5 Dead men and deadly voices

Chapter 5 Dead men and deadly voices After a year on Circe's island, my men grew restless, and I knew that it was time for us to leave. "If you don't want to stay, I won't stop you," said Circe. "But, take my advice, if you want to get home in one piece, you will have to visit the land of the dead and seek the help of Tiresias, a spirit there. I was terrified. "How can we go to the land of the dead and not die?" I asked her. "And how do we get there?" Circe gave me a long list of instructions, as well as many warnings for our journey. "Let the North Wind carry you," she said as she waved us off in our one remaining ship. "Good luck!"

Soon, we landed on the misty shores of the land of the dead, where a sacred grove of dark trees grew. As Circe had instructed me, I dug a little hole and poured the blood of a freshly- killed sheep into it. This was to tempt the dead out of the shadows to talk to us.

As the blood poured, shadowy spirits gathered around us. My men trembled, but I tried to keep my voice steady as I called, "Tiresias, come forward! Odysseus wants to speak to you!" One shadowy figure drifted closer, bending to take a drink of the blood. As he began to look more solid, I saw he was an old, old man. "You're in trouble. Poseidon wants you dead, because you blinded his son, the Cyclops." My heart sank. "But that's not all. Whatever you do, stay away from the cattle of Helios, the sun god. If you eat those..." He shook his head. "My advice is, just don't."

With the warning ringing in my ears, we left the land of the dead and sailed on. Circe had told me that another danger lay ahead: the sirens. In case you've never heard of them, sirens are monsters with beautiful voices who lure sailors into the sea, to drown. I gave my men wax to stopper up their ears. But I wanted to hear these voices for myself. So, I got my men to tie me firmly to the mast before we were in earshot of the sirens. Soon, I heard them...

Their voices were high and sweet, caressing my ears and urging me to come nearer, to dive into the sea... I begged my men, "Let me go... I have to go to them!" Thankfully, they couldn't hear me through the wax stuffed in their ears. I may be the first person to hear the sirens and live. But, another danger loomed ahead. Another two, in fact. We had to pass a narrow gap in the rocks. On one side was a whirlpool, created by the sea monster Charybdis.

On the other side was a cave where a six-headed monster lived. Her name was Scylla. "Faster," I called to the men at the oars. "Don't get too close to the whirlpool, or we'll all be drowned!" Just then, Scylla whipped her heads out of her cave above us. The six heads snatched up six of my men in their greedy mouths. But the rest of us were through the gap and sailing on, safe again for the moment.