The Odyssey: Book 12 Summary & Analysis

The men returned to Aeaea, performed all the proper funeral rites for Elpenor, and buried his body. Before Odysseus and his men depart, Circe told Odysseus that he must pass the island of the Sirens, who will try to lure the men to their deaths with their songs. She advised that Odysseus put beeswax in the men's ears, and that they tie Odysseus to the mast if he insisted on hearing the Sirens' songs.

Next, she told him, the crew must pass between Scylla, a terrible six-headed monster, and Charybdis, who creates a whirlpool that sucks whole ships down into the sea three times a day. Only the ship Argo has passed between these monsters with no lives lost. Circe advised that Odysseus sail his ship past Scylla and sacrifice six men rather than risk getting sucked down into the whirlpool and sinking. Odysseus asked if he can escape Charybdis and fight off Scylla, but Circe chastised Odysseus for his stubbornness: Scylla is immortal and can't be defeated.

The sun rose as Circe finished, and the men prepared their ship for departure. As the ship sailed away, Odysseus told the men Circe's advice, though he told them that Circe said he must hear the Sirens' songs, and didn't mention Scylla and Charybdis because he didn't want to paralyze the men with fear. As they pass the island of the Siren's the men put wax in their ears and lash Odysseus to the mast and they pass without incident. When they came to Charybdis they carefully sail around the whirlpool, and Scylla grabbed and ate six men. Filled with grief and pity, the men sail away as fast as possible.

Next they reached the island of the Sun. Odysseus wanted to avoid the island altogether, but Eurylochus insisted that the crew needed rest. Odysseus made the men swear an oath not to eat any cattle, but they were trapped on the island for a month by an inopportune wind; eventually their stores ran out and the men began to starve. One day Odysseus fell asleep, and Eurylochus convinced the men to eat the Cattle of the Sun: it's better to die at sea from the wrath of the gods, he said, than to die of hunger. Odysseus woke up to find that the men had broken their oaths and killed some cattle.

The sun god Helios angrily asked Zeus and the other gods to punish Odysseus's crew for killing his cattle, and Zeus complied. Strange things began to happen to the cattle that had been killed: they bellowed and moved. But the men continue to feast for six more days before sailing away. As soon as they were out at sea Zeus sent down a storm that destroyed the ship and killed everyone aboard except Odysseus, who hung on to some pieces of wood. The wind drove him back toward Charybdis right when the monster made the whirlpool, but Odysseus saved himself by hanging on to the branch of a fig-tree. After the whirlpool spit back out his little raft he drifted at sea until he reached Calypso's island. Here Odysseus stops his tale: he had told the rest earlier.