Odysseus on the island of Trinacria. The death of the ship Odysseus.
Soon the island of the god of Helios appeared in the distance. We were getting closer to him. I could already clearly hear the lowing of the bulls and the bleating of the sheep of Helios. Remembering the divination Tiresia and the sorceress's warning Picks, I began to convince the companions to pass the island and not stop on it. I wanted to avoid a great danger. But Eurylochus replied to me:
- How cruel you are, Odysseus! You yourself are as if cast from copper, you do not know fatigue. We are tired; how many nights have we spent without sleep, and you forbid us to go ashore and rest, fortified with food, It is dangerous to sail on the sea at night. Ships often perish even against the will of the gods when a storm, raised by violent winds, catches them at night. No, we have to land on the shore, and tomorrow at dawn we will set off on our further journey.
The rest of the companions agreed with Eurylochus. I realized that we were in trouble. We landed on the island and pulled the ship ashore. I made my companions give me a great oath that they would not kill the bulls of the god Helios. We cooked dinner for ourselves, and during it we remembered with tears our comrades abducted by Scylla. After finishing dinner, we all quietly fell asleep on the shore.
At night Zeus sent a terrible storm. The furious roared menacingly Boreas, clouds covered the whole sky, the dark night became even darker. In the morning we dragged our ship into a coastal cave so that it would not suffer from the storm. Once again I asked my comrades not to touch the herds of Helios, and they promised me to fulfill my request. Contrary winds blew for a whole month, and we could not set off. Finally, we ran out of supplies. We had to eat what we got by hunting and fishing. The hunger of my companions began to torment me more and more. One day I went into the depths of the island to privately ask the gods to send us a fair wind. In solitude I began to pray to the Olympian gods to fulfill my request. Imperceptibly, the gods plunged me into a deep sleep. While I was sleeping, Eurylochus persuaded my companions to kill several bulls from the herd of the god Helios. He said that when they returned to their homeland, they would propitiate the god Helios by building him a rich temple and dedicating precious gifts. Even if the gods destroy them for killing bulls, it is better to be swallowed up by the sea than to die of hunger.
My companions obeyed Eurylochus. They chose the best bulls from the herd and killed them. They sacrificed some of their meat to the gods. Instead of sacrificial flour, they took oak leaves, and instead of wine, they took water, since we had neither flour nor wine left. Having sacrificed to the gods, they began to roast meat on a fire. At that time I woke up and went to the ship. From afar I smelled the smell of fried meat and realized what had happened. I exclaimed in horror:
- Oh, the great gods of Olympus! Why did you send me a dream! My companions have committed a great crime, they have killed the bulls of Helios.
Meanwhile, the nymph Lampetiya informed the god Helios about what had happened. The great god was angry. He complained to the gods about how my companions had insulted him, and threatened to descend forever into the realm of the gloomy Hades and never shine more on gods and people. To appease the angry sun god, Zeus promised to smash my ship with his lightning and destroy all my companions.
It was in vain that I reproached my companions for what they had done. The gods have sent us a terrible sign. The skins stripped from the bulls moved as if alive, and the meat made a plaintive lowing. For six days the storm raged, and all the days my companions destroyed the bulls of Helios. Finally, on the seventh, the storm stopped and a tailwind blew. We immediately set off on our way. But as soon as the island of Trinacria disappeared from sight, the thunderer Zeus gathered threatening clouds over our heads. A zephyr came howling, a terrible storm arose. Our mast broke like a cane and fell onto the ship. When she fell, she crushed the helmsman's head, and he fell dead into the sea. Zeus' lightning flashed and smashed the ship into cracks. All my companions were swallowed up by the sea. Only I was saved. With difficulty I caught a piece of the mast and the keel of my ship and tied them up. The storm subsided. Started blowing Notes. He rushed me straight to Charybdis. At this time, she was roaring and swallowing seawater. I barely had time to grab the branches of a fig tree growing on a rock near Charybdis itself, and hung on to them, right above the terrible Charybdis. I waited a long time for Charybdis to regurgitate the mast and keel together with the water. Finally, they swam out of her monstrous mouth. I released the branches of the fig tree and rushed down right on the wreckage of my ship. So I was saved from death in the mouth of Charybdis. I was saved by the will of Zeus and from the monstrous Skill. She did not notice how I was floating on the waves of the raging sea.For nine days I was carried along the boundless sea, and finally I was washed up by the waves to the island of the nymph Calypso. But I've already told you about this, Alkyne and Aretha, I also told you about the great dangers after which I reached your island. It would be unwise if I started talking about it again, and you would be bored listening to me.
Thus Odysseus ended the story of his adventures.