Aeolus

The winds burst from the oxhide bag, and Odysseus and his companions were swept back across the sea. They had come close to Ithaca after sailing for nine days and nights. Odysseus could see smoke rising from the town, and in another account he could see fires burning on the shore. He had kept hold of the steering rope throughout the voyage, but exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep. His companions believed that the bag contained gold and silver given to Odysseus as a reward. They thought it unfair that he should return with treasure while they came back empty-handed, so they opened the bag. The winds escaped and drove the ships back along their former route.

Before this, Odysseus and his ships had reached the floating island of Aeolia, where Aeolus lived. The island was enclosed by a wall, and Aeolus had been appointed by Zeus to control the winds. He could calm them or release them. He entertained Odysseus as a guest for a month, while Odysseus told him about Troy, the ships of the Greeks, and their homecoming. When Odysseus asked to leave, Aeolus gave him an oxhide bag containing the winds. He showed Odysseus which wind to use and fastened the bag securely to the ship. The voyage then went well until the bag was opened.

After the ships were driven back, Odysseus returned to Aeolia. He took a herald and one companion and went to Aeolus's palace, where Aeolus was feasting with his wife and children. They were astonished to see Odysseus again and asked what misfortune had brought him back, since they had sent him away with the care needed to reach his homeland. Odysseus replied that his companions had harmed him through foolishness, and that sleep had added to the disaster. He asked Aeolus for a favourable wind once more. Aeolus refused. He said that he could not save a man when the gods were working against him, and believed that the gods opposed Odysseus's voyage. He therefore drove Odysseus from the island.

Aeolus broke apart the union of Canace and Macareus after he discovered that they had become lovers. They were his children, and they treated themselves as husband and wife. Aeolus judged that their incest offended Zeus, who regarded incest as an Olympian prerogative. He condemned Canace to death. The manner of her execution remained unstated.

Macareus also suffered for the relationship. In one telling, Aeolus drove him from his home. In another, Macareus killed himself. The place of his exile and the manner of his death remained unstated.

This punishment belonged to the story of Aeolus’s family on Lipara. At Hera’s request, Aeolus took charge of the winds. He released them separately when he chose, or when an Olympian deity made a considered request. Four of his remaining sons were then ordered to emigrate. They travelled to Italy and Sicily, where each founded a kingdom. The fifth and eldest son stayed at home and became Aeolus’s successor. Some tellings added that Canace and Macareus had a daughter named Amphissa, who later became beloved by Apollo.

Another family history named Canace as the mother of Hopleus, Nireus, Epopeus, Aloeus, and Triops by Poseidon. Epopeus was also called the son of Aeolus’s daughter Canace, and he ruled in Sicyon. The family lines therefore differed, while the punishment of Canace and Macareus remained part of the Liparan story.