God of the winds, whom Odysseus visited on his adventures, Aeolus lived in
Aeolia, a floating island, and had six daughters and six sons.
Odysseus was warmly welcomed by Aeolus, and as a going away present the God
gave him a sack full of all winds except the western one, which would
swiftly take the hero back to Ithaca. The sack must not be opened until they
reached their goal though.
Odysseus crew thought the hero was hiding something from them, perhaps a
treasure, and opened the sack while he was asleep. From being almost back at
Itacha, the winds that came out blew the ship far, far away.