When Odysseus neared the island of the Sirens he had his men fill their ears with wax, for the singing of the Sirens lured sailors to their deaths on the rocks. He had himself tied to the mast so that he might hear their singing and still survive. Once that danger was over, the .ship had to pass between two cliffs in a strait that had the whirlpool of Charybdis. In trying to avoid the maelstrom Odysseus came too close to the cliff of the monster Scylla, who seized six of Odysseus' sailors. The next stop was the island of the sun god Helios, which nourished the god's sacred cattle. When Odysseus fell asleep his men, who were starving, slaughtered a number of the cattle. For this impiety Zeus struck Odysseus' ship with a thunderbolt, and only Odysseus escaped alive. Clinging to a piece of the ship, Odysseus was borne toward the whirlpool of Charybdis, but he grabbed a tree branch hanging over the water, waited till the timbers re-emerged, and floated off to nearby Ogygia.
Ogygia was inhabited by the nymph Calypso, who welcomed Odysseus and made him her lover. He remained with her seven years and grew increasingly homesick, sitting on the beach each day in a desolate mood. While Poseidon was off visiting the Ethiopians, Zeus arranged for Odysseus to depart, sending Hermes to bid Calypso release him. Calypso gave Odysseus an axe with which he fashioned a raft.
Poseidon returned from his Ethiopian junket to find Odysseus sailing along on a raft. The god washed him overboard and almost drowned him, but Odysseus was spared by the goddess Ino, who gave him her magic veil to tie around his waist. And after two days of swimming Odysseus found a beach on which to sleep. He was awakened by maidens who were playing ball after doing the washing. Odysseus gently addressed Nausicaä, the daughter of King Alcinoüs. She led him to her father. At first the Phaeacians, who lived on the island, were cool to Odysseus, but he bested them in a stone-throwing contest and they accepted him. King Alcinoüs listened to the story of Odysseus' wanderings, presented him with rich gifts, and furnished him a ship to get to Ithaca, his home. The Phaeacian sailors, seeing that Odysseus was sleeping, left him on the Ithacan shore and departed. But Poseidon resented the way they had helped Odysseus and changed the ship and crew to stone.
