Poseidon tricks the crew once more, this time by making Dates severely depressed. The only way to help him out of it is by using the essence of "hope" from Pandora's famous box, which is hidden somewhere in Hephaestus' forge. Ulysses and the crew try to get hold of it by pretending to need Hephaestus' forging talents. However, the god guesses their true intentions and tries to eliminate them. Pandora, an artificial creature made by Hephaestus, helps them to escape. Again, they confront the god and this time Ulysses explains their true motives. With a little dust of hope they return to the Navis and Dates is cured from his depression at once.
—Anonymous