BOOK XII

ARGUMENT.

THE SIRENE, SCYLLA, AND CHARYBDIS.

He relates how, after his return from the shades, he was sent by

Circe on his voyage, by the coast of the Sirens, and by the strait

of Scylla and Charybdis: the manner in which he escaped those

dangers: how, being cast on the island Trinacria, his companions

destroyed the oxen of the Sun: the vengeance that followed; how

all perished by shipwreck except himself, who, swimming on the

mast of the ship, arrived on the island of Calypso. With which his

narration concludes.

Thus o'er the rolling surge the vessel flies,

Till from the waves the AEaean hills arise.

Here the gay Morn resides in radiant bowers,

Here keeps here revels with the dancing Hours;

Here Phoebus, rising in the ethereal way,

Through heaven's bright portals pours the beamy day.

At once we fix our halsers on the land.

At once descend, and press the desert sand:

There, worn and wasted, lose our cares in sleep,

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The Odyssey of Homer