himself, who revealed to me Circe's guile, and presented me with a plant,
the moly, which would enable me to withstand her charms.

"The goddess received me kindly, seated me upon a throne, and invited me
to feast with her. After the feast she struck me with her wand, as she had
done my comrades, ordering me to go to my sty; but when I remained
unchanged, she perceived that her guest was Ulysses, whose coming had long
been foretold to her.

"Softened by her entreaties, I sheathed my sword, after having made her
promise to release my friends and do us no further harm. Then the others
were called from the ships, and we banqueted together.

"Time passed so happily on Circe's isle that we lingered a whole year,
until, roused by the words of my friends, I announced my intended
departure, and was told by Circe that I must first go to the land of the
dead to get instructions as to my future course from Tiresias. Provided
with the proper sacrifices by Circe, we set sail for the land of the
Cimmerians, on the confines of Oceanus. The sacrifices having been duly
performed, the spirits appeared,--Elpenor, my yet unburied comrade, whose
body lay on Circe's isle, my own dead mother, and the Theban seer,
Tiresias, with his golden wand. 'Neptune is wroth with thee,' he said,
'but thou mayst yet return if thou and thy comrades leave undisturbed the
cattle of the Sun. If thou do not, destruction awaits thee. If thou escape
and return home it will be after long journeyings and much suffering, and
there thou wilt slay the insolent suitor crew that destroy thy substance
and wrong thy household.' After Tiresias had spoken I lingered to speak
with other spirits,--my mother, Ajax, Antiope, Agamemnon, Achilles,
Patroclus, and Antilochus. Having conversed with all these, we set sail
for Circe's isle, and thence started again on our homeward voyage.