and Lachesis. They spun, measured, and cut off, respectively, the thread
of life for men at their birth.]




[Illustration]

XXXVIII

THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES

(BOOK XII.--No. 1)


That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven
hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing
what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a
shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court. Receiving
them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made them
drink. The result of this was that first they lost their reason, and a
few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of various
animals; some unwieldy, some small. Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to
withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the
metamorphosis. He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero
and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the
goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is
to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him.
Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he
was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the