The author is using a simile to express how her memory has become blurry.
After Odysseus and his men land on the island of Cicones, his men quickly get carried away with greed and start eating all in sight. Odysseus shows his leadership by convincing his men to escape from the army that is quickly approaching.
I hope this is a good explanation.
Things that happen in a story can help you find out the theme, like if a character does something and lies about it, and then other characters find out and that first character gets consequences, then the theme of the story is to not lie.
Volcanoes are being attempted to be controlled. (What you wrote is passive)
(Active) They are attempting to control volcanoes.
