Now Zeus the lord of cloud roused in the north a storm against the ships, and driving veils
of squall moved down like night on land and sea.
The bows went plunging at the gust; sails cracked and lashed out strips in the big wind.
We saw death in that fury, dropped the yards, unshipped the oars, and pulled for the nearest lee:
then two long days and nights we lay offshore worn out and sick at heart, tasting our grief,
until a third Dawn came with ringlets shining. Then we put up our masts, hauled sail, and rested,
letting the steersmen and the breeze take over.

I might have made it safely home, that time,
but as I came round Malea the current
took me out to sea, and from the north
a fresh gale drove me on, past Cythera.
Nine days I drifted on the teeming sea
before dangerous high winds.

–The Odyssey,
Homer

Who or what functions as a symbol in this passage?

A) the sea
B) Dawn
C) Zeus
D) the ships