Whenever one of the gods wished a storm at sea, he would ask Æolus to release his sons; they would rush out of the cave, sweeping over the seas in a whirlwind, raising the waves mountain high. Then the ships were in great danger from wave and rock, as the winds rolled the billows over the ships, or drove the vessels against the sharp cliffs.
Vergil, the great Latin poet, thus describes a storm raised by Æolus, at the request of Juno,—
“Æolus thus in reply: ‘It is yours, O queen, to determine
What you may wish to accomplish; to do your command is my duty;
You have procured me my place, my scepter, and Jupiter’s favor;
You, too, the privilege grant to recline with the gods at their banquet;
Over the tempest and storm, it is you who have made me the ruler.’
Turning, he struck with his spear the side of the cavernous mountain,
And, as in martial array, wherever an egress is granted,
Eagerly pour forth the winds, and sweep o’er the earth in a whirlwind;
Now on the sea have they fallen, and stirred to its deepest foundations;
Eastward and southward together, and blasts of the gusty southwest wind
Lash it all into a fury, and roll to the shore the vast billows.
Now come the cries of the men, and the shrieks of the wind through the rigging;
Then on a sudden collecting, the clouds, from the sight of the Trojans
Shut out the sky and the day, o’er the sea broods the darkness of midnight;
Thunder resounds through the sky, the air seems ablaze with the lightning;
Everything seems to portend immediate death to the heroes.”
ÆOLUS AND ULYSSES.
The famous Trojan war lasted ten years. After the Greeks had captured the city, they were anxious to return to their homes in Greece. One of the heroes, the wise Ulysses, had many strange adventures on his way home from Troy. At last he and his men came in their ship to Æolia, the home of the winds, where they were welcomed and entertained by Æolus.
Æolus was so pleased with his guests that, when the time came for Ulysses to continue his journey, the god gave him a bag with all the dangerous winds shut up within it. Only one wind was not inclosed in the bag—Zephyrus, the gentle south wind, which filled the sails and bore him on his journey.
After eight days, Ulysses came in sight of Ithaca, the home he had so long desired to see. He had not slept since leaving Æolia. Now, within sight of his home, he believed that he and his ship were safe, and he yielded to his desire for rest. The sailors were very glad to see him sleep, for they wanted to know what Ulysses had in the bag he so carefully guarded. They thought it was filled with gold and precious stones.
Alas! when the avaricious sailors opened the bag, the winds rushed out in fury and drove them far from their homes. At last they were again cast upon the shores of the Æolian Islands.