Summary10

__**Chapter 10**__

In this chapter, Odysseus and his crew travel to Aiolia Island, home to Aiolos, the wind king. Odysseus asks Aiolos for provisions, and he gives him a bag of winds. However, Odysseus' men grew curious to know what was in the bag, since they thought it was gold and silver. Growing jealous and mad, since they had no reward, they tore the bag open, releasing the winds. The winds stirred up a storm that took them back to Aiolia, and Odysseus' second request for help was turned down by the king. After six days and nights of sailing, they reached the island of the Laistrygonians, Lamos. Here, Odysseus sends some of his men to investigate the land surrounding them, in hopes of finding someone who can help them. These men were eaten by the island's inhabitants: giants. The men that were able to escape, were chased by the giants, who threw rocks at them. The rocks hit all the ships and sunk them, except Odysseus' ship. Odysseus managed to escape with the remaining men in his crew.

Next, they arrived at Aiaia, home of the goddess Kirke. There, they rested in a cove. The next day, Odysseus, coming back from exploring a land, found a stag and killed it. He brought it back to his grieving men, in an attempt to keep them from starving and cheer them up. Some of his men were sent out to investigate the house Odysseus had seen. On their way to the house, they saw many docile animals at the entrance. They feared them, though they did no harm. All of them, except Eurylokhos, went in and drank some wine with the beautiful woman, Kirke, who later turned them into pigs. Scared by the disappearance of his mates, Eurylokhos ran back to the ship to tell Odysseus what had happened. Odysseus decided to go investigate the situation, although his crew pleaded him not to, for they were scared to lose him. On his way to the house, Odysseus was approached by Hermes, who advised him how to confront Kirke. He was to eat a herb called molü. It was meant to keep him free from her spell. Then, he was to lunge at her when she attempted to hurt him. Odysseus followed Hermes' instructions and, therefore was able to negotiate with Kirke about his men. In order for Odysseus to save his men, he was to sleep with Kirke. Later at dinner, since Odysseus did not want to eat, Kirke agreed to turn his men back into humans, if he went to call the rest of his crew and stowed the ship. Kirke kept her promise, and Odysseus and his crew lived there comfortably for one year. Finally, after being remembered about his home, Odysseus realized that it was time to go. He asked Kirke to let him go, for it was about time, and she agreed, but gave him instruction about his journey. These instructions included going to the land of death and Persephone, where he had to make some sacrifices and seek Teiresias' prophecy in order to go home.

Sources: [|www.sparknotes.com] [|www.bookrags.com]