Page 162 - the-odyssey

BOOK X

AEOLUS, THE

LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.

hence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Ae-
Tolus son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an
island that floats (as it were) upon the sea, {83} iron bound
with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus has six daughters and
six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the daughters,
and they all live with their dear father and mother, feasting
and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long
the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savour of
roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all; but by night
they sleep on their well made bedsteads, each with his own
wife between the blankets. These were the people among
whom we had now come.
‘Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me
questions all the time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the
return of the Achaeans. I told him exactly how everything
had happened, and when I said I must go, and asked him to
further me on my way, he made no sort of difficulty, but set
about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me a prime ox-
hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut
up in the hide as in a sack—for Jove had made him captain

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