The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-21

| beset by a throng of suitors who pos
sessed his palace and wasted his sub
stance In riot. They all were princes,
and Penelope had not power to drive them
away. but, by art, set one against the
other and deferred from day to day the
answer to their suits. Her son, Tele-
machus, strove as best his youth and
inexperience would allow to keep rule aud
order In his fathers realm. but an absent
king makes a disordered kingdom.
The sailing directions which Gree gave
| Ulysses were fairly good, but she con-
| trived them so that he would pass the
coast of the Sirens and through what is
| known as the Strait of Messina, between
Scylla and Charybdis. She had the grace
to warn him of his perils, however. The
ship passed along within hailing distance
of the rocks upon which sat the Sirens
beautiful women singing such enhancing
songs that whoever heard them landed
and was seen no more, being devoured
by the fell brood who. though beautious
maidens above their waists, were scaly
monsters below. Ulysses knew that he
alone of all the crew would hear the
Sirens song, and so when he came to
their fateful coast he stuffed his ears
with wax and babe the sailors chain him
to the mast. By this means he succeeded
| in passing the Sirens in safety and by
cool courage and skillful handling of his
ship he also passed in safety between the
dreaded Scylla and Charybdis. Yet not
without loss, for fierce Scylla as they
passed swept six men from the deck, all
chiefs of renown.
Soon after this fearful passage they
saw, lying to the STAFFORD upon the shores
of Sicily. a region sacred to the Sun God.
| Ulysses had been warned that he should
| not land there, but in spite of his pro-
| tests the weary crew insisted, and, row.
| ing to the shore, they quenched their
| thirst from sacred hill and Toasted,
moaning for their late companions until
| they sank to sleep. A storm came up In
| the night and they had to haul their ship
| to shore and secure her with strong
| cables. For a month they were storm
! bound upon the coast.
Ulysses warned his men not to touch
the herds sacred to the Sun-god, but in
spite of his warnings the men, driven by
hunger, slaughtered many of the fat
beeves and ate them. Six days they In
dulged in the impious feast, and on the
seventh, the weather clearing, put to sea.
But a tremendous storm caught them and
the ship was lost. Ulysses, clinging to
spar, floated about for nine days. and on
the tenth was cast ashore upon the island
of Orgygia. This island was inhabited by
Calypso, sea nymph, who longed for
bo1 W
found that the kind waves had cast upon
her shores man she took the stranger
| to her cave-a spacious and luxurious
cave-revived him with wine and food and
threw over him the witchery Of her
charms. For eight years did Calypso
keep Ulysses prisoner upon her island.
At first he fingered willingly, but after
a while began to sigh with a greater
longing than before for Penelope and
Ithaca. 3
| He might have stayed on indefinitely
had not the gods taken hand in the af-
fair, and Jupiter sent Mercury to tell the
nymph that she must give up Ulysses and
aid him to return home. Not daring to
disobey such a high command Calypso
sadly told Ulysses that he was at liberty
to depart, and that she would aid him in
building a raft in which to make his
escape. The King was overjoyed, but dis
simulated and said that he was really en-
joying himself immensely, but, since the
fair nymph was willing for him to go. he
would rejoice to see again his native
shores. When the raft was ready and the
sail set Calypso tearfully took her last
farewell of the hero and directed him to
shape his course az we'll as he could to-
ward the island of the Phaeacians,
kindly people who would aid him on his
way to Ithaca. AS Ulysses approached
the Phaeacian shores a storm arose,
which wrecked his fragile craft and he
was flung, half naked and half dead,
| upon the beach.
! Next morning Nausicaa, the daughter Of