Soon the island of the god Helios appeared in the distance. We swam closer and closer to it. I could already clearly hear the mooing of the bulls and the bleating of the sheep of Helios. Remembering the prophecy of Tiresias and the warning of the sorceress Kirka, I began to convince my companions to pass the island and not stop on it. I wanted to avoid great danger. But Eurylochos answered 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, refreshed with food. It is dangerous to sail on the sea at night. Ships often perish, even against the will of the gods, when they are caught at night by a storm raised by violent winds. No, we must land on the shore, and tomorrow at dawn we will set off on our further journey.
The rest of the companions agreed with Eurylochos. I realized that we could not escape trouble. We landed on the island and pulled the ship ashore. I forced my companions to give me a great oath that they would not kill the bulls of the god Helios. We prepared dinner for ourselves, and during it we remembered with tears our comrades kidnapped by Skilla. After finishing dinner, we all fell asleep peacefully on the shore.
At night Zeus sent a terrible storm. The frantic Boreas roared menacingly, clouds covered the entire sky, and the dark night became even gloomier. In the morning we dragged our ship into a coastal cave so that it would not be damaged by the storm. Once again I asked my comrades not to touch the herd of Helios, and they promised me to fulfill my request. Opposite winds blew for a whole month, and we could not set off. Finally, all our supplies came out. 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 deep into 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. The gods imperceptibly 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, having returned to their homeland, they would appease the god Helios by building him a rich temple and dedicating precious gifts to him. 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 listened to 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 made a sacrifice to the gods, they began to fry the meat over the fire. At this time I woke up and went to the ship. From a distance I smelled the smell of fried meat and realized what had happened. I exclaimed in horror:
- Oh, great gods of Olympus! Why did you send me a dream! My companions committed a great crime; they killed the bulls of Helios.
Meanwhile, the nymph Lampetia 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 kingdom of gloomy Hades and never shine again for the gods and people. To appease the angry sun god, Zeus promised to smash my ship with his lightning and destroy all my companions.
In vain did I reproach my companions for what they had done. The gods sent us a terrible sign. The skins flayed from the bulls moved as if they were alive, and the meat emitted a plaintive moo. The storm raged for six days, and all the days my companions destroyed the bulls of Helios. Finally, on the seventh, the storm stopped and a fair wind blew. We immediately set off on our way. But as soon as the island of Trinacria disappeared from sight, the thunderer Zeus gathered menacing clouds over our heads. Zephyr came screaming and 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. The lightning of Zeus flashed and smashed the ship into cracks. All my companions were swallowed up by the sea. I was the only one saved. With difficulty I caught a piece of the mast and the keel of my ship and tied them together. The storm has died down. Noth began to blow. He rushed me straight to Charybdis. At this time, she was absorbing sea water with a roar. I barely had time to grab the branches of a fig tree growing on a rock near Charybdis itself, and hung on them, right above the terrible Charybdis. I waited a long time for Charybdis to spew out the mast and keel along with water again. Finally, they swam out of her monstrous mouth. I released the branches of the fig tree and rushed down straight onto the wreckage of my ship. Thus I was saved from death in the mouth of Charybdis. I was saved by the will of Zeus and from the monstrous Skilla. She did not notice how I swam on the waves of the raging sea.
For nine days I rushed across the boundless sea, and finally the waves washed me onto the island of the nymph Calypso. But I already told you about this, Alcinous and Aretas, and I also told you about the great dangers after which I reached your island. It would be unreasonable if I started talking about this again, and you would be bored listening to me.
Thus Odysseus ended the story of his adventures.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru