Aeolus tried to help Odysseus on his return to Ithaca, so he gave him a bag of skin, a sack, which contained the westerly winds so that whenever they needed a boost on their journey, they could use it. However, the mistrust of his men ended up triggering a great storm:
"Nine whole days we sailed, nine nights, nonstop.
On the tenth our own land hove into sight at last—
we were so close we could see men tending fires.
But now an enticing sleep came on me, bone-weary
from working the vessel’s sheet myself, no letup,
never trusting the ropes to any other mate,
the faster to journey back to native land.
But the crews began to mutter among themselves,
sure I was hauling troves of gold and silver home,
the gifts of open-hearted Aeolus, Hippotas’ son.
‘The old story!’ One man glanced at another, grumbling.
‘Look at our captain’s luck—so loved by the world,
so prized at every landfall, every port of call.’
‘Heaps of lovely plunder he hauls home from Troy,
while we who went through slogging just as hard,
we go home empty-handed.’
‘Now this Aeolus loads him
down with treasure. Favoritism, friend to friend!’
‘Hurry, let’s see what loot is in that sack,
how much gold and silver. Break it open—now!’
A fatal plan, but it won my shipmates over.
They loosed the sack and all the winds burst out
and a sudden squall struck and swept us back to sea,
wailing, in tears, far from our own native land.
And I woke up with a start, my spirit churning—
should I leap over the side and drown at once
or grin and bear it, stay among the living?
I bore it all, held firm,
hiding my face, clinging tight to the decks
while heavy squalls blasted our squadron back
again to Aeolus’ island, shipmates groaning hard."