They asked her who dwelt in that land. She
made no reply, but led them in silence to her father's palace. He was a
monarch, and named Antiphas. He and all his people were giants. When they
entered the palace, a woman, the mother of the damsel, but far taller than
she, rushed abroad and called for Antiphas. He came, and snatching up one
of the two men, made as if he would devour him. The other fled. Antiphas
raised a mighty shout, and instantly, this way and that, multitudes of
gigantic people issued out at the gates, and, making for the harbour, tore
up huge pieces of the rocks and flung them at the ships which lay there,
all which they utterly overwhelmed and sank; and the unfortunate bodies of
men which floated, and which the sea did not devour, these cannibals
thrust through with harpoons, like fishes, and bore them off to their dire
feast. Ulysses with his single bark, that had never entered the harbour,
escaped; that bark which was now the only vessel left of all the gallant
navy that had set sail with him from Troy. He pushed off from the shore,
cheering the sad remnant of his men, whom horror at the sight of their
countrymen's fate had almost turned to marble.
CHAPTER TWO
The House of Circe.--Men changed into Beasts.--The Voyage to Hell.--The
Banquet of the Dead.
On went the single ship till it came to the island of Aeaea, where Circe,
the dreadful daughter of the Sun, dwelt. She was deeply skilled in magic,
a haughty beauty, and had hair like the Sun.
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