When the great city of Troy was taken, all the chiefs who had fought
against it set sail for their homes. But there was wrath in heaven
against them, for indeed they had borne themselves haughtily and cruelly
in the day of their victory. Therefore they did not all find a safe and
happy return. For one was shipwrecked and another was shamefully slain
by his false wife in his palace, and others found all things at home
troubled and changed and were driven to seek new dwellings elsewhere.
And some, whose wives and friends and people had been still true to them
through those ten long years of absence, were driven far and wide about
the world before they saw their native land again. And of all, the wise
Ulysses was he who wandered farthest and suffered most.
He was well-nigh the last to sail, for he had tarried many days to do
pleasure to Agamemnon, lord of all the Greeks. Twelve ships he had with
him--twelve he had brought to Troy--and in each there were some fifty
men, being scarce half of those that had sailed in them in the old days,
so many valiant heroes slept the last sleep by Simois and Scamander and
in the plain and on the seashore, slain in battle or by the shafts of
Apollo.
First they sailed northwest to the Thracian coast, where the Ciconians
dwelt, who had helped the men of Troy. Their city they took, and in it
much plunder, slaves and oxen, and jars of fragrant wine, and might have
escaped unhurt, but that they stayed to hold revel on the shore. For the
Ciconians gathered their neighbors, being men of the same blood, and did
battle with the invaders and drove them to their ship. And when Ulysses
numbered his men, he found that he had lost six out of each ship.
Scarce had he set out again when the wind began to blow fiercely; so,
seeing a smooth, sandy beach, they drove the ships ashore and dragged
them out of reach of the waves, and waited till the storm should abate.
And the third morning being fair, they sailed again and journeyed
prosperously till they came to the very end of the great Peloponnesian
land, where Cape Malea looks out upon the southern sea. But contrary
currents baffled them, so that they could not round it, and the north
wind blew so strongly that they must fain drive before it. And on the
tenth day they came to the land where the lotus grows--a wondrous fruit,
of which whosoever eats cares not to see country or wife or children
again. Now the Lotus eaters, for so they call the people of the land,
were a kindly folk and gave of the fruit to some of the sailors, not
meaning them any harm, but thinking it to be the best that they had to
give. These, when they had eaten, said that they would not sail any more
over the sea; which, when the wise Ulysses heard, he bade their comrades
bind them and carry them, sadly complaining, to the ships.
Then, the wind having abated, they took to their oars and rowed for many
days till they came to the country where the Cyclopes dwell. Now, a mile
or so from the shore there was an island, very fair and fertile, but no
man dwells there or tills the soil, and in the island a harbor where a
ship may be safe from all winds, and at the head of the harbor a stream
falling from the rock, and whispering alders all about it. Into this the
ships passed safely and were hauled up on the beach, and the crews slept
by them, waiting for the morning. And the next day they hunted the wild
goats, of which there was great store on the island, and feasted right
merrily on what they caught, with draughts of red wine which they had
carried off from the town of the Ciconians.
But on the morrow, Ulysses, for he was ever fond of adventure and would
know of every land to which he came what manner of men they were that
dwelt there, took one of his twelve ships and bade row to the land.
There was a great hill sloping to the shore, and there rose up here and
there a smoke from the caves where the Cyclopes dwelt apart, holding no
converse with each other, for they were a rude and savage folk, but
ruled each his own household, not caring for others. Now very close to
the shore was one of these caves, very huge and deep, with laurels round
about the mouth, and in front a fold with walls built of rough stone and
shaded by tall oaks and pines. So Ulysses chose out of the crew the
twelve bravest, and bade the rest guard the ship, and went to see what
manner of dwelling this was and who abode there. He had his sword by his
side, and on his shoulder a mighty skin of wine, sweet smelling and
strong, with which he might win the heart of some fierce savage, should
he chance to meet with such, as indeed his prudent heart forecasted that
he might.
So they entered the cave and judged that it was the dwelling of some
rich and skilful shepherd. For within there were pens for the young of
the sheep and of the goats, divided all according to their age, and
there were baskets full of cheeses, and full milk pails ranged along the
wall. But the Cyclops himself was away in the pastures. Then the
companions of Ulysses besought him that he would depart, taking with
him, if he would, a store of cheeses and sundry of the lambs and of the
kids. But he would not, for he wished to see, after his wont, what
manner of host this strange shepherd might be. And truly he saw it to
his cost!
It was evening when the Cyclops came home, a mighty giant, twenty feet
in height or more. On his shoulder he bore a vast bundle of pine logs
for his fire, and threw them down outside the cave with a great crash,
and drove the flocks within, and closed the entrance with a huge rock,
which twenty wagons and more could not bear. Then he milked the ewes and
all the she-goats, and half of the milk he curdled for cheese and half
he set ready for himself when he should sup. Next he kindled a fire with
the pine logs, and the flame lighted up all the cave, showing Ulysses
and his comrades.
"Who are ye?" cried Polyphemus, for that was the giant's name. "Are ye
traders or, haply, pirates?"
For in those days it was not counted shame to be called a pirate.
Ulysses shuddered at the dreadful voice and shape, but bore him bravely,
and answered, "We are no pirates, mighty sir, but Greeks, sailing back
from Troy, and subjects of the great King Agamemnon, whose fame is
spread from one end of heaven to the other. And we are come to beg
hospitality of thee in the name of Zeus, who rewards or punishes hosts
and guests according as they be faithful the one to the other, or no."
"Nay," said the giant, "it is but idle talk to tell me of Zeus and the
other gods. We Cyclopes take no account of gods, holding ourselves to be
much better and stronger than they. But come, tell me where have you
left your ship?"
But Ulysses saw his thought when he asked about the ship, how he was
minded to break it and take from them all hope of flight. Therefore he
answered him craftily:
"Ship have we none, for that which was ours King Poseidon brake, driving
it on a jutting rock on this coast, and we whom thou seest are all that
are escaped from the waves."
Polyphemus answered nothing, but without more ado caught up two of the
men, as a man might catch up the whelps of a dog, and dashed them on the
ground, and tore them limb from limb and devoured them, with huge
draughts of milk between, leaving not a morsel, not even the very
bones. But the others, when they saw the dreadful deed, could only weep
and pray to Zeus for help. And when the giant had ended his foul meal,
he lay down among his sheep and slept.
Then Ulysses questioned much in his heart whether he should slay the
monster as he slept, for he doubted not that his good sword would pierce
to the giant's heart, mighty as he was. But, being very wise, he
remembered that, should he slay him, he and his comrades would yet
perish miserably. For who should move away the great rock that lay
against the door of the cave? So they waited till the morning. And the
monster woke and milked his flocks, and afterward, seizing two men,
devoured them for his meal. Then he went to the pastures, but put the
great rock on the mouth of the cave, just as a man puts down the lid
upon his quiver.
All that day the wise Ulysses was thinking what he might best do to save
himself and his companions, and the end of his thinking was this: There
was a mighty pole in the cave, green wood of an olive tree, big as a
ship's mast, which Polyphemus purposed to use, when the smoke should
have dried it, as a walking staff. Of this he cut off a fathom's length,
and his comrades sharpened it and hardened it in the fire and then hid
it away. At evening the giant came back and drove his sheep into the
cave, nor left the rams outside, as he had been wont to do before, but
shut them in. And having duly done his shepherd's work, he made his
cruel feast as before. Then Ulysses came forward with the wine skin in
his hand and said:
"Drink, Cyclops, now that thou hast feasted. Drink and see what precious
things we had in our ship. But no one hereafter will come to thee with
such like, if thou dealest with strangers as cruelly as thou hast dealt
with us."
Then the Cyclops drank and was mightily pleased, and said, "Give me
again to drink and tell me thy name, stranger, and I will give thee a
gift such as a host should give. In good truth this is a rare liquor.
We, too, have vines, but they bear no wine like this, which indeed must
be such as the gods drink in heaven."
Then Ulysses gave him the cup again and he drank. Thrice he gave it to
him and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was and how it would work
within his brain.
Then Ulysses spake to him. "Thou didst ask my name, Cyclops. Lo! my name
is No Man. And now that thou knowest my name, thou shouldst give me thy
gift."
And he said, "My gift shall be that I will eat thee last of all thy
company."
And as he spake he fell back in a drunken sleep. Then Ulysses bade his
comrades be of good courage, for the time was come when they should be
delivered. And they thrust the stake of olive wood into the fire till it
was ready, green as it was, to burst into flame, and they thrust it into
the monster's eye; for he had but one eye, and that in the midst of his
forehead, with the eyebrow below it. And Ulysses leaned with all his
force upon the stake and thrust it in with might and main. And the
burning wood hissed in the eye, just as the red-hot iron hisses in the
water when a man seeks to temper steel for a sword.
Then the giant leapt up and tore away the stake and cried aloud, so that
all the Cyclopes who dwelt on the mountain side heard him and came about
his cave, asking him, "What aileth thee, Polyphemus, that thou makest
this uproar in the peaceful night, driving away sleep? Is any one
robbing thee of thy sheep or seeking to slay thee by craft or force?"