a former occasion.

3. One man alone escaped to tell the story, as so often happens in such
adventures; it is Eurylochus, "who remained outside the palace
suspecting guile." When Ulysses hears the account, he proposes to go at
once and release his comrades. Eurylochus beseeches him not to attempt
it, but he persists, saying, "I shall go, a strong necessity is upon
me." Possibly in his contemptuous expression, "You stay in this place
eating and drinking," is hinted just that which he is now to put down,
in contrast with his companions. Eurylochus is the man who is unable to
solve the problem; he runs away from it, is afraid of it, and leaves
his wretched associates behind. But the problem must have a positive
solution, which here follows.

II. We are now to witness the dealings of Ulysses with Circe; he is to
subordinate her, making her into a means, not an end; she will
recognize him and submit completely, taking an oath not to do him any
harm; she will release his companions and restore them to their natural
forms at his behest; she will then properly entertain the entire crew,
no longer turning them into swine. The world of the appetites and the
senses will be duly ordered and subjected to the rational; from an
imperious enchantress Ulysses changes Circe into an instrument of life
and restoration. He is the transformer of her, not she of him; for she
will reduce man to a beast, unless he reduces her to reason.

1. Ulysses on his way to Circe's palace is met by a seeming youth
(really a God, Mercury) who warns him and gives him a plant potent
against the drugs of the enchantress. It is manifest that Ulysses has a
divine call; he knows already his problem from Eurylochus, the God
reiterates it and inspires him with courage. In addition he receives a
plant from the divine hand, whereof the description we may ponder: "The
root is black, its flower white as milk; the Gods call it _moly_, hard
it is for men to dig up." Very hard indeed! And the whole account is
symbolical, we think, consciously symbolical; it has an Orphic tinge,
hinting of mystic rites. At any rate the hero has now the divine
antidote; still he is to exert himself with all his valor; "when she
shall smite thee with her staff, draw thy sword and rush upon her, as
if intending to kill her." Thus he is to assert the god-like element in
himself, the rational, and subject to it the sensuous. It is clear that
Ulysses is beginning to master the lesson of his e