treatment (so powerful are
enchanted potions) I was shut up in a pig-sty; and we perceived that
Eurylochus, alone, had not the form of a swine; he, alone, escaped the
proffered draught. And had he not escaped it, I should even, at this
moment, have still been one of the bristle-clad animals; nor would
Ulysses, having been informed by him of so direful a disaster, have come
to Circe as {our} avenger. The Cyllenian peace-bearer had given him a
white flower; the Gods above call it 'Moly;'[26] it is supported by a
black root. Protected by that, and at the same time by the instruction
of the inhabitants of heaven, he entered the dwelling of Circe, and
being invited to the treacherous draughts, he repelled her, while
endeavouring to stroke his hair with her wand, and prevented her, in her
terror, with his drawn sword. Upon that, her promise {was given}, and
right hands were exchanged; and, being received into her couch, he
required the bodies of his companions as his marriage gift.

"We are {then} sprinkled with the more favouring juices of harmless
plants, and are smitten on the head with a blow from her inverted wand;
and charms are repeated, the converse of the charms that had been
uttered. The longer she chaunts them, the more erect are we raised from
the ground; and the bristles fall off, and the fissure leaves our cloven
feet; our shoulders return; our arms become attached[27] to their upper
parts. In tears, we embrace him {also} in tears; and we cling to the
neck of our chief; nor do we utter any words before those that testify
that we are grateful.

"The space of a year detained us there; and, as {I was} present for such
a length of time, I saw many things; and many things I heard with my
ears. This, too, among many other things {I heard}, which one of the
four handmaids appointed for such rites, privately informed me of. For
while Circe was passing her time apart with my chief, she pointed out to
me a youthful statue made of snow-white marble, carrying a woodpecker on
its head, erected in the hallowed temple, and bedecked with many a
chaplet. When I asked, and desired to know who he was, and why he was
venerated in the sacred temple, and why he carried that bird; she
said:-- 'Listen, Macareus, learn hence, too, what is the power of my
mistress, and give attention to what I say.'"

[Footnote 23: _Too much addicted._--Ver. 252. He alludes to the
fate of Elpenor, who afterwards, in a fit of intoxication, fell