Homer tells us in the Odyssey that Ulysses, after landing with his companions in the land of the Cyclops, docked at Aeolia, surrounded by high cliffs and bronze walls, perhaps the Castle of Lipari. Here lived Aeolus, keeper of the winds, along with his wife and children. Aeolus hosted Ulysses and his companions for a whole month. Then he locked up all the winds in a wineskin, except Zephyrus. He delivered the wineskin to Ulysses with the order not to open it during the voyage. Pushed by Zephyrus, the west wind, Ulysses’ ships sailed for nine days and nine nights. As they approached Ithaca, Ulysses fell asleep. Believing that the wineskin contained gold and silver, his comrades opened it. A terrible storm broke out immediately that dragged Ulysses’ ships back to Aeolus’ island, but he refused to help the hero a second time.
Aeolus, whose nature remains uncertain, God of the Winds or Lord of the Winds, remains present until modern times in the oral and literary tradition linked to the sea, the winds and volcanic eruptions.
