The world: historical and actual . now what was in the sack that they untiedit, whereupon a furious hurricane arose, blowing theship back to the island, ami exposing them all togreat peril. Not long after the ship came to the^Egean Isles, where the daughter of the sun, Cir-ce, dwelt. She was a potent sorceress, able by herenchantment to turn men into swine. She prac-ticed her arts upon a part of the crew. By the aidof Mercury, Ulysses succeeded not only in resistingher influence but in compelling her to disenchanthis companions. They were most hospitably enter-tained after that, ami it is broa
The world: historical and actual . now what was in the sack that they untiedit, whereupon a furious hurricane arose, blowing theship back to the island, ami exposing them all togreat peril. Not long after the ship came to the^Egean Isles, where the daughter of the sun, Cir-ce, dwelt. She was a potent sorceress, able by herenchantment to turn men into swine. She prac-ticed her arts upon a part of the crew. By the aidof Mercury, Ulysses succeeded not only in resistingher influence but in compelling her to disenchanthis companions. They were most hospitably enter-tained after that, ami it is broadly intimated thatUlysses was quite content to stay with the fair en-chantress. But dalliance came to an end at last,and the crew once more set sail for home. The story of the Sirens belongs to this won-derful journey, as do Scylla and Charybdis. TheSirens were mystic maidens who could sing sosweetly that to hear them was to be drawn towardsthem by an irresistible impulse. They were onland, and if the sailors and companions of the. Ulysses Tied to the Mast. great Greek attempted to swim ashore, they wouldsurely perish. Ulysses, having been warned by thegoddess Circe, caused himself to be bound to the mast, and told his companions to fill their ears withwax. Those who did so escaped the enchantment,while those who did not lost their lives. Scylla wasa rock and Charybdis a whirlpool near together,between which he was obliged to sail. A slightvariation either way from the roadstead, and allwould have been destroyed. It was such hairbreadth escapes as these whichtill the pages of the Odyssey, and serve to illus-trate the puerility of the early Greek knowl-edge of the world. Homer is supposed to havebeen a Greek of Asia Minor, but even those enter-prising colonists were illy acquainted with the restof mankind. We cannot stop to tell all theprodigious experiences of the wanderer. Reachinghome as last, after an absence of twenty years, hefound his faithful Penelope cunningly dodging t
Size: 1886px × 1326px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyea
