After the sack of Troy, Ulysses and his soldiers set sail for home. One day their ship reached an island. Ulysses sent half his men to explore.

They found a palace surrounded by lions, tigers and wolves. Strangely, the creatures seemed docile and did not attack. Then they heard an alluring song coming from the palace, and Circe appeared. She invited them inside and served them a magnificent feast.

Now Ulysses' men were rough sailors, and starving. Circe had the magical power to turn men into whatever animal they most resembled, and so when they fell upon the food, she touched them, one by one, with her wand, and turned them into pigs.

One of the men had stayed back to see what would happen. He rushed back to the ship and told Ulysses that an enchantress had bewitched the men. Ulysses set off to rescue them. As he was marching through the forest, the god Hermes appeared and gave him a magic herb that would protect him from enchantment. üサwWW。ｆaｉｒＹ-TＡｌe.ＩｎFo€ィíAヰ

When he arrived at the palace, Circe took his hand and led him inside. There lay a feast such as none he had ever seen. As he ate, he felt her wand touch his shoulder, but Ulysses did not turn into an animal. Instead, his eyes flashing with fury, he drew his sword and turned on her. "I am the conqueror of Troy. You cannot hurt me!"

Circe's eyes filled with tears and she knelt before him. "I only wanted companions," she wept. "No one would stay with me."

"Set my men free," Ulysses demanded, and so Circe led him to the pigsty. There she touched each pig with her wand, and they turned back into men.

Ulysses wanted to leave, but Circe begged them to stay. Ulysses saw the longing in his soldiers' eyes, their desire for rest, and so he agreed to stay for a while.

Days turned to weeks, weeks to months and months to years as the men enjoyed Circe's hospitality, but visions of home eventually invaded Ulysses' dreams, and so he and his men again set off for Greece. He didn't know that many more adventures awaited them, and that 10 years would pass before he would at last reach his beloved wife. ≡つマwＷw.ｆａiRy-Tａｌｅ．iｎFＯ4

Ulysses, a Greek King, Meets Circe, the Daughter of the Sun (a Greek Legend)

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