denizens came rushing towards the trench, as if resolved to expel the
daring intruder. Odysseus' heart failed him when he saw the air thick
with hovering spectres, who glared with dreadful eyes, and filled the
air with the sound of their unearthly voices. Turning his back on that
place of horror he made his way slowly towards the shore, where he
found his men anxiously awaiting him.




The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis; Thrinacia


I

Following the same course as on his outward voyage, Odysseus put in
again at the island of Circe, where his first duty was to bury the
body of the young Elpenor, whose ghost he had seen in an attitude of
mute reproach at the threshold of Hades. They were again received with
all hospitality by Circe.

After the evening meal Circe drew Odysseus apart, and questioned him
on all that he had seen and heard on that strange journey, from which
he had returned, as she said, like one ransomed from death. And when
he had told his story she instructed him as to the course which he had
to steer on leaving the island, and warned him against the manifold
perils of the voyage.

"First," said she, "thou wilt come to the rocks of the Sirens, maidens
of no mortal race, who beguile the ears of all that hear them. Woe to