s without moral subordination. The inner self-control demanded by an
institutional life he has not been able to reach, after the alienation
produced by the Trojan War; the bag of winds given into his hand by
AEolus he could not keep tied. Why? Behold Circe rise up and take on
shape after his twofold experience. Really she is evolved out of
Ulysses in a certain sense; he sees her just now and not before,
because he has created her. Why is he thus repelled by Family and
State? Circe is the answer; she is the enchantress who stands for
sensuous pleasure in its most alluring form; with her is now the
battle.

Thus we approach another struggle of the hero, the longest and by far
the most elaborately unfolded, of the present Book. In many respects it
is the counterpart of the story of Polyphemus in the previous Book.
There he meets and puts down the anti-institutional man; here he meets
and puts down the anti-moral woman. The one represents more the
objective side of man's spirit, the other more the subjective; both
together image the totality of the ethical world, in its two supreme
aspects, institutions and morals.

Very famous has this story of Circe become in literature. It has
furnished proverbs, allusions, texts for exhortation; it has been
wrought over into almost every possible form--drama, novel, poem,
paramyth; from the nursery to old age it retains its charm and power.
Its meaning is plain enough, especially at first; but it grows more
weird and more profound as it develops; at last it ascends quite into
the beyond and points to the supersensible world.

Now the main point to be seized in this tale is the movement, the
development of Circe through her several stages, which are in the main
three, showing Circe victorious, Circe conquered, and Circe prophetic.
Ulysses and his companions move along with these stages, being also in
the process; but the center of interest, the complete unfolding, is
found in Circe. These three chief stages we may give somewhat more
fully before entering upon the detailed exposition.

_First._ The island is reached; some of the companions under a leader
(not Ulysses) go to Circe's abode, and are turned into swine after
partaking of her food. Circe triumphant.

_Second._ Ulysses himself then goes, having obtained the plant _moly_;
he subdues, enjoys; he releases his companions. He finally asks to be
sent home, according to the promise she had given. Circe subordinated.

_Third._ Th