Odysseus relates, first, what befell him amongst the Cicones at
Ismarus; secondly, amongst the Lotophagi; thirdly, how he was used by
the Cyclops Polyphemus.
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: “King Alcinous, most
notable of all the people, verily it is a good thing to list to a
minstrel such as this one, like to the gods in voice. Nay, as for me, I
say that there is no more gracious or perfect delight than when a whole
people makes merry, and the men sit orderly at feast in the halls and
listen to the singer, and the tables by them are laden with bread and
flesh, and a wine-bearer drawing the wine serves it round and pours it
into the cups. This seems to me well-nigh the fairest thing in the
world. But now thy heart was inclined to ask of my grievous troubles,
that I may mourn for more exceeding sorrow. What then shall I tell of
first, what last, for the gods of heaven have given me woes in plenty?
Now, first, will I tell my name, that ye too may know it, and that I,
when I have escaped the pitiless day, may yet be your host, though my
home is in a far country. I am ODYSSEUS, SON OF LAERTES, who am in
men’s minds for all manner of wiles, and my fame reaches unto heaven.
And I dwell in clear-seen Ithaca, wherein is a mountain Neriton, with
trembling forest leaves, standing manifest to view, and many islands
lie around, very near one to the other, Dulichium and Same, and wooded
Zacynthus. Now Ithaca lies low, furthest up the sea-line toward the
darkness, but those others face the dawning and the sun: a rugged isle,
but a good nurse of noble youths; and for myself I can see nought
beside sweeter than a man’s own country. Verily Calypso, the fair
goddess, would fain have kept me with her in her hollow caves, longing
to have me for her lord; and likewise too, guileful Circe of Aia, would
have stayed me in her halls, longing to have me for her lord. But never
did they prevail upon my heart within my breast. So surely is there
nought sweeter than a man’s own country and his parents, even though he
dwell far off in a rich home, in a strange land, away from them that
begat him. But come, let me tell thee too of the troubles of my
journeying, which Zeus laid on me as I came from Troy.
“The wind that bare me from Ilios brought me nigh to the Cicones, even
to Ismarus, whereupon I sacked their city and slew the people. And from
out the city we took their wives and much substance, and divided them
amongst us, that none through me might go lacking his proper share.
Howbeit, thereafter I commanded that we should flee with a swift foot,
but my men in their great folly hearkened not. There was much wine
still a drinking, and still they slew many flocks of sheep by the
seashore and kine with trailing feet and shambling gait. Meanwhile the
Cicones went and raised a cry to other Cicones their neighbours,
dwelling inland, who were more in number than they and braver withal:
skilled they were to fight with men from chariots, and when need was on
foot. So they gathered in the early morning as thick as leaves and
flowers that spring in their season—yea and in that hour an evil doom
of Zeus stood by us, ill-fated men, that so we might be sore afflicted.
They set their battle in array by the swift ships, and the hosts cast
at one another with their bronze-shod spears. So long as it was morn
and the sacred day waxed stronger, so long we abode their assault and
beat them off, albeit they outnumbered us. But when the sun was wending
to the time of the loosing of cattle, then at last the Cicones drave in
the Achaeans and overcame them, and six of my goodly-greaved company
perished from each ship: but the remnant of us escaped death and
destiny.
“Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men saved from
death, albeit we had lost our dear companions. Nor did my curved ships
move onward ere we had called thrice on each of those our hapless
fellows, who died at the hands of the Cicones on the plain. Now Zeus,
gatherer of the clouds, aroused the North Wind against our ships with a
terrible tempest, and covered land and sea alike with clouds, and down
sped night from heaven. Thus the ships were driven headlong, and their
sails were torn to shreds by the might of the wind. So we lowered the
sails into the hold, in fear of death, but rowed the ships landward
apace. There for two nights and two days we lay continually, consuming
our hearts with weariness and sorrow. But when the fair-tressed Dawn
had at last brought the full light of the third day, we set up the
masts and hoisted the white sails and sat us down, while the wind and
the helmsman guided the ships. And now I should have come to mine own
country all unhurt, but the wave and the stream of the sea and the
North Wind swept me from my course as I was doubling Malea, and drave
me wandering past Cythera.
“Thence for nine whole days was I borne by ruinous winds over the
teeming deep; but on the tenth day we set foot on the land of the
lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food. So we stepped ashore and drew
water, and straightway my company took their midday meal by the swift
ships. Now when we had tasted meat and drink I sent forth certain of my
company to go and make search what manner of men they were who here
live upon the earth by bread, and I chose out two of my fellows, and
sent a third with them as herald. Then straightway they went and mixed
with the men of the lotus-eaters, and so it was that the lotus-eaters
devised not death for our fellows, but gave them of the lotus to taste.
Now whosoever of them did eat the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus, had
no more wish to bring tidings nor to come back, but there he chose to
abide with the lotus-eating men, ever feeding on the lotus, and
forgetful of his homeward way. Therefore I led them back to the ships
weeping, and sore against their will, and dragged them beneath the
benches, and bound them in the hollow barques. But I commanded the rest
of my well-loved company to make speed and go on board the swift ships,
lest haply any should eat of the lotus and be forgetful of returning.
Right soon they embarked, and sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly
they smote the grey sea water with their oars.
“Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart. And we came to the land of
the Cyclôpes, a froward and a lawless folk, who trusting to the
deathless gods plant not aught with their hands, neither plough: but,
behold, all these things spring for them in plenty, unsown and
untilled, wheat, and barley, and vines, which bear great clusters of
the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase. These
have neither gatherings for council nor oracles of law, but they dwell
in hollow caves on the crests of the high hills, and each one utters
the law to his children and his wives, and they reck not one of
another.
“Now there is a waste isle stretching without the harbour of the land
of the Cyclôpes, neither nigh at hand nor yet afar off, a woodland
isle, wherein are wild goats unnumbered, for no path of men scares
them, nor do hunters resort thither who suffer hardships in the wood,
as they range the mountain crests. Moreover it is possessed neither by
flocks nor by ploughed lands, but the soil lies unsown evermore and
untilled, desolate of men, and feeds the bleating goats. For the
Cyclôpes have by them no ships with vermilion cheek, not yet are there
shipwrights in the island, who might fashion decked barques, which
should accomplish all their desire, voyaging to the towns of men (as
ofttimes men cross the sea to one another in ships), who might likewise
have made of their isle a goodly settlement. Yea, it is in no wise a
sorry land, but would bear all things in their season; for therein are
soft water meadows by the shores of the grey salt sea, and there the
vines know no decay, and the land is level to plough; thence might they
reap a crop exceeding deep in due season, for verily there is fatness
beneath the soil. Also there is a fair haven, where is no need of
moorings, either to cast anchor or to fasten hawsers, but men may run
the ship on the beach, and tarry until such time as the sailors are
minded to be gone, and favourable breezes blow. Now at the head of the
harbour is a well of bright water issuing from a cave, and round it are
poplars growing. Thither we sailed, and some god guided us through the
night, for it was dark and there was no light to see, a mist lying deep
about the ships, nor did the moon show her light from heaven, but was
shut in with clouds. No man then beheld that island, neither saw we the
long waves rolling to the beach, till we had run our decked ships
ashore. And when our ships were beached, we took down all their sails,
and ourselves too stept forth upon the strand of the sea, and there we
fell into sound sleep and waited for the bright Dawn.
“So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, in wonder at the
island we roamed over the length thereof: and the Nymphs, the daughters
of Zeus, lord of the aegis, started the wild goats of the hills, that
my company might have wherewith to sup. Anon we took to us our curved
bows from out the ships and long spears, and arrayed in three bands we
began shooting at the goats; and the god soon gave us game in plenty.
Now twelve ships bare me company, and to each ship fell nine goats for
a portion, but for me alone they set ten apart.
“Thus we sat there the livelong day until the going down of the sun,
feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine. For the red wine was not
yet spent from out the ships, but somewhat was yet therein, for we had
each one drawn off large store thereof in jars, when we took the sacred
citadel of the Cicones. And we looked across to the land of the
Cyclôpes, who dwell nigh, and to the smoke, and to the voice of the
men, and of the sheep and of the goats. And when the sun had sunk and
darkness had come on, then we laid us to rest upon the sea-beach. So
soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then I called a
gathering of my men, and spake among them all:
“‘Abide here all the rest of you, my dear companions; but I will go
with mine own ship and my ship’s company, and make proof of these men,
what manner of folk they are, whether froward, and wild, and unjust, or
hospitable and of god-fearing mind.’
“So I spake, and I climbed the ship’s side, and bade my company
themselves to mount, and to loose the hawsers. So they soon embarked
and sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey sea water
with their oars. Now when we had come to the land that lies hard by, we
saw a cave on the border near to the sea, lofty and roofed over with
laurels, and there many flocks of sheep and goats were used to rest.
And about it a high outer court was built with stones, deep bedded, and
with tall pines and oaks with their high crown of leaves. And a man was
wont to sleep therein, of monstrous size, who shepherded his flocks
alone and afar, and was not conversant with others, but dwelt apart in
lawlessness of mind. Yea, for he was a monstrous thing and fashioned
marvellously, nor was he like to any man that lives by bread, but like
a wooded peak of the towering hills, which stands out apart and alone
from others.
“Then I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to tarry there by
the ship, and to guard the ship, but I chose out twelve men, the best
of my company, and sallied forth. Now I had with me a goat-skin of the
dark wine and sweet which Maron, son of Euanthes, had given me, the
priest of Apollo, the god that watched over Ismarus. And he gave it,
for that we had protected him with his wife and child reverently; for
he dwelt in a thick grove of Phoebus Apollo. And he made me splendid
gifts; he gave me seven talents of gold well wrought, and he gave me a
mixing bowl of pure silver, and furthermore wine which he drew off in
twelve jars in all, sweet wine unmingled, a draught divine; nor did any
of his servants or of his handmaids in the house know thereof, but
himself and his dear wife and one housedame only. And as often as they
drank that red wine honey sweet, he would fill one cup and pour it into
twenty measures of water, and a marvellous sweet smell went up from the
mixing bowl: then truly it was no pleasure to refrain.
“With this wine I filled a great skin, and bare it with me, and corn
too I put in a wallet, for my lordly spirit straightway had a boding
that a man would come to me, a strange man, clothed in mighty strength,
one that knew not judgment and justice.[16]
[16] Literally, knowing neither dooms, nor ordinances of law.
“Soon we came to the cave, but we found him not within; he was
shepherding his fat flocks in the pastures. So we went into the cave,
and gazed on all that was therein. The baskets were well laden with
cheeses, and the folds were thronged with lambs and kids; each kind was
penned by itself, the firstlings apart, and the summer lambs apart,
apart too the younglings of the flock. Now all the vessels swam with
whey, the milk-pails and the bowls, the well-wrought vessels whereinto
he milked. My company then spake and besought me first of all to take
of the cheeses and to return, and afterwards to make haste and drive
off the kids and lambs to the swift ships from out the pens, and to
sail over the salt sea water. Howbeit I hearkened not (and far better
would it have been), but waited to see the giant himself, and whether
he would give me gifts as a stranger’s due. Yet was not his coming to
be with joy to my company.
“Then we kindled a fire, and made burnt-offering, and ourselves
likewise took of the cheeses, and did eat, and sat waiting for him
within till he came back, shepherding his flocks. And he bore a
grievous weight of dry wood, against supper time. This log he cast down
with a din inside the cave, and in fear we fled to the secret place of
the rock. As for him, he drave his fat flocks into the wide cavern,
even all that he was wont to milk; but the males both of the sheep and
of the goats he left without in the deep yard. Thereafter he lifted a
huge doorstone and weighty, and set it in the mouth of the cave, such
an one as two and twenty good four-wheeled wains could not raise from
the ground, so mighty a sheer rock did he set against the doorway. Then
he sat down and milked the ewes and bleating goats, all orderly, and
beneath each ewe he placed her young. And anon he curdled one half of
the white milk, and massed it together, and stored it in
wicker-baskets, and the other half he let stand in pails, that he might
have it to take and drink against supper time. Now when he had done all
his work busily, then he kindled the fire anew, and espied us, and made
question:
“‘Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On some
trading enterprise or at adventure do ye rove, even as sea-robbers over
the brine, for at hazard of their own lives they wander, bringing bale
to alien men.’
“So spake he, but as for us our heart within us was broken for terror
of the deep voice and his own monstrous shape; yet despite all I
answered and spake unto him, saying:
“‘Lo, we are Achaeans, driven wandering from Troy, by all manner of
winds over the great gulf of the sea; seeking our homes we fare, but
another path have we come, by other ways: even such, methinks, was the
will and the counsel of Zeus. And we avow us to be the men of
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, whose fame is even now the mightiest under
heaven, so great a city did he sack, and destroyed many people; but as
for us we have lighted here, and come to these thy knees, if perchance
thou wilt give us a stranger’s gift, or make any present, as is the due
of strangers. Nay, lord, have regard to the gods, for we are thy
suppliants; and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and sojourners, Zeus,
the god of the stranger, who fareth in the company of reverend
strangers.’
“So I spake, and anon he answered out of his pitiless heart: ‘Thou art
witless, my stranger, or thou hast come from afar, who biddest me
either to fear or shun the gods. For the Cyclôpes pay no heed to Zeus,
lord of the aegis, nor to the blessed gods, for verily we are better
men than they. Nor would I, to shun the enmity of Zeus, spare either
thee or thy company, unless my spirit bade me. But tell me where thou
didst stay thy well-wrought ship on thy coming? Was it perchance at the
far end of the island, or hard by, that I may know?’
“So he spake tempting me, but he cheated me not, who knew full much,
and I answered him again with words of guile:
“‘As for my ship, Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, brake it to
pieces, for he cast it upon the rocks at the border of your country,
and brought it nigh the headland, and a wind bare it thither from the
sea. But I with these my men escaped from utter doom.’
“So I spake, and out of his pitiless heart he answered me not a word,
but sprang up, and laid his hands upon my fellows, and clutching two
together dashed them, as they had been whelps, to the earth, and the
brain flowed forth upon the ground, and the earth was wet. Then cut he
them up piecemeal, and made ready his supper. So he ate even as a
mountain-bred lion, and ceased not, devouring entrails and flesh and
bones with their marrow. And we wept and raised our hands to Zeus,
beholding the cruel deeds; and we were at our wits’ end. And after the
Cyclops had filled his huge maw with human flesh and the milk he drank
thereafter, he lay within the cave, stretched out among his sheep.
“So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw near, and
pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him in the breast, where
the midriff holds the liver, feeling for the place with my hand. But my
second thought withheld me, for so should we too have perished even
there with utter doom. For we should not have prevailed to roll away
with our hands from the lofty door the heavy stone which he set there.
So for that time we made moan, awaiting the bright Dawn.
“Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, again he kindled
the fire and milked his goodly flocks all orderly, and beneath each ewe
set her lamb. Anon when he had done all his work busily, again he
seized yet other two men and made ready his mid-day meal. And after the
meal, lightly he moved away the great door-stone, and drave his fat
flocks forth from the cave, and afterwards he set it in his place
again, as one might set the lid on a quiver. Then with a loud whoop,
the Cyclops turned his fat flocks towards the hills; but I was left
devising evil in the deep of my heart, if in any wise I might avenge
me, and Athene grant me renown.
“And this was the counsel that showed best in my sight. There lay by a
sheep-fold a great club of the Cyclops, a club of olive wood, yet
green, which he had cut to carry with him when it should be seasoned.
Now when we saw it we likened it in size to the mast of a black ship of
twenty oars, a wide merchant vessel that traverses the great sea gulf,
so huge it was to view in bulk and length. I stood thereby and cut off
from it a portion as it were a fathom’s length, and set it by my
fellows, and bade them fine it down, and they made it even, while I
stood by and sharpened it to a point, and straightway I took it and
hardened it in the bright fire. Then I laid it well away, and hid it
beneath the dung, which was scattered in great heaps in the depths of
the cave. And I bade my company cast lots among them, which of them
should risk the adventure with me, and lift the bar and turn it about
in his eye, when sweet sleep came upon him. And the lot fell upon those
four whom I myself would have been fain to choose, and I appointed
myself to be the fifth among them. In the evening he came shepherding
his flocks of goodly fleece, and presently he drave his fat flocks into
the cave each and all, nor left he any without in the deep court-yard,
whether through some foreboding, or perchance that the god so bade him
do. Thereafter he lifted the huge door-stone and set it in the mouth of
the cave, and sitting down he milked the ewes and bleating goats, all
orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed her young. Now when he had done
all his work busily, again he seized yet other two and made ready his
supper. Then I stood by the Cyclops and spake to him, holding in my
hands an ivy bowl of the dark wine:
“‘Cyclops, take and drink wine after thy feast of man’s meat, that thou
mayest know what manner of drink this was that our ship held. And lo, I
was bringing it thee as a drink offering, if haply thou mayest take
pity and send me on my way home, but thy mad rage is past all
sufferance. O hard of heart, how may another of the many men there be
come ever to thee again, seeing that thy deeds have been lawless?’
“So I spake, and he took the cup and drank it off, and found great
delight in drinking the sweet draught, and asked me for it yet a second
time:
“‘Give it me again of thy grace, and tell me thy name straightway, that
I may give thee a stranger’s gift, wherein thou mayest be glad. Yea for
the earth, the grain-giver, bears for the Cyclôpes the mighty clusters
of the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase,
but this is a rill of very nectar and ambrosia.’
“So he spake, and again I handed him the dark wine. Thrice I bare and
gave it him, and thrice in his folly he drank it to the lees. Now when
the wine had got about the wits of the Cyclops, then did I speak to him
with soft words:
“‘Cyclops, thou askest me my renowned name, and I will declare it unto
thee, and do thou grant me a stranger’s gift, as thou didst promise.
Noman is my name, and Noman they call me, my father and my mother and
all my fellows.’
“So I spake, and straightway he answered me out of his pitiless heart:
“‘Noman will I eat last in the number of his fellows, and the others
before him: that shall be thy gift.’
“Therewith he sank backwards and fell with face upturned, and there he
lay with his great neck bent round, and sleep, that conquers all men,
overcame him. And the wine and the fragments of men’s flesh issued
forth from his mouth, and he vomited, being heavy with wine. Then I
thrust in that stake under the deep ashes, until it should grow hot,
and I spake to my companions comfortable words, lest any should hang
back from me in fear. But when that bar of olive wood was just about to
catch fire in the flame, green though it was, and began to glow
terribly, even then I came nigh, and drew it from the coals, and my
fellows gathered about me, and some god breathed great courage into us.
For their part they seized the bar of olive wood, that was sharpened at
the point, and thrust it into his eye, while I from my place aloft
turned it about, as when a man bores a ship’s beam with a drill while
his fellows below spin it with a strap, which they hold at either end,
and the auger runs round continually. Even so did we seize the
fiery-pointed brand and whirled it round in his eye, and the blood
flowed about the heated bar. And the breath of the flame singed his
eyelids and brows all about, as the ball of the eye burnt away, and the
roots thereof crackled in the flame. And as when a smith dips an axe or
adze in chill water with a great hissing, when he would temper it—for
hereby anon comes the strength of iron—even so did his eye hiss round
the stake of olive. And he raised a great and terrible cry, that the
rock rang around, and we fled away in fear, while he plucked forth from
his eye the brand bedabbled in much blood. Then maddened with pain he
cast it from him with his hands, and called with a loud voice on the
Cyclôpes, who dwelt about him in the caves along the windy heights. And
they heard the cry and flocked together from every side, and gathering
round the cave asked him what ailed him:
“‘What hath so distressed thee, Polyphemus, that thou criest thus aloud
through the immortal night, and makest us sleepless? Surely no mortal
driveth off thy flocks against thy will: surely none slayeth thyself by
force or craft?’
“And the strong Polyphemus spake to them again from out the cave: ‘My
friends, Noman is slaying me by guile, nor at all by force.’
“And they answered and spake winged words: ‘If then no man is violently
handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no wise be that thou shouldest
escape the sickness sent by mighty Zeus. Nay, pray thou to thy father,
the lord Poseidon.’
“On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within me laughed
to see how my name and cunning counsel had beguiled them. But the
Cyclops, groaning and travailing in pain, groped with his hands, and
lifted away the stone from the door of the cave, and himself sat in the
entry, with arms outstretched to catch, if he might, any one that was
going forth with his sheep, so witless, methinks, did he hope to find
me. But I advised me how all might be for the very best, if perchance I
might find a way of escape from death for my companions and myself, and
I wove all manner of craft and counsel, as a man will for his life,
seeing that great mischief was nigh. And this was the counsel that
showed best in my sight. The rams of the flock were well nurtured and
thick of fleece, great and goodly, with wool dark as the violet.
Quietly I lashed them together with twisted withies, whereon the
Cyclops slept, that lawless monster. Three together I took: now the
middle one of the three would bear each a man, but the other twain went
on either side, saving my fellows. Thus every three sheep bare their
man. But as for me I laid hold of the back of a young ram who was far
the best and the goodliest of all the flock, and curled beneath his
shaggy belly there I lay, and so clung face upward, grasping the
wondrous fleece with a steadfast heart. So for that time making moan we
awaited the bright Dawn.
“So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then did the
rams of the flock hasten forth to pasture, but the ewes bleated
unmilked about the pens, for their udders were swollen to bursting.
Then their lord, sore stricken with pain, felt along the backs of all
the sheep as they stood up before him, and guessed not in his folly how
that my men were bound beneath the breasts of his thick-fleeced flocks.
Last of all the sheep came forth the ram, cumbered with his wool, and
the weight of me and my cunning. And the strong Polyphemus laid his
hands on him and spake to him saying:
“‘Dear ram, wherefore, I pray thee, art thou the last of all the flocks
to go forth from the cave, who of old wast not wont to lag behind the
sheep, but wert ever the foremost to pluck the tender blossom of the
pasture, faring with long strides, and wert still the first to come to
the streams of the rivers, and first did long to return to the
homestead in the evening? But now art thou the very last. Surely thou
art sorrowing for the eye of thy lord, which an evil man blinded, with
his accursed fellows, when he had subdued my wits with wine, even
Noman, whom I say hath not yet escaped destruction. Ah, if thou couldst
feel as I, and be endued with speech, to tell me where he shifts about
to shun my wrath; then should he be smitten, and his brains be dashed
against the floor here and there about the cave, and my heart be
lightened of the sorrows which Noman, nothing worth, hath brought me!’
“Therewith he sent the ram forth from him, and when we had gone but a
little way from the cave and from the yard, first I loosed myself from
under the ram and then I set my fellows free. And swiftly we drave on
those stiff-shanked sheep, so rich in fat, and often turned to look
about, till we came to the ship. And a glad sight to our fellows were
we that had fled from death, but the others they would have bemoaned
with tears; howbeit I suffered it not, but with frowning brows forbade
each man to weep. Rather I bade them to cast on board the many sheep
with goodly fleece, and to sail over the salt sea water. So they
embarked forthwith, and sate upon the benches, and sitting orderly
smote the grey sea water with their oars. But when I had not gone so
far, but that a man’s shout might be heard, then I spoke unto the
Cyclops taunting him:
“‘Cyclops, so thou wert not to eat the company of a weakling by main
might in thy hollow cave! Thine evil deeds were very sure to find thee
out, thou cruel man, who hadst no shame to eat thy guests within thy
gates, wherefore Zeus hath requited thee, and the other gods.’
“So I spake, and he was mightily angered at heart, and he brake off the
peak of a great hill and threw it at us, and it fell in front of the
dark-prowed ship.[17] And the sea heaved beneath the fall of the rock,
and the backward flow of the wave bare the ship quickly to the dry
land, with the wash from the deep sea, and drave it to the shore. Then
I caught up a long pole in my hands, and thrust the ship from off the
land, and roused my company, and with a motion of the head bade them
dash in with their oars, that so we might escape our evil plight. So
they bent to their oars and rowed on. But when we had now made twice
the distance over the brine, I would fain have spoken to the Cyclops,
but my company stayed me on every side with soft words, saying:
[17] We have omitted line 483, as required by the sense. It is
introduced here from line 540.
“‘Foolhardy that thou art, why wouldst thou rouse a wild man to wrath,
who even now hath cast so mighty a throw towards the deep and brought
our ship back to land, yea and we thought that we had perished[18] even
there? If he had heard any of us utter sound or speech he would have
crushed our heads and our ship timbers with a cast of a rugged stone,
so mightily he hurls.’
[18] Neither in this passage nor in B ii. 171 nor in B xx. 121 do we
think that the aorist infinitive after a verb of _saying_ can bear a
future sense. The aorist infinitive after ἐλπωρή (ii. 280, vii. 76) is
hardly an argument in its favour; the infinitive there is in fact a
noun in the genitive case.
“So spake they, but they prevailed not on my lordly spirit, and I
answered him again from out an angry heart:
“‘Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee of the unsightly
blinding of thine eye, say that it was Odysseus that blinded it, the
waster of cities, son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca.’
“So I spake, and with a moan he answered me, saying:
“‘Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles have come upon me. There
lived here a soothsayer, a noble man and a mighty, Telemus, son of
Eurymus, who surpassed all men in soothsaying, and waxed old as a seer
among the Cyclôpes. He told me that all these things should come to
pass in the aftertime, even that I should lose my eyesight at the hand
of Odysseus. But I ever looked for some tall and goodly man to come
hither, clad in great might, but behold now one that is a dwarf, a man
of no worth and a weakling, hath blinded me of my eye after subduing me
with wine. Nay come hither, Odysseus, that I may set by thee a
stranger’s cheer, and speed thy parting hence, that so the Earth-shaker
may vouchsafe it thee, for his son am I, and he avows him for my
father. And he himself will heal me, if it be his will; and none other
of the blessed gods or of mortal men.’
“Even so he spake, but I answered him, and said: ‘Would god that I were
as sure to rob thee of soul and life, and send thee within the house of
Hades, as I am that not even the Earth-shaker will heal thine eye!’
“So I spake, and then he prayed to the lord Poseidon stretching forth
his hands to the starry heaven: ‘Hear me, Poseidon, girdler of the
earth, god of the dark hair, if indeed I be thine, and thou avowest
thee my sire,—grant that he may never come to his home, even Odysseus,
waster of cities, the son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca; yet
if he is ordained to see his friends and come unto his well-builded
house, and his own country, late may he come in evil case, with the
loss of all his company, in the ship of strangers, and find sorrows in
his house.’
“So he spake in prayer, and the god of the dark locks heard him. And
once again he lifted a stone, far greater than the first, and with one
swing he hurled it, and he put forth a measureless strength, and cast
it but a little space behind the dark-prowed ship, and all but struck
the end of the rudder. And the sea heaved beneath the fall of the rock,
but the wave bare on the ship and drave it to the further shore.
“But when he had now reached that island, where all our other decked
ships abode together, and our company were gathered sorrowing,
expecting us evermore, on our coming thither we ran our ship ashore
upon the sand, and ourselves too stept forth upon the sea beach. Next
we took forth the sheep of the Cyclops from out the hollow ship, and
divided them, that none through me might go lacking his proper share.
But the ram for me alone my goodly-greaved company chose out, in the
dividing of the sheep, and on the shore I offered him up to Zeus, even
to the son of Cronos, who dwells in the dark clouds, and is lord of
all, and I burnt the slices of the thighs. But he heeded not the
sacrifice, but was devising how my decked ships and my dear company
might perish utterly. Thus for that time we sat the livelong day, until
the going down of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine.
And when the sun had sunk and darkness had come on, then we laid us to
rest upon the sea beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the
rosy-fingered, I called to my company, and commanded them that they
should themselves climb the ship and loose the hawsers. So they soon
embarked and sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey
sea water with their oars.
“Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men saved from
death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
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