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The Odyssey Redux - Part Iii - From Circe's Isle To Scylla and Charybdis
The Odyssey Redux - Part Iii - From Circe's Isle To Scylla and Charybdis
And so they sailed, on and on, uncharted were where they went, till they came to Hade's land
Dark and grey and dismal was the land where wraiths and shadows wandered on the sand
There they held congregation with the dead whose time on Charon's ferry was yet to clear.
Odysseus did meet his mother Anticleas as did Achilles, Agamemnon, and Teresias the Seer.
Teresias, blind from birth, had vision of the Gods and good counsel he did give
Of more travails, he did prophesise, of arcane things he did tell, of ways to overcome and live.
So once again, the Grecian ship set sail with a sense of dire forebodings, a journey lasting long
And hence they came where dwelt fair maids, the Syrenia, of sweet and dreaded song.
The Sirens were a beauteous lot, their songs lured ships and men to the rocks, and shipwreck
Oysseus, forewarned, stuffed beeswax in the ears of crew, and bound was he to a mast on deck
So the Sirens' song, which doomed all men, was heard by our hero to his hearts content
And the ship sailed past averting sure doom, as deaf crew to their sailing task were bent.
Now, in those days of Mythical Beasts were two most dreaded beasts of the seas
Scylla of the hexa-head with ravenous mouths, and the maelstrom called Charybdis.
Caught were the crew between the choice of the two, and Odysseus made the choice
Scylla it was that Odysseus chose. With heavy heart he sailed past it, gave six men as sacrifice.
... To be continued in Part IV
Copyright © Karam Misra | Year Posted 2016
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