Mountain wolves and lions were roaming round the grounds –
she’d bewitched them herself, she gave them magic drugs.
But they wouldn’t attack my men; they just came pawing
up around them, fawning, swishing their long tails –
eager as hounds that fawn around their master,
coming home from a feast,
who always brings back scraps to calm them down.
So they came nuzzling round my men – lions, wolves
with big powerful claws – and the men cringed in fear
at the sight of those strange, ferocious beasts.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 231-240. An epic simile compares Circe’s bewitched mountain wolves and lions to tame dogs that wag their tails and fawn on their master when he brings them scraps of food. From what we discover later about sorceress Circe, we can assume the tame mountain lions and wolves are men transformed into animals. This is an example of situational irony, as the characters and reader don’t know about Circe’s ability to turn men into animals with magic potions. This demonstration of Circe’s magic, transforming vicious predators into docile pets, inspires fear in Odysseus’ men.