"On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochustried to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are,what will become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house ofCirce, who will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shallhave to keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated uswhen our comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. Itwas all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.'"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw thekeen blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off inspite of his being a near relation of my own; but the men intercededfor him and said, 'Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here andmind the ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.'"On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behindafter all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severereprimand that I had given him."Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been leftbehind were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also giventhem woollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them allcomfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw eachother face to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and criedaloud till the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to meand said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave offcrying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and howill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that isover now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more asstrong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present youare weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinkingof the hardships- you have suffered during your travels, so that youhave no more cheerfulness left in you.'"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for awhole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat andwine. But when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the longdays had come round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is timeyou began to think about going home, if so be you are to be sparedto see your house and native country at all.'"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelongday to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine,but when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselvesdown to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had gotinto bed with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddesslistened to what I had got to say. 'Circe,' said I, 'please to keepthe promise you made me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. Iwant to get back and so do my men, they are always pestering me withtheir complaints as soon as ever your back is turned.'"And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shallnone of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there isanother journey which you have got to take before you can sailhomewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpineto consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias whosereason is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left hisunderstanding even in death, but the other ghosts flit aboutaimlessly.'"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, andwould gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, butpresently when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, Isaid, 'And who shall guide me upon this voyage- for the house of Hadesis a port that no ship can reach.'"'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise you mast, set yourwhite sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you thereof itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, youwill reach the fertile shore of Proserpine's country with its grovesof tall poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beachyour ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the darkabode of Hades. You will find it near the place where the riversPyriphlegethon and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx)flow into Acheron, and you will see a rock near it, just where the tworoaring rivers run into one another."'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench acubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as adrink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, thenwine, and in the third place water-sprinkling white barley meal overthe whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feebleghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you willsacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will loadthe pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise thatTeiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in allyour flocks."'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers,offer them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towardsErebus; but yourself turn away from them as though you would maketowards the river. On this, many dead men's ghosts will come to you,and you must tell your men to skin the two sheep that you have justkilled, and offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hadesand to Proserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as toprevent any other poor ghost from coming near the split blood beforeTeiresias shall have answered your questions. The seer willpresently come to you, and will tell you about your voyage- whatstages you are to make, and how you are to sail the see so as to reachyour home.'"It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so shedressed me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautifullight gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a goldengirdle round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then Iwent about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spokekindly to each of them man by man: 'You must not lie sleeping here anylonger,' said I to them, 'we must be going, for Circe has told meall about it.' And this they did as I bade them."Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure.We had with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkablefor sense or courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-topaway from the rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool.When he heard the noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on asudden and forgot all about coming down by the main staircase, so hetumbled right off the roof and broke his neck, and his soul wentdown to the house of Hades."When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think youare about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me thatinstead of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades andProserpine to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.'"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threwthemselves on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they didnot mend matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping andlamenting our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we madethem fast hard by the ship. She passed through the midst of us withoutour knowing it, for who can see the comings and goings of a god, ifthe god does not wish to be seen?BOOK XI.THEN, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship intothe water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheepon board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blewdead aft and stayed steadily with us keeping our sails all the timewell filled; so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear andlet her go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sailswere full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun wentdown and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deepwaters of the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of theCimmerians who live enshrouded in mist and darkness which the raysof the sun never pierce neither at his rising nor as he goes downagain out of the heavens, but the poor wretches live in one longmelancholy night. When we got there we beached the ship, took thesheep out of her, and went along by the waters of Oceanus till we cameto the place of which Circe had told us."Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew mysword and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offeringto all the dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, andthirdly with water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over thewhole, praying earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promisingthem that when I got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barrenheifer for them, the best I had, and would load the pyre with goodthings. I also particularly promised that Teiresias should have ablack sheep to himself, the best in all my flocks. When I had prayedsufficiently to the dead, I cut the throats of the two sheep and letthe blood run into the trench, whereon the ghosts came trooping upfrom Erebus- brides, young bachelors, old men worn out with toil,maids who had been crossed in love, and brave men who had beenkilled in battle, with their armour still smirched with blood; theycame from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strangekind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I sawthem coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of thetwo dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and at the sametime to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I sat where Iwas with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless ghostscome near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my questions."The first ghost 'that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for hehad not yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his bodyunwaked and unburied in Circe's house, for we had had too much else todo. I was very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,'said I, 'how did you come down here into this gloom and darkness?You have here on foot quicker than I have with my ship.'"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my ownunspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe'shouse, and never thought of coming down again by the great staircasebut fell right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul down tothe house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you haveleft behind you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the fatherwho brought you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is theone hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know thatwhen you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaeanisland. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you,or I may bring heaven's anger upon you; but burn me with whateverarmour I have, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tellpeople in days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plantover my grave the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and withmy messmates.' And I said, 'My poor fellow, I will do all that youhave asked of me.'"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on theone side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and theghost of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Thencame the ghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. Ihad left her alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears whenI saw her, but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her comenear the blood till I had asked my questions of Teiresias."Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his goldensceptre in his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son ofLaertes, why, poor man, have you left the light of day and come downto visit the dead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench andwithdraw your sword that I may drink of the blood and answer yourquestions truly.'