mind did he suffer on the sea, although seeking to preserve his own
soul, and the return of his companions."

We have before us a man seeking for the soul, for the divine, and his
wanderings during this search are narrated. He comes to the land of
the Cyclopes. These are uncouth giants, with only one eye and that in
the centre of the forehead. The most terrible, Polyphemus, devours
several of Odysseus' companions. Odysseus himself escapes by blinding
the Cyclopes. Here we have to do with the first stage of life's
pilgrimage. Physical force or the lower nature has to be overcome. It
devours any one who does not take away its power, who does not blind
it. Odysseus next comes to the island of the enchantress Circe. She
changes some of his companions into grunting pigs. She also is subdued
by Odysseus. Circe is the lower mind-force, which cleaves to the
transitory. If misused, it may thrust men down even deeper into
bestiality. Odysseus has to overcome it. Then he is able to descend
into the nether-world. He becomes a Mystic. Now he is exposed to the
dangers which beset the Mystic on his progress from the lower to the
higher degrees of initiation. He comes to the Sirens, who lure the
passer-by to death by sweet magic sounds. These are the forms of the
lower imagination, which are at first pursued by one who has freed
himself from the power of the senses. He has got so far that his
spirit acts freely, but is not initiated. He pursues illusions, from
the power of which he must break loose. Odysseus has to accomplish the
awful passage between Scylla and Charybdis. The Mystic, at the
beginning of the path wavers between spirit and sensuousness. He
cannot yet grasp the full value of spirit, yet sensuousness has
already lost its former attraction. All Odysseus' companions perish in
a shipwreck; he alone escapes and comes to the nymph Calypso, who
receives him kindly and takes care of him for seven years. At length,
by order of Zeus, she dismisses him to his home. The Mystic has
arrived at a stage at which all his fellow-aspirants fail; he alone,
Odysseus, is worthy. He enjoys for a time, which is defined by the
mystically symbolic number seven, the rest of gradual initiation.
Before Odysseus arrives at his home, he comes to the isle of the
Phaeaces, where he meets with a hospitable reception. The king's
daughter gives him sympathy, and the king, Alcinous, entertains and
honours him. Once more does Odysseus approach the world and