Reading 2:

The Adventure of Ulysses

and the Keeper of Winds

The Odyssey
One

of two major ancientGreek

epic poemsattributed toHomer
It is where The Adventure of
Ulysses and the Keeper of Winds
was taken from
Ancient and nearly all modern
editions and translations are
divided into 24 books

Ulysses
A

legendary hero of the Trojan

war
He devised a plan to win the war
by giving the Greeks a giant
wooden horse
Also known as Odysseus
Husband of Penelope
Father of Telemachus

Story:

Ulysses and his crew were sailing

north from the land of the cyclops
where
Ulysses
outwitted
Polyphemus, one-eyed son of
Poseidon, and blinded his single
eye. Ulysses was very eager to go
back to his homeland Ithaca which
he had not seen for more than ten
years. By the end of the third night
they came across a tall and wide
bronze gate. Ulysses thought that
there was a way around it so they
began to sail along the wall.

Finally, they came across a huge

gate. It swung open and the wind
changed suddenly. All three ships
were blown through the gate, which
immediately shut behind them. The
winds were terribly strong. Ulysses
tried to shout, but his breath was
torn from his mouth and he lost
consciousness, including his crew.
Without Ulysses knowing, Poseidon
has guided the ships towards the
island fortress of Aeolus, Keeper of
winds.

Aeolus and the winds

Ages ago, the gods had
become fearful of the strength
of the winds, so they decided to
tame them. Zeus and Poseidon
placed an island upon the sea
and girdled it with a bronze
wall. They set a mountain upon
the island, hollowed out that
mountain until it was a huge
stone dungeon and stuffed the
winds in it. Aeolus was then

Whenever the gods wanted to stir up a

storm and needed a particular wind,
they would send a message to Aeolus,
who would stab the side of the
mountain, making a hole big enough
for the wind to fly through. If the north
wind were wanted, he stabbed the
north side of the mountain, its east
slope for the east wind, and so on.
When the storm was done he would
whistle the wind home and the huge
wind, broken by its imprisonment,
would crawl back to its hole.

Ulysses and his men found

themselves inside the castle
of Aeolus. A great feast was
prepared
before
them.
Requested by Aeolus, Ulysses
told
stories
about
their
journey, the Trojan war and
their
recent
battle
with
Polyphemus.
Aeolus
was
pleased with the stories partly
because he had always hated
Polyphemus. With this, he

Aeolus led Ulysses to the

mountain, carrying his sword in
one hand and a great leather
bag in the other. He filled the
bag with the north, east, and
south winds, gave it to Ulysses
and instructed him to not let
anyone open it. He also sent
the west wind to fill their sails
and take Ulysses and his men
home.

Ulysses tied the leather bag to

the mast and warned his crew
not to touch it no matter what.
He stood beside the bag with a
sword in his hand. He guarded
the bag for nine nights and
nine days with no sleep.
On the ninth day, Ulysses saw
their homeland and knew the
trip would only take them an
hour to get their so he decided
to take a nap.

Two of the men saw Ulysses fall

asleep. Their eyes were on the
leather
bag.
Then
Poseidon,
swimming invisible alongside, clinked
his golden armlets. The men heard
the clinking, and thought that the bag
contained golden coins from Aeolus
and Ulysses would not share the
fortune to them. They slashed the
bag with a knife and the winds came
out immediately. The winds began to
chase each other around the ship.

Far to the west, the summoning

whistle of the keeper of winds was
heard. The winds headed back to
the island of Aeolus thus taking
the ships with them. Upon waking,
Ulysses saw that they were back
where they had started. Their
ships were a complete wreck as
well as his crew. Once again, he
asked Aeolus for help but Aeolus
refused. Instead of complaining,
Ulysses gathered his men and
made them board again.

Feeling heartbroken and dead

of grief, Ulysses tried to hide
his feeling and from his crew.
He gave orders and made
them repair the damages of
the ships while they head
home once again.

Simile
A

comparison made between two

unlike objects with the use of like
or as.
Example:
Her smile was as bright as the sun.
He swims like a fish in the ocean.