"Then Hermes went back to high
Olympus passing over the wooded island; but I fared onward to the
house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with care as I walked along.
When I got to the gates I stood there and called the goddess, and as
soon as she heard me she came down, opened the door, and asked me to
come in; so I followed her - much troubled in my mind. She set me on
a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver, there was a footstool
also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a golden goblet for me to
drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me mischief. When she had
given it me, and I had drunk it without its charming me, she struck
me with her wand. ‘There now,’ she cried, ‘be off to
the pigsty, and make your lair with the rest of
them.’
"But I rushed at her with my
sword drawn as though I would kill her, whereon she fell with a loud
scream, clasped my knees, and spoke piteously, saying, ‘Who and
whence are you? From what place and people have you come? How can it
be that my drugs have no power to charm you? Never yet was any man
able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave you; you must
have some sort of spell-proof noos; surely you can be none
other than the bold hero Odysseus, who Hermes always said would come
here some day with his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it
then; sheathe your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make
friends and learn to trust each other.’
"And I answered, ‘Circe, how
can you expect me to be friendly with you when you have just been
turning all my men into pigs? And now that you have got me here
myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to bed with you,
and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall certainly not
consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take your solemn
oath to plot no further harm against me.’
"So she swore at once as I had
told her, and when she had completed her oath then I went to bed with
her.
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