calypso, and says, “I do seem to be a hero, don’t I? And worthy to love a daughter of the Titans.” She answers, “Yes” (112).

Calypso enjoys men but usually grows tired of them and throws them back into the sea as fishes or changes them into birds. The bird calls outside, she says, are the jealous complaints of creatures who were once men she enjoyed. Ulysses notes that Calypso is somewhat like Circe, who can be thoughtless toward her male guests. He asks if she can make the loud birds go away, and she replies that they will leave at her command or be turned into grasshoppers and eaten by a single remaining bird who will die of overeating.

Ulysses, always diplomatic, praises Calypso effusively, and they enjoy living together on the island. Ulysses hunts and fishes; sometimes, he pokes the hearth log to see pictures of past and future events. He tries to see his family in Ithaca, but Calypso has forbidden the log from showing him these images, fearing that such visions will make Ulysses ache for home. The warrior pines for Ithaca anyway.

He finds a talking crow who used to be a Calypso plaything and threatens him until he agrees to defy Calypso, fly to Ithaca, and report back. The next day, the crow informs Ulysses that “your son is grieving, your wife is weaving, and your guests are not leaving” (115-16). Penelope has promised her suitors she’ll choose among them when she has finished weaving Ulysses’s funeral shroud, but each night she undoes the work so that it is never finished. The suitors grow impatient; they threaten Telemachus’s life if he interferes.

Ulysses goes to Calypso and begs her to help him return to Ithaca. Calypso stirs the fire and shows him his future as an old, withered man sitting on his throne next to his old, withered wife. He will stand at the shore and beg forgiveness from Poseidon; he will have another child, who will kill him with a spear tipped with a stingray’s beak. Calypso explains: “For you angered the god of the sea by wounding his son, and he does not forgive” (118).

Ulysses can, however, live with her and become immortal. She can change them into various other creatures—foxes, eagles, cats, whales—and they can cavort together in endless variety and return to their human form at will. Ulysses responds: “I cannot be immortal, never to die, never to grow old. What use is courage then?” (119)

The next morning, 10 years after his journey home began, he prays to the gods, asking to be sent to Ithaca where he can save his family: “Allow me to go home, or strike me dead on the spot” (120). The gods meet in council. Athene argues on Ulysses’s behalf, saying he’s the most respectful of all the Greek warriors and has long since paid for his offense against Poseidon. Zeus agrees.

Hermes flies down to talk to Calypso. She knows why he has come and sings a song of sadness. She complains that Zeus, jealous of loves between men and goddesses, maims or kills the men every time. Hermes asks her to provide Ulysses with a simple raft and let him go home. She relents but mourns that she will never know another man as great. Hermes gently kisses his cousin on the cheek and flies away.