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In The Odyssey, why does Eurylochus distrust Odysseus's decision to return for the men?
Quick answer:
In Book Ten of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew sail to the island of Circe, Aeaea. Odysseus discovers a column of smoke rising from Circe's home in the middle of the dense forest. After killing a stag, Odysseus returns to his ship and divides the crew into two groups to investigate her home. Eurylochus loses and leads a group of twenty-two men to Circe's home. When Eurylochus and his men arrive at Circe's dwelling they hear her singing and she invites them in. However, Eurylochus is suspicious and refuses to enter with his men.
In Book Ten, Odysseus and his crew of mourning survivors sail to the island of Circe, Aeaea, where Odysseus discovers a column of smoke rising from Circe's home in the middle of the dense forest. After killing a stag, Odysseus returns to his ship and elaborates on his discovery. He then divides the crew into two groups and they draw lots to see who will investigate the dwelling on the island. Eurylochus loses and leads his group of twenty-two men to Circe's home. When Eurylochus and his men arrive at Circe's dwelling, they hear her singing and she invites them into her home. However, Eurylochus is suspicious and refuses to enter with his men. Tragically, Circe drugs the men before she turns them into swine and shuts them up in her pigsty. Eurylochus avoids the fate and relays the events that transpired to Odysseus when he returns to the ship....
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When Odysseus demands that Eurylochus return to Circe's home to save the crew with him, he refuses to go and petitions Odysseus to leave the island. Eurylochus reasons that there is no saving the transformed crew members and believes that they will certainly die if they return to her home. One cannot blame Eurylochus for distrusting Odysseus considering their previous interactions with Antiphates, Polyphemus, and what he just witnessed at Circe's home.
I assume that you are talking about what happens in Book 10. In that book, Eurylochus leads the men to Circe's house. All of them except for him are turned into pigs. He then goes back to find Odysseus. Odysseus says he is going to go to Circe's house and free them men from the magic spells.
Eurylochus is afraid of Circe and does not want to go back. Instead, he wants the two of them (him and Odysseus) to just escape on their own. What he tells Odysseus is that he will never save any of the men -- he will probably get himself killed or turned into a pig himself. Here's the quote:
I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return alive yourself