Monologue From The Odyssey

I made sure to set our course northeast towards Ithaca myself, after that alarming encounter with the Lotus-Eaters. I could not trust my crew; my men were so drunk on the lotus that they could not have told the flower and their wives apart.

But I now curse myself for not paying closer attention to the ship’s wheel. After hours of sailing, we came upon a peaceful sea. Helios was shining bright, like a phoenix just reborn, and the wind was in our favor. I let myself doze, and left one of my most trusted men at the helm. He later confessed to me that he had left his post to drink with the others on the stern. While he foolishly drank himself to stupor, the men who were already intoxicated on the lotus flower changed our course. They were trying

“I am Odysseus, son of Laertes--”, he interrupted me.

“You are Greek, I knew it. I am the leader of the Acephali, the headless men,” he tells me in a regal tone. He lifts his right hand and said, “This head is my son’s, and it was left here to bathe in the water. Hours ago, five greek men came to our village and tossed our heads around like playthings. This is a great insult to us, maybe an even greater insult than when the gods cursed us and removed our heads. Are you in any relation to the men who did this?”

I hesitated; I did not want to insult these men further. “Yes, they are escaped prisoners from my ship. They are rascals and I was told to take them to Ithaca. But they escaped and I do not have enough supplies to return home safely.” The headless man seemed to approve of this answer.

“Very well,” he point east, “We sent them to Lamia’s cave. It is about a mile east of here. If Lamia has spared them, you may take them. I will supply you with food and drink now, but do not return here; not with those men. If you do, I will have no choice but to destroy you

I am the daughter of Poseidon and Lybie, and I was once the queen of Libya. I lived happy with all my luxuries and children. But then Zeus favored me, and his sinister wife, Hera, took my children and murdered them. She cursed me so that I could never close my eyes and so that I would always be haunted by the image of my children's’ carcasses. Zeus pitied me and allowed me to blind myself, but I will never be rid of my motherly grief. I will spend the rest of eternity devouring the children of others, and my hunger can only be quenched by the sound of wailing mothers. The blood of your men, your foolish men, will only give me enough energy to keep on going. I will not let any of you go.” She proceeded to slither to the pile of soldiers, lift one up with her claws, and rip his throat open with her jaws. She squeezed the life out of him and into her small mouth. Meanwhile, I stood at the opposite corner, formulating a