The Cattle of the Sun

Book I

Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the men whose minds manners and customs he learned; and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea while seeking to save his own life and bring his crew safely home; but do what he might he could not save his crew, for they perished through their own blind folly in devouring the cattle of the Sun-God Helios, son of Hyperion; so the God prevented them from ever reaching home.

Book XII

Circe: You will now come to the island of Thrinacia, and here you will see feeding in great numbers herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the Sun-God—seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each. They do not bear young, nor do they become fewer in number, and they are tended by the nymphs Phaethusa and Lampetie, who wear their hair in threefold long locks, and whom the beautiful Neaera bore to the Sun-God Helios. When she had borne them and done suckling them, their mother sent them to the island of Thrinacia, which was a long way off, to live there and look after their father’s flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed, and think of nothing but getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and your crew; and even though you may yourself escape, you will return home late, in a real predicament, after losing all your men.

Later

Odysseus: When we had escaped the rocks, and dread of Scylla and Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the Sun-God, where were the fair cattle, broad of brow, and the many godly flocks of sheep belonging to Helios. While still at sea in my black ship, I could hear the cattle lowing as they came home to their barn and the bleating of the sheep. Then upon my mind fell the words of the blind Theban seer, Teiresias, and of Aeaean Circe who had warned me to shun the island of the blessed Sun-God Helios, who brings joy to mortals. So being much troubled in my heart I said to my crew, ‘Hear my words crew, I know of your predicament, but I must tell you of the oracles of Teiresias and Aeaean Circe who were eager to warn me to shun the island of Helios, who gives joy to mortals, for it was there, she said, was our most terrible suffering. Now, row the black ship out past the island.'

The spirit was broken within my crew, and Eurylochus immediately answered me with unsufferable words. ‘Odysseus,’ said he, ‘you are robust; you have strength beyond that of other men, and your limbs never grow weary, and self never gets worn out. You seem to be wholly made of iron, and suffer not like your crew who are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, and now, you will not let them set foot on the shore, where upon this sea-girt island they might make selves a wholesome supper, but instead, you bid them to wander on through the swift night, away from the island and over the misty deep. From night, fierce winds are born, wreckers of ships; how can we escape destruction should there be a sudden blast of the South wind or the blustering West wind, which so often wreck ships despite the ruling Gods? Now, this time, let us yield to black night and prepare our supper, remaining by the swift ship, and in the morning, we will go aboard and put out into the broad sea.'

So spoke Eurylochus, and the rest of my crew approved his words. Then I was sure that a God was devising difficulty. I replied with winged words, ‘Eurylochus, you force me to yield, for you are many against one, but come now, swear a mighty oath, to the end that if we happen to come across a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, no crew may slay a single head of either cow or sheep in the blind folly of his mind, but will be satisfied with the food which immortal Circe has given us.' They immediately swore that they would not, even as I bade them, and when they had completed their oath, we made the well-built ship fast in the hollow harbour, near a stream of fresh water, and the men went ashore and made ready their suppers. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they remembered their poor crew whom Scylla had snatched up from out of the hollow ship and devoured; this set them weeping and sweet sleep came upon them as they wept. But during the third watch of the night and the stars had turned their course, Zeus, the gatherer of clouds, roused against us a fierce wind and then a wondrous tempest which concealed the land and sea alike with clouds, and night rushed down from heaven. As soon as the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, we dragged our ship to land and made her fast in a hollow cave wherein the sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I called the crew together in council.

‘My friends,’ said I, ‘we have meat and drink in the swift ship, let us remember, therefore, to keep our hands from those cattle, lest we come to harm, for these cows and sheep belong to the mighty God, Helios, who oversees and overhears all things.’ And again, their proud hearts consented.

The South wind blew unceasingly for a whole month, and there was no other wind but only South and East. So long as my crew had grain and red wine, they kept their hands from the cattle.  But, when all the ship's stores had been consumed, they had to roam in search for game, fish, fowl, and whatever else might fall into their hands. They fished with bent hooks as hunger pinched their bellies, and then alone, I climbed higher up and deeper into the island so that I was able to pray to the Gods and ask for one of them to show me the way forward. When I had gone far enough to be clear of all my crew and found a place well sheltered from the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the Gods holding Olympus until they bought sweet sleep upon my eyelids.

Meanwhile, Eurylochus had been giving harmful counsel to my crew, ‘Hear my words,’ said he, ‘my poor crew. All forms of death are detestable to wretched mortals, but to die from hunger is the most pitiful. Instead, let us drive off the best of the cattle of Helios and offer sacrifice to the immortal gods. And, if we ever reach Ithaca, our native land, we can immediately build a fine temple to Helios and enrich it with many good offerings: and if, he happens to show wrath and is determined to sink our ship because of his straight-horned cattle, and the other Gods agree, I would rather lose my life with a gulp at the wave, than suffer a slow death on this desert island.’

So spoke Eurylochus, and my crew approved of his words. Now the cattle, so fair, sleek and broad of brow, were grazing not far from the dark-prowed ship; the men immediately drove in the best of them, and around them, they all stood praying to the Gods, plucking the tender leaves from a high-crested oak, for they had no barley on board the well-benched ship. When they had done praying, they cut the throats of the cattle and flayed them, and then, removing the thighs, they covered them with two layers of fat and laid some raw meat on the top. They had no wine with which to make an offering over the blazing sacrifice and instead used water for libations. When the thighs were completely burned, and they had tasted the inner meat, they cut up the remainder and put the pieces upon spits.

Sweet sleep fled from my eyelids by this time, and I returned to the swift ship at the sea shore. As I drew near to the curved ship, the strong scent from the fat wafted around me. I groaned and cried out to the immortal gods. ‘Father Zeus, and all you other blessed Gods who are everlasting, truly it was for my own ruin that you lulled me into pitiless sleep while my crew remaining behind have contrived a monstrous deed.'

Meanwhile Lampetie of the long robes went straight off to Helios and informed the Sun-God that we had slain his cattle, whereon, wrath at heart, the Sun-God spoke among the immortals, ‘Father Zeus, and all you other blessed Gods that are forever, take vengeance on the crew of Odysseus, son of Laertes, who have insolently slaine my cattle, which were the one thing from which I ever took delight, whenever I was on my way to starry heaven, and whenever I turned back to earth from heaven. If I do not receive fair atonement for the cattle, then I shall go down to Hades and shine among the dead.'

Zeus, the one who gathers the clouds, answered him and said, ‘Helios, you must continue to shine among us immortals and among the mortals upon the earth, the giver of grain. As for the crew, without delay, I will strike their swift ship with my bright thunderbolt and shatter it to pieces in the midst of the wine-dark sea.' I heard all this from fair-haired Calypso, who said self had heard it from the messenger Hermes.

As soon as I got down to my ship and the seashore, I reprimanded my men, going up to each one in turn, but we could not find a remedy because the cattle were already dead. The Gods immediately delivered portents. The hides of the cattle crawled, their flesh, both roasted and raw, bellowed upon the spits, lowing just like the cattle.

My trusty crew kept driving in Helios's best cattle for six days and feasted upon them. Then, Zeus, the son of Cronus, brought change upon us on the seventh day, the wind ceased to blow tempestuously, and we immediately boarded our ship, set up the mast, hoisted the white sail and set out into the broad sea.

As soon as we were well away from the island and there was no other land in sight, only sky and sea, the son of Cronus immediately placed a black cloud above the hollow ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. She ran her course for a short time, and then came the shrieking West wind, blowing with a furious tempest, and the gust of the wind snapped both the forestays of the mast. The mast fell backwards, and all its shrouds were scattered in the bilge. At the stern of the ship, the mast struck the head of the helmsman and compressed the bones of his skull and like he was diving, he fell from the deck, and his proud spirit left his bones. Therewith, Zeus thundered and hurled his bolt upon the ship, and she quivered from stem to stern and was filled with sulphurous smoke. My crew fell from the ship. Like seagulls, they were borne on the waves around the black ship, and the God took from them their returning. I kept pacing up and down the ship until a surge tore the sides from the keel and then a wave boarded her and snapped the mast off. The backstay, which was made of ox-hide, had been flung over the mast, and I used it to lash the two together, both keel and mast, and sitting on these, I was carried by the direful wind.

Homer, The Odyssey

The stars turned their course, marking a shift in fate as the crew placed mortal concerns ahead of the divine. 

The crew made inappropriate sacrifices (Prometheus), revealing a harmful mindset and an unhealthy relationship with the Gods. Though the Sun God’s cattle were immortal, the crew, bound by their desires, slaughtered and feasted upon the sacred. 

The vivid descriptions of the hides and flesh of the cattle emphasise the crew's stark desolation and their broken connection to the heavens. Had the crew heeded the warnings and chosen not to harm the cattle, they might have embraced immortal existence and all returned home safely. Instead, they exchanged the immortal life of the cattle for mortality and bore themselves to an earthly existence. 

Odysseus alone refrained, preserving his journey home.

Homer’s references to numbers are most likely the days/nights themselves. The ancient Greeks viewed days as living entities but immortal because the sun constantly renewed them. Decadic rounding has been used to determine the number of weeks in a year. 

Note from the editor of Classical Philosophy