Odyssey – Book Ten
The Odyssey – Book Ten
pp. 508-512
1. After Odysseus has his encounter with Polyphemus (Cyclops), he has an encounter
with Aeolus (god of wind), who gives him:
 Bag of bad wind
 Bag of good wind
 Promises to get him home in 9 days
2. The crew opens bag  ship goes all the way back to Aeolus, who refuses to help
Odysseus because Aeolus believes Odysseus to be cursed
3. O and ship goes to Laestrygones (group of people) – cannibals – bombarded ships 
now just 45 men on 1 ship
4. O and ship end up on Circe’s (witch) island
 Eurylochus (O’s right-hand man) – explore the island
 O – stays with ship
5. Eurylochus and men explore the island
 Encounter large, wild animals, who are incredibly CALM
 Hear Circe singing – beautiful, enticing, enchanting voice
 Decide she is okay and they agree to go in, except Eurylochus, who is suspicious
6. Circe
 Puts the men on lounge chairs
 Prepares meal of cheese and barley and amber honey
 Adds vile punch (to make them lose desire/thought of father land)
 Turns them into pigs  pushes them into pigsties – they realize the wild animals
they saw are actually people
 Eurylochus runs back to the ship to tell O – he is so upset he can’t speak at first,
but they finally get the story from him
 Eurylochus wants to leave the island and leave the men behind
 Odysseus wants to save his men
 On the way, Odysseus is given a magical plant (moly) to protect him from Circe’s
power
 Hermes also tells O that he must make Circle swear she will play NO witch tricks
7. Odysseus goes to see Circe
 Circe gives him wine  tries to turn him into a pig (doesn’t work because of
moly)
 O draws his sword  puts it at her throat
Odyssey – Book Ten
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Circe is amazed and asks Who are you? – incredulous because no mortal man has
resisted her power. She realizes that he is Odysseus, who I heard (from Hermes)
would be able to resist me
Circe says you, Odysseus, must make love with me (has heard of him through
prophecy) – she doesn’t want to be killed
He says no because of what Circe did to his men (turning them into pigs)
He makes her promise not to use any witch’s tricks on him (advice from Hermes)
He and she make love  she treats him like a king
However, he is grouchy/pouty because of his men – he is thinking of his men
Circe changes the men back to being human  the men cry with relief
Circe suggests that O get the other men from the ship
8. O goes back to the ship to get his men
 O gets the men who were crying because they thought O was a pig too
 All go, except for Eurylochus, who says “No” – don’t follow O because Circe
will change you into animals. He says to remember the men who followed O to
the Cyclopes and were eaten. He says the men died because of O’s foolishness.
 He is questioning O’s leadership.
 O is furious and wants to chop off Eurylochus’s head
 His men stop O and say they will follow O
 All, including Eurylochus, agree to go to Circe’s palace
 Big reunion of O’s men  the men cry with happiness
9. Circe says that’s enough with the crying – invites the men to stay with her
 The men stay with Circe for one year
 Men finally remind O of home – let’s go home
 O asks Circe to help him get home
 Circe agrees, but says that O must go to the Underworld to hear a prophecy
(prediction)  O does not want to go – dreads the journey but will go to get his
men home