Polites

Polites is a member of Odysseus's crew who appears only in the Circe episode of the Odyssey, yet his single action has outsized consequences. He is the man who, upon hearing Circe's beautiful singing from inside her house, persuades the rest of the crew to call out to her, thereby triggering their transformation into pigs. His role is that of the trusting, optimistic voice among the sailors—a foil to the more cautious Eurylochus—and his misplaced confidence nearly costs the entire company their humanity.

Identity and Role Among the Crew

Polites is introduced as the crew member whom Odysseus "valued and trusted more than any other" . This high regard makes his later error all the more striking. When the crew first approaches Circe's house, they hear her singing most beautifully as she works at her loom, weaving a web so fine and of such dazzling colours as no one but a goddess could weave. It is Polites who speaks first, saying, "There is some one inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is woman or goddess" . His words reflect a natural curiosity and a lack of suspicion—traits that, in the context of the dangerous Aeaean island, prove disastrous.

The Fatal Decision and Its Consequences

Acting on Polites's suggestion, the crew calls out to Circe, who descends, unfastens the door, and invites them inside. Thinking no evil, they follow her—all except Eurylochus, who suspects mischief and stays outside. Once inside, Circe seats them on benches and mixes them a mess with cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, drugging it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes. When they have drunk, she turns them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, shutting them up in her pig-styes. They become like pigs—head, hair, and all—grunting just as pigs do, though their senses remain the same and they remember everything . Polites, the most trusted of Odysseus's men, is thus among those transformed, his trusting nature having led the entire party into Circe's trap.

Narrative Significance and Thematic Weight

Polites's brief appearance carries significant thematic weight. His trust in the beautiful and the harmonious—the lovely singing, the fine weaving—represents a kind of naive faith in appearances that the Odyssey repeatedly warns against. He is the opposite of the cautious, suspicious Eurylochus, who alone refuses to enter Circe's house and later tries to prevent Odysseus from going to rescue the others. The contrast between the two men dramatizes the poem's central tension between trust and suspicion, hospitality and danger. Polites's error also sets in motion the entire Circe episode, which becomes one of Odysseus's longest stays and most complex relationships, lasting a full year and including the crucial journey to the underworld. Without Polites's misplaced confidence, Odysseus might never have encountered Circe at all, and the course of his nostos would have been fundamentally altered.