Scylla and Charybdis — The Sirens, the monsters, the cattle of the Sun

Book 12 of The Odyssey by Homer

'Now after our ship had left the stream of the river Oceanus and was come to the wave of the wide sea and the isle of Aeaea, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and her dancing grounds and the land of sunrising, we beached our ship upon the sands and went forth upon the shore of the sea, and there we fell asleep and awaited the bright Dawn. When early rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I sent my fellows to the house of Circe to fetch the body of dead Elpenor. We cut billets of wood where the headland jutted out, and we buried him with sorrow and shedding big tears. When the dead man was burned and the dead man's armour, we piled a barrow and dragged a pillar thereon, and on the top of the mound we fixed his shapely oar. Then Circe came down to us, adorned, and her handmaids with her brought bread and flesh in plenty and dark red wine. She stood in our midst and spoke: "Hardy men, who have gone alive to the house of Hades, twice dying when other men die but once, come eat and drink here all the day, and with the first show of dawn ye shall set sail. I will show you the way and make all clear, that ye may not suffer pain through evil contrivance on sea or land."'

'So she spoke, and our proud hearts consented. All that day we sat feasting until the sun went down. When the sun set and darkness came on, my men lay down to sleep by the hawsers of the ship. But Circe took me by the hand and made me sit apart from my dear companions, and she lay down beside me and asked me of everything, and I told her all in order duly. Then the lady Circe spoke: "Hear now all that I shall tell thee. First thou shalt come to the Sirens, who bewitch every man that approaches them. Whoso draws near them unwittingly and hears the sound of the Sirens' voice, never does wife or babe stand at his side on his return, for the Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in a meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men, corrupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting. But do thou drive thy ship past and knead sweet wax and stop therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of the rest hear the song. But if thou thyself art minded to hear, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice of the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid them loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more bonds."'

'So I told all these things to my companions. Meanwhile our well-built ship speedily came to the isle of the Sirens, for a fair and gentle wind bore her on. Then straightway the wind ceased and there was a dead calm, and some god lulled the waves. My fellows rose up and furled the sail and stowed it in the hold, and they sat at the oars and made the water white with their polished pine blades. But I with my sharp sword cut a great round of wax into small pieces and kneaded them with my strong hands, and soon the wax grew warm, forced by my great might and by the rays of the lord Helios Hyperion. I anointed therewith the ears of all my company in their order, and they bound me in the ship hand and foot upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast they tied rope-ends and themselves sat down and smote the grey sea with their oars. But when the ship was within hailing distance of the shore, and the Sirens espied the swift ship drawing near, they raised their clear-toned song: "Hither, come hither, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans! Tarry thy ship that thou mayest listen to the voice of us twain. For none hath ever driven by this way in his dark ship till he hath heard from our lips the voice sweet as honeycomb, and hath had joy thereof and gone on his way the wiser. For lo, we know all things that the Argives and Trojans suffered in wide Troy through the will of the gods, and we know all that shall hereafter be upon the fruitful earth." So they sang in their sweet voices, and my heart was fain to listen, and I bade my fellows loose me, nodding at them with a frown, but they bent to their oars and rowed on. Straightway Perimedes and Eurylochus arose and bound me with more bonds and drew them tighter. But when we had rowed past the Sirens and could no longer hear their voices and their song, my trusty companions took the wax with which I had anointed their ears and loosed me from my bonds.'