Page "Odyssey" Paragraph 11

After a piratical raid on Ismaros in the land of the Cicones, he and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms.

They visited the lethargic Lotus-Eaters who gave two of his men their fruit which caused them to forget their homecoming, and then were captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus, escaping by blinding him with a wooden stake.

While they were escaping, however, Odysseus foolishly told Polyphemus his identity, and Polyphemus told his father, Poseidon, that Odysseus had blinded him.

Poseidon then curses Odysseus to wander the sea for ten years, during which he would lose all his crew and return home through the aid of others.

After their escape, they stayed with Aeolus, the master of the winds and he gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home.

However, the greedy sailors foolishly opened the bag while Odysseus slept, thinking it contained gold.

All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm drove the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca came into sight.