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Charybdis was a sea-monster, who thrice a day
drew up the water of the sea and then spouted it
again, thus forming a whirlpool. She was on one
side of the narrow Strait of Messina between Sicily
and Italy, and on the other side was
Scylla 1, another
sea-monster. The two sides are so close to each
other that an arrow could be shot across them. So
sailors, on trying to avoid Charybdis became the
victims of Scylla 1, and
vice versa. The
ARGONAUTS were able to
avoid both dangers because they were guided by
Thetis, one of the
NEREIDS.
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Circe's instructions to
Odysseus
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Odysseus back in Aeaea
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When Odysseus, after
having returned from the
Underworld, reached
once more the island of Aeaea, which was
Circe's home, this
sorceress gave him new instructions and made for
him every landmark clear so as to avoid any
disasters on his homeward journey, warning him
about the many dangers that awaited him.
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Scylla 1 and
Charybdis
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Among these, she mentioned
Scylla 1 and Charybdis,
who had their homes in the two rocks that are at
each side of the strait of Messina, between Sicily
and Italy. Of these two rocks,
Circe said, Charybdis' was
the lowest, and upon its crag there grew a great
fig-tree below which Charybdis sucked the waters
down and then spewed them up again three times a
day, turning the spot into a terrible place. For
not even a god could save anyone who had approached
near enough the devouring whirlpool that Charybdis'
amazing activity formed.
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Scylla 1
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That is why Circe's
advice was to sail past
Scylla 1 at full speed,
and to avoid Charybdis. For it was better, the
witch explained, to mourn the loss of some comrades
than that of the whole crew. She also insisted that
there was no point in trying to tackle
Scylla 1, being as she
was a ferocious monster impossible to fight
against. Instead, she said, valour was to be found
in flight without wasting time.
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The Cattle of Helius
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Then Circe said that
after having passed Scylla
1 and Charybdis,
Odysseus and his crew
would come to the island of Thrinacia, which some
say it is Sicily and that was first called
Trinacria because of its triangular shape; but some
have said that Odysseus
was never in the neighbourhood of Sicily. In any
case in Thrinacia, Circe
said, they would find
Helius' seven herds of
cattle and seven flocks of sheep, which had fifty
head in each and were shepherded by his daughters
Lampetia and Phaethusa. These girls are otherwise
said to be among those called the HELIADES 1, who
shed the inconsolable tears that hardened into
amber when their brother
Phaethon 3 died,
having fallen from the sky when he drove his
father's chariot. According to
Circe, these animals were
not born into the world and were not subject to
natural death, and belonging to the god, it was
imperative that they were left untouched. For,
Circe warned, if they were
hurt, then the ship and its crew would be
destroyed.
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The Cattle of Helius and Return to Charybdis
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Odysseus prepared to
tackle Scylla 1
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These were Circe's
warnings. However, good advices are not meant to be
followed, but to be defied. And that is why
Odysseus, on seeing
that trouble with Scylla
1 was inevitable, allowed himself to forget
everything about them, and armed himself in an
attempt to resist the monster. But as the whole
crew turned pale with fear watching how Charybdis
swallowed the water down with a roar,
Scylla 1 appeared
suddenly and, snatching six of
Odysseus' comrades, she
devoured them.
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Odysseus' hand
forced
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After this they escaped the two monsters and
arrived to Thrinacia, the island of
Helius.
Odysseus, who was aware
of the danger lurking in this place, having been
warned by both Tiresias
and Circe, did not wish to
land in the island. But his men, having rowed
without rest and wishing much, for excess of labour
and lack of sleep, to set foot on dry land, were
heart-broken when they heard
Odysseus' will. So when
Eurylochus 3 made a speech against his captain, all
men applauded; for instead of continuing the trip,
as Odysseus wished, he
proposed:
"... Let us
make ready our evening meal, remaining close by our
fast ship, and in the morning we can get on board
once more and put out into the open sea."
[Eurylochus 3 to
Odysseus and the crew.
Homer,
Odyssey
12.291]
So they did; for being many they forced
Odysseus' hand, but he
then made them promise that if they came across a
herd of cattle or a flock of sheep, not a single
animal would be touched. They all agreed, taking
even an oath.
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Mañana postponed by a storm
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But just as good advices are not there to be
followed in the first place, the main idea with
promises and oaths is not necessarily to fulfil
them. For when circumstances change and
difficulties arise, as it happened to
Odysseus and his crew
on the blessed island of Thrinacia, then what is in
mind and heart changes accordingly, and promises
fall into oblivion. And since mortals cannot
anticipate what will happen, the day after the
evening meal and the oath there was no putting out
into the open sea, as they had intended. The reason
was that an unexpected storm broke up, and the crew
was forced to beach the ship and drag her into a
cave.
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Mañana becomes one month
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After that, an unfavourable wind blew without a
pause for a whole month, preventing them to sail
away. This is how "first thing in the morning"
turned into a long wait, exhausting the food and
wine that
Circe had provided.
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Ideas to placate a god...
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And since death by starvation is rightly
regarded as one of the most miserable, the men
turned their eyes, by necessity, towards the
forbidden animals. Now, these things can be done
with more or less delicacy, and that is why the
same Eurylochus 3 suggested a method to avoid
offending the gods. He said to the crew when
Odysseus was away:
"... Let us
cut out the best of
Helius' cattle, and sacrifice them to the
immortals." [Eurylochus 3 to the crew.
Homer,
Odyssey
12.343]
The crew thought that this idea was quite
clever; for its attempt to reconcile necessity and
devotion is easily perceived. Eurylochus 3 also
added promises and good intentions for the future,
saying:
"... and if we
ever come back to Ithaca our first act shall be to
build a rich temple to
Helius, and store it with precious
dedications." [Eurylochus 3 to the crew.
Homer,
Odyssey
12.345]
That seemed also reasonable; for most mortals
understand that whoever suffers a loss is eager to
receive compensation. And feeling that, in the
worst case, the wrath of the god was to be
preferred to starvation, they slaughtered the cows
of Helius, making all the
proper ceremonies and doing their prayers, but
nevertheless turning the sacred animals into meals.
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... and their result
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When Odysseus
returned from his siesta in the woods he could do
nothing but pray and lament the cruel sleep, that
possessing him at unexpected times, allowed his
comrades to perform irrevocable deeds, as when they
were sent back to Aeolus
2, the keeper of the winds. But pray could
better Helius, who was
promptly informed by his daughters of what had
happened to his cattle. And having come to
Zeus, he demanded
compensation for the cattle that gave him such
immense joy every day as he traversed the sky,
adding a threat as well:
"If they do
not repay me in full for my slaughtered cows I will
go down to Hades and shine among the dead."
[Helius to
Zeus. Homer,
Odyssey
12.381]
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Zeus promises to avenge
Helius
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Now, the cows being dead and gone, it was
difficult to see how matters could be mended,
except for that promise of a temple which could or
not placate the god. This is why
Zeus promised
Helius to strike
Odysseus' ship with a
bolt and dash it to pieces, exhorting him at the
same time:
"Shine on for
the immortals and for mortal men on the fruitful
earth." [Zeus to
Helius. Homer,
Odyssey
12.385]
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Destruction of
Odysseus' ship
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In the meanwhile, and despite
Odysseus' reproaches,
the crew feasted on the sacred cows for one week.
But while they were still in Thrinacia, the gods,
according to what
Odysseus has told,
visited them with portents: the skins crawled and
the meat groaned, making a sound like the lowing of
cattle. At last they embarked, and when they had
left the island, a sudden wind brought the ship not
far from where Scylla 1
and Charybdis were. And there
Zeus, who keeps his
promises, thundered and struck
Odysseus' ship by
lightning, breaking it to bits.
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End of the Ithacan army
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This was the end for all of
Odysseus' comrades, and
thereby nothing was left of the Ithacan army that
years ago had joined, under his leadership, the
alliance that sailed from Aulis against
Troy in order to obtain, by
force or by persuasion, the restoration of
Helen and the property
that the seducer Paris had
stolen when he visited
Sparta.
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Return to Charybids
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However, Odysseus
himself, after having lashed the broken keel and
the mast together as a raft, managed to stay
afloat, and escape Charybdis' whirlpool. For when
the monster sucked the water down, and with it the
raft, Odysseus clinged
to a branch of the great fig-tree that grew upon
the crag of the rock under which the monster lived,
until Charybdis spewed up the mast and the keel,
several hours later. Then he dropped into the
water, and bestriding the raft, he rowed away with
his hands as fast as he could. After having drifted
for nine days, Odysseus
was washed up, in the night of the tenth, on the
remote Island of Ogygia, and was there kindly
received by Calypso 3,
who looked after him with more love than he could
take.
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