Aeolus is the God of Wind. After meeting with Odysseus, he gave him a bag of all the winds except for the westward winds. Odysseus must travel west to reach his home of Ithica, and the remaining winds shall guide him home.
After a long travel from Circe's island, Ithica is finally within sight. The bag of wind is sitting in the corner of Odysseus' boat. However his men are too eager to see what is in the bag. Odysseus has already warned them to not open the bag. This gives his men suspicion that there may be gold, silver, or something else inside the bag, and that Odysseus is only holding out to keep the goods for his own. The men's patience wore out quick, and they tear the bag open; forcing the wind to spill out of the bag in the form of a disastrous storm. The winds throw Odysseus and his men back to Circe's island, shipwrecked.
Some readers blame Odysseus for their situation. Others blame Odysseus' men for their situation. I say it's his men's fault. Granted, Odysseus probably could've found a better way to stash the bag somewhere safe. However, once you are given an order by someone in a leadership position, you are to obey that order unless told otherwise by someone of higher authority. It's leadership/followership 101. Odysseus' men received an order, his men disobeyed that order. The end result: they're back on Circe's island with no other way of getting home. And Aeolus won't help them again because they failed the first time. I don't blame him.
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