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of his Polyphemus, he snatched Elpene, who was a maiden, burned with the torch of erotic fire, that is, he inflamed one of the eyes of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, by taking away his daughter. This interpretation the most wise Phidias the Corinthian set forth, saying that the wise Euripides poetically translated all things, not agreeing with the most wise Homer who set forth the wandering of Odysseus. And Odysseus came from Sicily to the Aeolian islands; and he was received by Aeolus, king of the islands. Who, when he was about to die, divided the two islands between his daughters, and they were queens of the two islands. And Circe was a priestess of Helios, given by her own father from infancy to be raised in the temple on the island called Aiaia; who, when she had 118 grown up, became a mystic sorceress; and she was very comely. And her sister Calypso, being very envious of her, had a great enmity toward her, saying, it is said, Why does she deny her own father Atlas and call herself the daughter of the Titan Helios? And Circe feared her, since Calypso had a multitude of noble men on her own island, lest getting angry she might attack and treat her badly. Therefore Circe, being unable to persuade any to an alliance and protection of herself, having prepared a drug from certain herbs, she received, it is said, the passing strangers and through the giving of a drink she brought upon the strangers who drank it subjection to a terrible love-philtre, causing them to remain and to forget their own fatherland and to be with her; and all remained with her exceedingly on the same island, forgetting their own fatherland, and she gathered many. And when Circe learned that the ships of Odysseus had landed on her island, she ordered her own people to receive Odysseus and his army eagerly; for she wanted to have him and his men as warriors for her own alliance. And Odysseus, when he had only put in at her island, saw many men on the same island from different fatherlands; and recognizing some men who were from the Achaean army, who had come to him, he asked them saying, For what reason do you dwell on this island? And they said to him that We are from the 119 Achaean army, and by the violence of the sea's waves we drew near to this island, and having received a magic drink from Queen Circe, being struck with a terrible love for her, we now have this very island for a fatherland, saying some other things as well. And having heard these things, Odysseus, gathering all his own men, commanded them to partake of none of the things given to them by Circe, whether of foods or of drinks, because they contained some sorcery, but to partake of the provision of grain given to him by King Aeolus and of the foods and drinks formerly stored in the ships. And when Circe offered to him and his army and the sailors nourishment of foods and drinks, they did not accept them from her at all. And when Circe learned this, she supposed that Odysseus knew some mystic spells and had foreknowledge of her plans, and sending for him, she summoned him to the temple; and he came to her with the help of armed men and Achaean recklessness, bringing her Trojan gifts. And she, having seen him and those with him, asked him to remain on the island until the winter season should pass, having given him oaths in the temple to do nothing to harm him or any of those with him. And Odysseus, being persuaded, spent a short time with her, uniting with her in marriage, as she wished; concerning which Circe the most wise Sisyphus of Cos and Dictys from Crete set these things forth. But the most wise Homer poetically 120 said that by means of a magic drink she transformed the men taken to her, making some lion-formed, others dog-headed, and others

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αὐτοῦ Πολυφήμου, Ἔλπην, παρθένον οὖσαν, λαμπάδι πυρὸς ἐρωτικοῦ καυθεῖσαν, ἥρπασε, τοῦτ' ἐστὶν ἕνα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ Κύκλωπος ἐφλόγισε, τὸν Πολύφημον, τὴν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα ἀφελόμενος. ἥντινα ἑρμηνείαν ὁ σοφώτατος Φειδίας ὁ Κορίνθιος ἐξέθετο, εἰρηκὼς ὅτι ὁ σοφὸς Εὐριπίδης ποιητικῶς πάντα μετέφρασε, μὴ συμφωνήσας τῷ σοφωτάτῳ Ὁμήρῳ ἐκθεμένῳ τὴν Ὀδυσσέως πλάνην. Ὁ δὲ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἦλθεν εἰς τὰς Αἰολίας νήσους· καὶ ἐδεξιώθη παρὰ τοῦ Αἰόλου, βασιλέως τῶν νήσων. ὅστις μέλλων τελευτᾶν διένειμε τὰς δύο νήσους ταῖς θυγατράσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἦσαν βασιλίδες τῶν δύο νήσων. ἡ δὲ Κίρκη ὑπῆρχεν ἱέρεια Ἡλίου, δοθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου πατρὸς ἐκ νηπιόθεν ἀνατραφῆναι εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ λεγομένῃ Αἰαίᾳ· ἥτις αὐ 118 ξηθεῖσα ἐγένετο μυστικὴ μάγος· ἦν δὲ εὐπρεπὴς πάνυ. ἡ δὲ ταύτης ἀδελφὴ Καλυψώ, διαφθονουμένη αὐτῇ, ἔχθραν εἶχε πρὸς αὐτὴν μεγάλην, λέγουσα, φησί, ∆ιὰ τί ἀρνεῖται τὸν ἴδιον πατέρα τὸν Ἄτλαντα καὶ λέγει ἑαυτὴν θυγατέρα Τιτᾶνος Ἡλίου; καὶ ἐφοβεῖτο αὐτὴν ἡ Κίρκη, ἐπειδὴ ἡ Καλυψὼ εἶχε πλῆθος ἀνδρῶν γενναίων ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτῆς νήσῳ, μήποτε ὀργιζομένη ἐπέλθοι καὶ κακῶς αὐτῇ χρήσεται. λοιπὸν ἡ Κίρκη, ὡς μὴ δυναμένη τινὰς προτρέψασθαι εἰς συμμαχίαν καὶ παραφυλακὴν ἑαυτῆς, κατασκευάσασα διὰ βοτανῶν τινων φάρμακον, τοὺς παριόντας, φησί, ξένους ἐδεξιοῦτο καὶ διὰ ποτοῦ δόσεως ὑποταγὴν φίλτρου δεινοῦ καὶ παραμονῆς καὶ λήθης πατρίδος ἰδίας τοὺς πίνοντας ξένους ἐποίει συνεῖναι αὐτῇ· καὶ πάντες αὐτῇ εἰς ὑπερβολὴν παρέμενον εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν νῆσον ληθαργοῦντες τῆς ἑαυτῶν πατρίδος, καὶ συνῆγε πολλούς. μαθοῦσα δὲ ἡ Κίρκη τὰ πλοῖα τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως ἐν τῇ αὐτῆς νήσῳ καταντῆσαι, ἐκέλευσε καὶ τοὺς ἰδίους δεξιώσασθαι σπουδαίως τὸν Ὀδυσσέα καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ στρατόν· ἠβούλετο γὰρ ἔχειν αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ ὡς πολεμικοὺς εἰς συμμαχίαν ἑαυτῆς. ὁ δὲ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἢ μόνον παρέβαλεν ἐν τῇ αὐτῆς νήσῳ, εἶδε πολλοὺς ἄνδρας ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ νήσῳ ἀπὸ διαφόρων πατρίδων· ἐπιγνοὺς δέ τινας ἄνδρας ἐκ τοῦ Ἀχαϊκοῦ ὄντας στρατοῦ, πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐληλυθότας ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς λέγων, Τίνος χάριν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ οἰκεῖτε; οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ ὅτι Ἐκ τοῦ 119 Ἀχαϊκοῦ ὑπάρχομεν στρατοῦ, καὶ θαλαττίων κυμάτων βίᾳ προσεπελάσαμεν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ, καὶ πόμα λαβόντες μαγικὸν ὑπὸ τῆς βασιλίδος Κίρκης, ἔρωτι δεινῷ βληθέντες εἰς αὐτὴν ταύτην ἔχομεν νῦν πατρίδα, ἐξειπόντες καὶ ἄλλα τινά. καὶ ταῦτα ἀκηκοὼς ὁ Ὀδυσσεύς, συνάξας πάντας τοὺς ἰδίους αὐτοῦ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς μηδενὸς μετασχεῖν τῶν ἐπιδιδομένων αὐτοῖς παρὰ τῆς Κίρκης εἴτε βρωμάτων εἴτε πομάτων διὰ τὸ μαγγανείαν τινὰ ἔχειν αὐτά, ἀλλὰ ἐκ τῆς παρασχεθείσης αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ Αἰόλου βασιλέως σιταρχίας καὶ τῶν πρῴην ὄντων ἀποθέτων ἐν τοῖς πλοίοις βρωμάτων τε καὶ πομάτων ἐξ αὐτῶν μεταλαμβάνειν. τῆς δὲ Κίρκης προσενεγκούσης αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ στρατῷ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς ναύταις τροφὰς βρωμάτων καὶ πομάτων, οὐκ ἐδέξαντο παρ' αὐτῆς τὸ παράπαν. καὶ μαθοῦσα τοῦτο ἡ Κίρκη ὑπέλαβεν εἰδέναι τὸν Ὀδυσσέα τινὰς μυστικὰς μαγείας καὶ προγνόντα αὐτῆς τὰ βουλεύματα, καὶ πέμψασα μετεστείλατο αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ· καὶ ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὴν μετὰ ὁπλικῆς βοηθείας καὶ ἀπονοίας Ἀχαϊκῆς, ἀγαγὼν αὐτῇ δῶρα Τρωικά. ἡ δὲ ἑωρακυῖα αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς μετ' αὐτοῦ, ᾔτησεν αὐτὸν προσμεῖναι τῇ νήσῳ, ἄχρις οὗ διέλθῃ ὁ τοῦ χειμῶνος καιρός, δεδωκυῖα αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ὅρκους μηδὲν ποιεῖν εἰς βλάβην αὐτοῦ ἤ τινος τῶν ἅμα αὐτῷ. καὶ πεισθεὶς ὁ Ὀδυσσεὺς διέτριψε μετ' αὐτῆς ὀλίγον καιρόν, συμμιγεὶς αὐτῇ πρὸς γάμον, ἐκείνης βουληθείσης· περὶ ἧς Κίρκης ἐξέθεντο ταῦτα οἱ σοφώτατοι Σίσυφος Κῷος καὶ ∆ίκτυς ἐκ τῆς Κρήτης. ὁ δὲ σοφώτατος Ὅμηρος ποιη 120 τικῶς ἔφρασεν ὅτι διὰ πόματος μαγικοῦ τοὺς συλλαμβανομένους πρὸς αὐτὴν ἄνδρας μετεμόρφου, ποιοῦσα τοὺς μὲν λεοντομόρφους, τοὺς δὲ κυνοκεφάλους, ἄλλους δὲ