Sunday, December 09, 2007

Aeolus

How a floating island can contain deep caverns, I sure as hell don't know - but Aeolia had them and they were jam-packed with gusts and gales and even a zephyr or two. Aeolus, a man of winds, dealt them out as need be at the bidding of Olympus.

Some such wind blew in Odysseus's ship and they bivouacked there awhile. When the time finally came to shove off, Aeolus presented to Odysseus a leather bag containing every breeze but the one that blows from the west. They sailed east.

One may wonder how they made it as far as they did, but eventually they came in sight of their home shores. It was then the crew got to wondering what sort of plunder the captain was hiding in the bag, so they opened it and released the winds. The sails filled and the ship was off again. When Aeolus heard, he wasn't amused, as the misuse of wind was a serious matter in those days. He refused to deal out anymore of the stuff, and so becalmed, the crew had to eat a lot of beans to get moving again. In the wrong direction, of course.

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