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Aeolus [Αἴολος]

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foreign kind who has control of all the winds

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has all the winds stuffed into a single bag

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his sons and daughters marry one another

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even in Greek mythology, brother and sister marriages count as prohibited

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so Aeolus is being represented even by Homer as a bit strange and exotic

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again, the curiosity of Odysseus' men leads to a problem

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they can't wait to see what's in that bag

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meet the Laestrygonians who are a tribe of giant cannibals from ancient Greek mythology

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the revulsion of this carries forward through the episodes

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Circe

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another a wash-up on an unknown shore

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search party goes out

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Odysseus stays behind

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hears of problems

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then he goes out to set things right

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in Circe's village

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things are quite profoundly wrong there

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Odysseus' men get turned into pigs

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humanity is taken away from them

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but not just turned into animals but animals which humans consume as food

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so men have become edible creatures of food chain

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adds to the horrific natures of this shape-shifting

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men wonder how women can turn men into pigs

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perhaps this was a fear that men had at some point

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Circe is not the first female character we have seen who has a witching power

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in this case Circe has the power to literally unman men

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erotic dimension of Circe

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after Odysseus wins her over she carries over with an erotic relationship with Odysseus which lasts over a year

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theme: dangerous women who have magical powers who can do shape-shifting with men and who have an erotic draw on male creatures

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a standard piece of ancient myth

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Odysseus' way of overcoming Circe

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he pulls his sword on her

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he also has a special magical potion which he gets from Hermes

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this gives him a power to resist her magic

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she mixes up her herbs, gives the drink to other men, they turn into pigs, but not Odysseus is impervious because of his counter magic

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he rushes at her with his sword

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she falls for him

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Circe wanted all along for Odysseus to love her

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has a long tryst with Odysseus which lasts a year

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Odysseus' men have to talk him out of this one

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his men finally get him ready to go

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Circe gives him clues for how to find his way home

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she says he will need to find the smartest man around, Tiresias [Τειρεσίας]

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but he just happens to be dead

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so Odysseus will have to make his way to the underworld

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Circe shows him how to do this, lay out a trench and an attractive bait for the shades to come out of the underworld, so he can interview them and find his way to Tiresias

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loose end that doesn't get tied up

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Elpenor [Ἐλπήνωρ]

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not especially notable for his intelligence or strength

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became drunk and climbed onto the roof of Circe's palace to sleep

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falls off the roof and dies

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completely alone

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the other men don't realize that he is dead