Odyssey, Book 9: The Cyclops

1τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·

Ἀλκίνοε κρεῖον, πάντων ἀριδείκετε λαῶν,

ἦ τοι μὲν τόδε καλὸν ἀκουέμεν ἐστὶν ἀοιδοῦ

τοιοῦδʼ οἷος ὅδʼ ἐστί, θεοῖς ἐναλίγκιος αὐδήν.

5οὐ γὰρ ἐγώ γέ τί φημι τέλος χαριέστερον εἶναι

ἢ ὅτʼ ἐυφροσύνη μὲν ἔχῃ κάτα δῆμον ἅπαντα,

δαιτυμόνες δʼ ἀνὰ δώματʼ ἀκουάζωνται ἀοιδοῦ

ἥμενοι ἑξείης, παρὰ δὲ πλήθωσι τράπεζαι

σίτου καὶ κρειῶν, μέθυ δʼ ἐκ κρητῆρος ἀφύσσων

10οἰνοχόος φορέῃσι καὶ ἐγχείῃ δεπάεσσι·

τοῦτό τί μοι κάλλιστον ἐνὶ φρεσὶν εἴδεται εἶναι.

σοὶ δʼ ἐμὰ κήδεα θυμὸς ἐπετράπετο στονόεντα

εἴρεσθʼ, ὄφρʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον ὀδυρόμενος στεναχίζω·

τί πρῶτόν τοι ἔπειτα, τί δʼ ὑστάτιον καταλέξω;

15κήδεʼ ἐπεί μοι πολλὰ δόσαν θεοὶ Οὐρανίωνες.

νῦν δʼ ὄνομα πρῶτον μυθήσομαι, ὄφρα καὶ ὑμεῖς

εἴδετʼ, ἐγὼ δʼ ἂν ἔπειτα φυγὼν ὕπο νηλεὲς ἦμαρ

ὑμῖν ξεῖνος ἔω καὶ ἀπόπροθι δώματα ναίων.

1Resourceful Odysseus answered him:

“Lord Alcinous, renowned above all your people,

it is indeed a fine thing to hear a singer

such as this man, whose voice is like the gods’.

5For my part, I know of no fulfillment more pleasing

than when gladness possesses a whole community,

and banqueters throughout the hall listen to a singer

as they sit in rows, while the tables beside them are laden

with bread and meat, and a wine-steward draws wine from the mixing bowl,

10carries it around, and pours it into the cups.

To my mind, this is the finest thing there is.

But your heart has turned to asking about my grievous troubles,

so that I lament and groan still more.

What shall I tell you first, and what shall I save for last?

15The gods who dwell in heaven have given me sorrows in abundance.

Now first I will tell my name, so that you too may know it,

and so that afterward, if I escape the pitiless day,

I may be your guest-friend, though I live in a home far away.

19εἴμʼ Ὀδυσεὺς Λαερτιάδης, ὃς πᾶσι δόλοισιν

20ἀνθρώποισι μέλω, καί μευ κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει.

ναιετάω δʼ Ἰθάκην ἐυδείελον· ἐν δʼ ὄρος αὐτῇ

Νήριτον εἰνοσίφυλλον, ἀριπρεπές· ἀμφὶ δὲ νῆσοι

πολλαὶ ναιετάουσι μάλα σχεδὸν ἀλλήλῃσι,

Δουλίχιόν τε Σάμη τε καὶ ὑλήεσσα Ζάκυνθος.

25αὐτὴ δὲ χθαμαλὴ πανυπερτάτη εἰν ἁλὶ κεῖται

πρὸς ζόφον, αἱ δέ τʼ ἄνευθε πρὸς ἠῶ τʼ ἠέλιόν τε,

τρηχεῖʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος· οὔ τοι ἐγώ γε

ἧς γαίης δύναμαι γλυκερώτερον ἄλλο ἰδέσθαι.

ἦ μέν μʼ αὐτόθʼ ἔρυκε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

30ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι, λιλαιομένη πόσιν εἶναι·

ὣς δʼ αὔτως Κίρκη κατερήτυεν ἐν μεγάροισιν

Αἰαίη δολόεσσα, λιλαιομένη πόσιν εἶναι·

ἀλλʼ ἐμὸν οὔ ποτε θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἔπειθον.

ὣς οὐδὲν γλύκιον ἧς πατρίδος οὐδὲ τοκήων

35γίγνεται, εἴ περ καί τις ἀπόπροθι πίονα οἶκον

γαίῃ ἐν ἀλλοδαπῇ ναίει ἀπάνευθε τοκήων.

εἰ δʼ ἄγε τοι καὶ νόστον ἐμὸν πολυκηδέʼ ἐνίσπω,

ὅν μοι Ζεὺς ἐφέηκεν ἀπὸ Τροίηθεν ἰόντι.

19I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known among all people

20for every kind of cunning, and my fame reaches heaven.

I live in Ithaca, clear to see. On it stands Mount Neriton,

leaf-shaking, conspicuous; around it many islands

lie close beside one another—

Dulichium, Same, and wooded Zacynthus.

25Ithaca itself is low and lies farthest out to sea

toward the gloom of the west, while the others lie apart toward dawn and sun.

It is rugged, but a good nurse of young men. I myself

can see nothing sweeter than one’s own land.

True, Calypso, radiant among goddesses, held me captive there

30in her hollow caves, longing to have me for a husband;

and in the same way the deceitful Circe detained me in her halls

on Aeaea, longing to have me for a husband.

But neither ever persuaded the heart within my chest.

So nothing proves sweeter than one’s own country and parents,

35even if a man lives far away in a prosperous house

in a foreign land, apart from his parents.

Come, then, and let me tell you of my trouble-filled homecoming,

which Zeus laid upon me as I came from Troy.

39Ἰλιόθεν με φέρων ἄνεμος Κικόνεσσι πέλασσεν,

40Ἰσμάρῳ. ἔνθα δʼ ἐγὼ πόλιν ἔπραθον, ὤλεσα δʼ αὐτούς·

ἐκ πόλιος δʼ ἀλόχους καὶ κτήματα πολλὰ λαβόντες

δασσάμεθʼ, ὡς μή τίς μοι ἀτεμβόμενος κίοι ἴσης.

ἔνθʼ ἦ τοι μὲν ἐγὼ διερῷ ποδὶ φευγέμεν ἡμέας

ἠνώγεα, τοὶ δὲ μέγα νήπιοι οὐκ ἐπίθοντο.

45ἔνθα δὲ πολλὸν μὲν μέθυ πίνετο, πολλὰ δὲ μῆλα

ἔσφαζον παρὰ θῖνα καὶ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς·

τόφρα δʼ ἄρʼ οἰχόμενοι Κίκονες Κικόνεσσι γεγώνευν,

οἵ σφιν γείτονες ἦσαν, ἅμα πλέονες καὶ ἀρείους,

ἤπειρον ναίοντες, ἐπιστάμενοι μὲν ἀφʼ ἵππων

50ἀνδράσι μάρνασθαι καὶ ὅθι χρὴ πεζὸν ἐόντα.

ἦλθον ἔπειθʼ ὅσα φύλλα καὶ ἄνθεα γίγνεται ὥρῃ,

ἠέριοι· τότε δή ῥα κακὴ Διὸς αἶσα παρέστη

ἡμῖν αἰνομόροισιν, ἵνʼ ἄλγεα πολλὰ πάθοιμεν.

στησάμενοι δʼ ἐμάχοντο μάχην παρὰ νηυσὶ θοῇσι,

55βάλλον δʼ ἀλλήλους χαλκήρεσιν ἐγχείῃσιν.

ὄφρα μὲν ἠὼς ἦν καὶ ἀέξετο ἱερὸν ἦμαρ,

τόφρα δʼ ἀλεξόμενοι μένομεν πλέονάς περ ἐόντας.

ἦμος δʼ ἠέλιος μετενίσσετο βουλυτόνδε,

καὶ τότε δὴ Κίκονες κλῖναν δαμάσαντες Ἀχαιούς.

60ἓξ δʼ ἀφʼ ἑκάστης νηὸς ἐυκνήμιδες ἑταῖροι

ὤλονθʼ· οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι φύγομεν θάνατόν τε μόρον τε.

ἔνθεν δὲ προτέρω πλέομεν ἀκαχήμενοι ἦτορ,

ἄσμενοι ἐκ θανάτοιο, φίλους ὀλέσαντες ἑταίρους.

οὐδʼ ἄρα μοι προτέρω νῆες κίον ἀμφιέλισσαι,

65πρίν τινα τῶν δειλῶν ἑτάρων τρὶς ἕκαστον ἀῦσαι,

οἳ θάνον ἐν πεδίῳ Κικόνων ὕπο δῃωθέντες.

39The wind carried me from Ilium and brought me to the Cicones,

40to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and killed its men.

We took their wives and many possessions from the city

and divided them, so that no one would leave deprived of an equal share.

There I ordered us to flee at once with nimble feet,

but in their great folly my men would not obey.

45There they drank wine in plenty and slaughtered many sheep

along the shore, and shambling cattle with curling horns.

Meanwhile the Cicones who had escaped called out to other Cicones,

their inland neighbors, more numerous and stronger than they,

men skilled at fighting from horseback

50and, whenever needed, on foot.

At dawn they came, as many as the leaves and flowers that grow in season.

Then an evil lot from Zeus stood beside us, doomed as we were,

so that we would suffer many pains.

They formed their ranks and fought beside our swift ships,

55and each side hurled bronze-tipped spears at the other.

As long as it was morning and the sacred day was waxing,

we held our ground against them, though they were more numerous.

But when the sun moved toward the hour when oxen are unyoked,

then the Cicones broke the Achaeans and brought them down.

60Six well-greaved companions from every ship

were killed; the rest of us escaped death and doom.

From there we sailed onward, sick at heart,

glad to be clear of death, but having lost dear companions.

Yet my curved ships did not set out on their way

65until we had called three times to each of our wretched companions

who had died on the plain, cut down by the Cicones.

67νηυσὶ δʼ ἐπῶρσʼ ἄνεμον Βορέην νεφεληγερέτα Ζεὺς

λαίλαπι θεσπεσίῃ, σὺν δὲ νεφέεσσι κάλυψε

γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον· ὀρώρει δʼ οὐρανόθεν νύξ.

70αἱ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἐφέροντʼ ἐπικάρσιαι, ἱστία δέ σφιν

τριχθά τε καὶ τετραχθὰ διέσχισεν ἲς ἀνέμοιο.

καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐς νῆας κάθεμεν, δείσαντες ὄλεθρον,

αὐτὰς δʼ ἐσσυμένως προερέσσαμεν ἤπειρόνδε.

ἔνθα δύω νύκτας δύο τʼ ἤματα συνεχὲς αἰεὶ

75κείμεθʼ, ὁμοῦ καμάτῳ τε καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἔδοντες.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τρίτον ἦμαρ ἐυπλόκαμος τέλεσʼ Ἠώς,

ἱστοὺς στησάμενοι ἀνά θʼ ἱστία λεύκʼ ἐρύσαντες

ἥμεθα, τὰς δʼ ἄνεμός τε κυβερνῆταί τʼ ἴθυνον.

καί νύ κεν ἀσκηθὴς ἱκόμην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν·

80ἀλλά με κῦμα ῥόος τε περιγνάμπτοντα Μάλειαν

καὶ Βορέης ἀπέωσε, παρέπλαγξεν δὲ Κυθήρων.

67Cloud-gathering Zeus roused Boreas against our ships

in a tremendous squall and shrouded in clouds

both land and sea; night swept down from heaven.

70The ships were driven sideways, and the force of the wind

tore their sails into three and four pieces.

We lowered them into the ships, fearing destruction,

and rowed the vessels urgently toward the mainland.

There for two nights and two days without a break

75we lay consuming our hearts with exhaustion and pain.

But when lovely-haired Dawn completed the third day,

we stepped the masts, hauled up the white sails,

and sat while wind and helmsmen held the ships on course.

And now I would have reached my native land unharmed,

80but as I was rounding Malea, wave and current

and Boreas drove me away and swept me past Cythera.

82ἔνθεν δʼ ἐννῆμαρ φερόμην ὀλοοῖς ἀνέμοισιν

πόντον ἐπʼ ἰχθυόεντα· ἀτὰρ δεκάτῃ ἐπέβημεν

γαίης Λωτοφάγων, οἵ τʼ ἄνθινον εἶδαρ ἔδουσιν.

85ἔνθα δʼ ἐπʼ ἠπείρου βῆμεν καὶ ἀφυσσάμεθʼ ὕδωρ,

αἶψα δὲ δεῖπνον ἕλοντο θοῇς παρὰ νηυσὶν ἑταῖροι.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ σίτοιό τʼ ἐπασσάμεθʼ ἠδὲ ποτῆτος,

δὴ τοτʼ ἐγὼν ἑτάρους προΐειν πεύθεσθαι ἰόντας,

οἵ τινες ἀνέρες εἶεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ σῖτον ἔδοντες

90ἄνδρε δύω κρίνας, τρίτατον κήρυχʼ ἅμʼ ὀπάσσας.

οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ οἰχόμενοι μίγεν ἀνδράσι Λωτοφάγοισιν·

οὐδʼ ἄρα Λωτοφάγοι μήδονθʼ ἑτάροισιν ὄλεθρον

ἡμετέροις, ἀλλά σφι δόσαν λωτοῖο πάσασθαι.

τῶν δʼ ὅς τις λωτοῖο φάγοι μελιηδέα καρπόν,

95οὐκέτʼ ἀπαγγεῖλαι πάλιν ἤθελεν οὐδὲ νέεσθαι,

ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ βούλοντο μετʼ ἀνδράσι Λωτοφάγοισι

λωτὸν ἐρεπτόμενοι μενέμεν νόστου τε λαθέσθαι.

τοὺς μὲν ἐγὼν ἐπὶ νῆας ἄγον κλαίοντας ἀνάγκῃ,

νηυσὶ δʼ ἐνὶ γλαφυρῇσιν ὑπὸ ζυγὰ δῆσα ἐρύσσας.

100αὐτὰρ τοὺς ἄλλους κελόμην ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους

σπερχομένους νηῶν ἐπιβαινέμεν ὠκειάων,

μή πώς τις λωτοῖο φαγὼν νόστοιο λάθηται.

οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον,

ἑξῆς δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

105ἔνθεν δὲ προτέρω πλέομεν ἀκαχήμενοι ἦτορ·

82From there deadly winds carried me for nine days

over the fish-filled sea; on the tenth we came ashore

in the land of the Lotus-Eaters, who eat a food made of flowers.

85There we went onto the mainland and drew water,

and my companions quickly took their meal beside the swift ships.

When we had tasted food and drink,

I sent companions ahead to learn

what kind of men lived in that land and ate its bread,

90choosing two men and sending a herald as the third.

They left at once and mingled with the Lotus-Eaters.

The Lotus-Eaters did not plot destruction for our companions,

but gave them lotus to taste.

Whoever among them ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus

95no longer wished to bring back word or return,

but wanted to remain there among the Lotus-Eaters,

feeding on lotus and forgetting his homecoming.

I brought them back to the ships by force, though they wept,

dragged them into the hollow vessels, and bound them beneath the rowing benches.

100Then I ordered the rest of my loyal companions

to hurry aboard the swift ships,

for fear that one of them might taste the lotus and forget his homecoming.

They boarded at once and took their seats at the thole-pins,

and sitting in order they struck the gray sea with their oars.

105From there we sailed onward, sick at heart,

106Κυκλώπων δʼ ἐς γαῖαν ὑπερφιάλων ἀθεμίστων

ἱκόμεθʼ, οἵ ῥα θεοῖσι πεποιθότες ἀθανάτοισιν

οὔτε φυτεύουσιν χερσὶν φυτὸν οὔτʼ ἀρόωσιν,

ἀλλὰ τά γʼ ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα πάντα φύονται,

110πυροὶ καὶ κριθαὶ ἠδʼ ἄμπελοι, αἵ τε φέρουσιν

οἶνον ἐριστάφυλον, καί σφιν Διὸς ὄμβρος ἀέξει.

τοῖσιν δʼ οὔτʼ ἀγοραὶ βουληφόροι οὔτε θέμιστες,

ἀλλʼ οἵ γʼ ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων ναίουσι κάρηνα

ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι, θεμιστεύει δὲ ἕκαστος

115παίδων ἠδʼ ἀλόχων, οὐδʼ ἀλλήλων ἀλέγουσιν.

106and came to the land of the overbearing, lawless Cyclopes.

They put their trust in the immortal gods

and neither plant anything with their hands nor plow.

Everything grows there unsown and unplowed—

110wheat and barley and vines that bear

heavy clusters of grapes for wine, swelled by the rain of Zeus.

They have no public assemblies for counsel and no settled ordinances,

but live on the peaks of high mountains

in hollow caves. Each man lays down the law

115for his children and wife, and they care nothing for one another.

116νῆσος ἔπειτα λάχεια παρὲκ λιμένος τετάνυσται,

γαίης Κυκλώπων οὔτε σχεδὸν οὔτʼ ἀποτηλοῦ,

ὑλήεσσʼ· ἐν δʼ αἶγες ἀπειρέσιαι γεγάασιν

ἄγριαι· οὐ μὲν γὰρ πάτος ἀνθρώπων ἀπερύκει,

120οὐδέ μιν εἰσοιχνεῦσι κυνηγέται, οἵ τε καθʼ ὕλην

ἄλγεα πάσχουσιν κορυφὰς ὀρέων ἐφέποντες.

οὔτʼ ἄρα ποίμνῃσιν καταΐσχεται οὔτʼ ἀρότοισιν,

ἀλλʼ ἥ γʼ ἄσπαρτος καὶ ἀνήροτος ἤματα πάντα

ἀνδρῶν χηρεύει, βόσκει δέ τε μηκάδας αἶγας.

125οὐ γὰρ Κυκλώπεσσι νέες πάρα μιλτοπάρῃοι,

οὐδʼ ἄνδρες νηῶν ἔνι τέκτονες, οἵ κε κάμοιεν

νῆας ἐυσσέλμους, αἵ κεν τελέοιεν ἕκαστα

ἄστεʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἱκνεύμεναι, οἷά τε πολλὰ

ἄνδρες ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους νηυσὶν περόωσι θάλασσαν·

130οἵ κέ σφιν καὶ νῆσον ἐυκτιμένην ἐκάμοντο.

οὐ μὲν γάρ τι κακή γε, φέροι δέ κεν ὥρια πάντα·

ἐν μὲν γὰρ λειμῶνες ἁλὸς πολιοῖο παρʼ ὄχθας

ὑδρηλοὶ μαλακοί· μάλα κʼ ἄφθιτοι ἄμπελοι εἶεν.

ἐν δʼ ἄροσις λείη· μάλα κεν βαθὺ λήιον αἰεὶ

135εἰς ὥρας ἀμῷεν, ἐπεὶ μάλα πῖαρ ὑπʼ οὖδας.

ἐν δὲ λιμὴν ἐύορμος, ἵνʼ οὐ χρεὼ πείσματός ἐστιν,

οὔτʼ εὐνὰς βαλέειν οὔτε πρυμνήσιʼ ἀνάψαι,

ἀλλʼ ἐπικέλσαντας μεῖναι χρόνον εἰς ὅ κε ναυτέων

θυμὸς ἐποτρύνῃ καὶ ἐπιπνεύσωσιν ἀῆται.

140αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ κρατὸς λιμένος ῥέει ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ,

κρήνη ὑπὸ σπείους· περὶ δʼ αἴγειροι πεφύασιν.

116Now a low island stretches outside the harbor,

neither close to the Cyclopes’ land nor far away.

It is wooded, and countless wild goats breed there.

No human footpath keeps them back,

120nor do hunters enter it, men who suffer hardship

in the woods while ranging over mountain peaks.

It is not occupied by flocks or plowlands,

but remains unsown and unplowed through all the days,

bereft of men, and feeds only bleating goats.

125For the Cyclopes have no red-cheeked ships,

and among them are no shipwrights who could build

well-benched vessels that could meet every need,

reaching the cities of other peoples, as men often do

when they cross the sea to visit one another in ships—

130craftsmen who could have made the island a well-settled place for them.

It is not poor land at all, but would bear every crop in season.

Along the shore of the gray sea are water-meadows,

soft and well-watered; vines there would never fail.

There is level plowland too; they could always reap

135a deep harvest in season, so rich is the soil beneath.

There is also a harbor with good anchorage, where no mooring line is needed,

no anchors cast and no stern cables fastened.

A crew can beach its ship and wait until the sailors’

spirits urge them on and favorable winds begin to blow.

140At the head of the harbor, bright water flows,

a spring beneath a cave, and poplars grow around it.

142ἔνθα κατεπλέομεν, καί τις θεὸς ἡγεμόνευεν

νύκτα διʼ ὀρφναίην, οὐδὲ προυφαίνετʼ ἰδέσθαι·

ἀὴρ γὰρ περὶ νηυσὶ βαθεῖʼ ἦν, οὐδὲ σελήνη

145οὐρανόθεν προύφαινε, κατείχετο δὲ νεφέεσσιν.

ἔνθʼ οὔ τις τὴν νῆσον ἐσέδρακεν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν,

οὔτʼ οὖν κύματα μακρὰ κυλινδόμενα προτὶ χέρσον

εἰσίδομεν, πρὶν νῆας ἐυσσέλμους ἐπικέλσαι.

κελσάσῃσι δὲ νηυσὶ καθείλομεν ἱστία πάντα,

150ἐκ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ βῆμεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης·

ἔνθα δʼ ἀποβρίξαντες ἐμείναμεν Ἠῶ δῖαν.

ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

νῆσον θαυμάζοντες ἐδινεόμεσθα κατʼ αὐτήν.

ὦρσαν δὲ νύμφαι, κοῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο,

155αἶγας ὀρεσκῴους, ἵνα δειπνήσειαν ἑταῖροι.

αὐτίκα καμπύλα τόξα καὶ αἰγανέας δολιχαύλους

εἱλόμεθʼ ἐκ νηῶν, διὰ δὲ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες

βάλλομεν· αἶψα δʼ ἔδωκε θεὸς μενοεικέα θήρην.

νῆες μέν μοι ἕποντο δυώδεκα, ἐς δὲ ἑκάστην

160ἐννέα λάγχανον αἶγες· ἐμοὶ δὲ δέκʼ ἔξελον οἴῳ.

ὣς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα

ἥμεθα δαινύμενοι κρέα τʼ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ·

οὐ γάρ πω νηῶν ἐξέφθιτο οἶνος ἐρυθρός,

ἀλλʼ ἐνέην· πολλὸν γὰρ ἐν ἀμφιφορεῦσιν ἕκαστοι

165ἠφύσαμεν Κικόνων. ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἑλόντες.

Κυκλώπων δʼ ἐς γαῖαν ἐλεύσσομεν ἐγγὺς ἐόντων,

καπνόν τʼ αὐτῶν τε φθογγὴν ὀίων τε καὶ αἰγῶν.

ἦμος δʼ ἠέλιος κατέδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθε,

δὴ τότε κοιμήθημεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης.

142There we sailed in, and some god guided us

through the murky night, when nothing showed itself to sight.

A deep mist lay around the ships, and the moon

145gave no light from heaven but was held behind clouds.

No one saw the island with his own eyes,

nor did we see the long rollers sweeping toward the shore

before our well-benched ships ran aground.

Once the ships were beached, we lowered every sail

150and went ashore ourselves at the breaking edge of the sea.

There we fell asleep and waited for radiant Dawn.

When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

we roamed about the island, marveling at it.

The nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Zeus, roused

155the mountain goats so that my companions could eat.

At once we took our curved bows and long-shafted hunting spears

from the ships, formed ourselves in three divisions,

and began to shoot. A god soon gave us satisfying game.

I had twelve ships in my company, and to each

160nine goats fell by lot, while they set aside ten for me alone.

So all that day until the sun went down

we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine.

The red wine in our ships was not yet exhausted,

but some remained, for each crew had drawn off a great quantity

165into jars when we captured the Cicones’ sacred stronghold.

We looked toward the nearby land of the Cyclopes,

and saw their smoke and heard their voices and those of sheep and goats.

When the sun went down and darkness came on,

we lay down to sleep along the breaking edge of the sea.

170ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἀγορὴν θέμενος μετὰ πᾶσιν ἔειπον·

ἄλλοι μὲν νῦν μίμνετʼ, ἐμοὶ ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι·

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ σὺν νηί τʼ ἐμῇ καὶ ἐμοῖς ἑτάροισιν

ἐλθὼν τῶνδʼ ἀνδρῶν πειρήσομαι, οἵ τινές εἰσιν,

175ἤ ῥʼ οἵ γʼ ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄγριοι οὐδὲ δίκαιοι,

ἦε φιλόξεινοι, καί σφιν νόος ἐστὶ θεουδής.

ὣς εἰπὼν ἀνὰ νηὸς ἔβην, ἐκέλευσα δʼ ἑταίρους

αὐτούς τʼ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι.

οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον,

180ἑξῆς δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

170When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

I called an assembly and spoke among them all:

‘The rest of you stay here now, my loyal companions.

But I will go in my own ship with my own crew

and test these men to learn what sort they are—

175whether they are overbearing, savage, and unjust,

or hospitable to strangers, with a god-fearing mind.’

With that I went aboard and ordered my companions

to embark as well and cast off the stern cables.

They boarded at once and took their seats at the thole-pins,

180and sitting in order they struck the gray sea with their oars.

181ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τὸν χῶρον ἀφικόμεθʼ ἐγγὺς ἐόντα,

ἔνθα δʼ ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῇ σπέος εἴδομεν ἄγχι θαλάσσης,

ὑψηλόν, δάφνῃσι κατηρεφές. ἔνθα δὲ πολλὰ

μῆλʼ, ὄιές τε καὶ αἶγες, ἰαύεσκον· περὶ δʼ αὐλὴ

185ὑψηλὴ δέδμητο κατωρυχέεσσι λίθοισι

μακρῇσίν τε πίτυσσιν ἰδὲ δρυσὶν ὑψικόμοισιν.

ἔνθα δʼ ἀνὴρ ἐνίαυε πελώριος, ὅς ῥα τὰ μῆλα

οἶος ποιμαίνεσκεν ἀπόπροθεν· οὐδὲ μετʼ ἄλλους

πωλεῖτʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀπάνευθεν ἐὼν ἀθεμίστια ᾔδη.

190καὶ γὰρ θαῦμʼ ἐτέτυκτο πελώριον, οὐδὲ ἐῴκει

ἀνδρί γε σιτοφάγῳ, ἀλλὰ ῥίῳ ὑλήεντι

ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων, ὅ τε φαίνεται οἶον ἀπʼ ἄλλων.

δὴ τότε τοὺς ἄλλους κελόμην ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους

αὐτοῦ πὰρ νηί τε μένειν καὶ νῆα ἔρυσθαι,

195αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ κρίνας ἑτάρων δυοκαίδεκʼ ἀρίστους

βῆν· ἀτὰρ αἴγεον ἀσκὸν ἔχον μέλανος οἴνοιο

ἡδέος, ὅν μοι ἔδωκε Μάρων, Εὐάνθεος υἱός,

ἱρεὺς Ἀπόλλωνος, ὃς Ἴσμαρον ἀμφιβεβήκει,

οὕνεκά μιν σὺν παιδὶ περισχόμεθʼ ἠδὲ γυναικὶ

200ἁζόμενοι· ᾤκει γὰρ ἐν ἄλσεϊ δενδρήεντι

Φοίβου Ἀπόλλωνος. ὁ δέ μοι πόρεν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα·

χρυσοῦ μέν μοι ἔδωκʼ ἐυεργέος ἑπτὰ τάλαντα,

δῶκε δέ μοι κρητῆρα πανάργυρον, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

οἶνον ἐν ἀμφιφορεῦσι δυώδεκα πᾶσιν ἀφύσσας

205ἡδὺν ἀκηράσιον, θεῖον ποτόν· οὐδέ τις αὐτὸν

ἠείδη δμώων οὐδʼ ἀμφιπόλων ἐνὶ οἴκῳ,

ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἄλοχός τε φίλη ταμίη τε μίʼ οἴη.

τὸν δʼ ὅτε πίνοιεν μελιηδέα οἶνον ἐρυθρόν,

ἓν δέπας ἐμπλήσας ὕδατος ἀνὰ εἴκοσι μέτρα

210χεῦʼ, ὀδμὴ δʼ ἡδεῖα ἀπὸ κρητῆρος ὀδώδει

θεσπεσίη· τότʼ ἂν οὔ τοι ἀποσχέσθαι φίλον ἦεν.

τοῦ φέρον ἐμπλήσας ἀσκὸν μέγαν, ἐν δὲ καὶ ᾖα

κωρύκῳ· αὐτίκα γάρ μοι ὀίσατο θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ

ἄνδρʼ ἐπελεύσεσθαι μεγάλην ἐπιειμένον ἀλκήν,

215ἄγριον, οὔτε δίκας ἐὺ εἰδότα οὔτε θέμιστας.

181When we reached the place, which was close by,

we saw at the land’s far edge, near the sea, a high cave

roofed with laurels. Many flocks—

sheep and goats—slept there, and around them a high yard

185had been built of stones set deep in the earth,

with long pines and high-crested oaks.

A monstrous man slept there, one who pastured his flocks

alone and far away. He did not mix with others,

but lived apart and knew only lawless ways.

190He was fashioned as a monstrous wonder, nothing like

a grain-eating man, but like a wooded peak

of the high mountains, standing out alone from the rest.

Then I told the rest of my loyal companions

to remain there beside the ship and guard it,

195while I chose the twelve best of my crew

and set out. I carried a goatskin filled with sweet

dark wine, given me by Maron, son of Euanthes,

priest of Apollo, the god who watched over Ismarus.

We had protected him together with his child and wife

200out of reverence, for he lived in the wooded grove

of Phoebus Apollo. He gave me splendid gifts:

seven talents of well-worked gold,

a mixing bowl made entirely of silver, and then

twelve jars, each filled to the brim with wine—

205sweet, unmixed, a divine drink. No one in his house

among the enslaved people or attendants knew of it,

only he himself, his dear wife, and a single housekeeper.

Whenever they were to drink this honey-sweet red wine,

he filled a single cup, then mixed it with twenty measures

210of water; a wondrously sweet scent breathed from the bowl,

marvelously rich; then no one would gladly hold back.

I carried a large skin full of this wine, and provisions too

in a sack, for my proud spirit suspected at once

that we would meet a man clothed in enormous strength,

215savage and well acquainted with neither justice nor law.

216καρπαλίμως δʼ εἰς ἄντρον ἀφικόμεθʼ, οὐδέ μιν ἔνδον

εὕρομεν, ἀλλʼ ἐνόμευε νομὸν κάτα πίονα μῆλα.

ἐλθόντες δʼ εἰς ἄντρον ἐθηεύμεσθα ἕκαστα.

ταρσοὶ μὲν τυρῶν βρῖθον, στείνοντο δὲ σηκοὶ

220ἀρνῶν ἠδʼ ἐρίφων· διακεκριμέναι δὲ ἕκασται

ἔρχατο, χωρὶς μὲν πρόγονοι, χωρὶς δὲ μέτασσαι,

χωρὶς δʼ αὖθʼ ἕρσαι. ναῖον δʼ ὀρῷ ἄγγεα πάντα,

γαυλοί τε σκαφίδες τε, τετυγμένα, τοῖς ἐνάμελγεν.

ἔνθʼ ἐμὲ μὲν πρώτισθʼ ἕταροι λίσσοντʼ ἐπέεσσιν

225τυρῶν αἰνυμένους ἰέναι πάλιν, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

καρπαλίμως ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν ἐρίφους τε καὶ ἄρνας

σηκῶν ἐξελάσαντας ἐπιπλεῖν ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ·

ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐ πιθόμην, ἦ τʼ ἂν πολὺ κέρδιον ἦεν,

ὄφρʼ αὐτόν τε ἴδοιμι, καὶ εἴ μοι ξείνια δοίη.

230οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔμελλʼ ἑτάροισι φανεὶς ἐρατεινὸς ἔσεσθαι.

216We quickly reached the cave but did not find him inside,

for he was tending his fat flocks in the pasture.

We entered the cave and gazed at everything.

The racks were loaded with cheeses, and the pens were crowded

220with lambs and kids. Each age was penned apart:

the firstlings by themselves, the middle-born apart, and the newborns apart again.

Every vessel swam with whey—pails and bowls,

all fashioned for his milking.

Then my companions’ first plea to me was that we take

225some cheeses and go back, then swiftly drive

the kids and lambs from their pens to the fast ship

and sail away across the salt water.

But I did not listen—though that would have been much better—

because I wanted to see the man himself and learn whether he would give me guest-gifts.

230When he appeared, he would not prove delightful to my companions.

231ἔνθα δὲ πῦρ κήαντες ἐθύσαμεν ἠδὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ

τυρῶν αἰνύμενοι φάγομεν, μένομέν τέ μιν ἔνδον

ἥμενοι, ἧος ἐπῆλθε νέμων. φέρε δʼ ὄβριμον ἄχθος

ὕλης ἀζαλέης, ἵνα οἱ ποτιδόρπιον εἴη,

235ἔντοσθεν δʼ ἄντροιο βαλὼν ὀρυμαγδὸν ἔθηκεν·

ἡμεῖς δὲ δείσαντες ἀπεσσύμεθʼ ἐς μυχὸν ἄντρου.

αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ εἰς εὐρὺ σπέος ἤλασε πίονα μῆλα

πάντα μάλʼ ὅσσʼ ἤμελγε, τὰ δʼ ἄρσενα λεῖπε θύρηφιν,

ἀρνειούς τε τράγους τε, βαθείης ἔκτοθεν αὐλῆς.

240αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ ἐπέθηκε θυρεὸν μέγαν ὑψόσʼ ἀείρας,

ὄβριμον· οὐκ ἂν τόν γε δύω καὶ εἴκοσʼ ἄμαξαι

ἐσθλαὶ τετράκυκλοι ἀπʼ οὔδεος ὀχλίσσειαν·

τόσσην ἠλίβατον πέτρην ἐπέθηκε θύρῃσιν.

ἑζόμενος δʼ ἤμελγεν ὄις καὶ μηκάδας αἶγας,

245πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, καὶ ὑπʼ ἔμβρυον ἧκεν ἑκάστῃ.

αὐτίκα δʼ ἥμισυ μὲν θρέψας λευκοῖο γάλακτος

πλεκτοῖς ἐν ταλάροισιν ἀμησάμενος κατέθηκεν,

ἥμισυ δʼ αὖτʼ ἔστησεν ἐν ἄγγεσιν, ὄφρα οἱ εἴη

πίνειν αἰνυμένῳ καί οἱ ποτιδόρπιον εἴη.

250αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σπεῦσε πονησάμενος τὰ ἃ ἔργα,

καὶ τότε πῦρ ἀνέκαιε καὶ εἴσιδεν, εἴρετο δʼ ἡμέας·

231There we lit a fire, made an offering, and ourselves

took and ate some cheese. We sat inside and waited

until he came back from pasture. He carried a crushing load

of dry wood to serve him at supper.

235He threw it down inside the cave with a crash,

and in terror we darted back into the cave’s recess.

Then he drove into the broad cavern all the fat animals

he milked, but left the males outside—

the rams and the he-goats—within the deep outer yard.

240Next he raised a huge door-stone high and set it in place,

a massive thing. Twenty-two sturdy four-wheeled wagons

could not have levered it from the ground,

so immense was the sheer rock he placed across the entrance.

Then he sat and milked the ewes and bleating goats,

245each in due order, and put her young beneath her.

At once he curdled half the white milk,

gathered the curds, and laid them in woven baskets;

the other half he set in vessels so that it would be there

for him to draw and drink with his supper.

250When he had hurried through and finished all his work,

he kindled the fire, saw us, and asked:

252ὦ ξεῖνοι, τίνες ἐστέ; πόθεν πλεῖθʼ ὑγρὰ κέλευθα;

ἦ τι κατὰ πρῆξιν ἦ μαψιδίως ἀλάλησθε,

οἷά τε ληιστῆρες, ὑπεὶρ ἅλα, τοί τʼ ἀλόωνται

255ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι κακὸν ἀλλοδαποῖσι φέροντες;

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, ἡμῖν δʼ αὖτε κατεκλάσθη φίλον ἦτορ,

δεισάντων φθόγγον τε βαρὺν αὐτόν τε πέλωρον.

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥς μιν ἔπεσσιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·

ἡμεῖς τοι Τροίηθεν ἀποπλαγχθέντες Ἀχαιοὶ

260παντοίοις ἀνέμοισιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης,

οἴκαδε ἱέμενοι, ἄλλην ὁδὸν ἄλλα κέλευθα

ἤλθομεν· οὕτω που Ζεὺς ἤθελε μητίσασθαι.

λαοὶ δʼ Ἀτρεΐδεω Ἀγαμέμνονος εὐχόμεθʼ εἶναι,

τοῦ δὴ νῦν γε μέγιστον ὑπουράνιον κλέος ἐστί·

265τόσσην γὰρ διέπερσε πόλιν καὶ ἀπώλεσε λαοὺς

πολλούς. ἡμεῖς δʼ αὖτε κιχανόμενοι τὰ σὰ γοῦνα

ἱκόμεθʼ, εἴ τι πόροις ξεινήιον ἠὲ καὶ ἄλλως

δοίης δωτίνην, ἥ τε ξείνων θέμις ἐστίν.

ἀλλʼ αἰδεῖο, φέριστε, θεούς· ἱκέται δέ τοί εἰμεν,

270Ζεὺς δʼ ἐπιτιμήτωρ ἱκετάων τε ξείνων τε,

ξείνιος, ὃς ξείνοισιν ἅμʼ αἰδοίοισιν ὀπηδεῖ.

252‘Strangers, who are you? Where did you sail from across the water-roads?

Has some enterprise brought you, or are you roaming at random

over the sea like raiders, men who range abroad

255staking their lives and bringing harm to foreign people?’

So he spoke, and our hearts broke within us once more,

terrified by his deep voice and by the monster before us.

Even so, I answered him and said:

‘We are Achaeans driven off course from Troy

260by every kind of wind across the sea’s great gulf.

We were bound for home but came by a different route, on other paths—

so, I suppose, Zeus chose to devise it.

We claim to be men of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,

whose fame beneath heaven is now the greatest,

265so vast was the city he sacked and so many were the people

he destroyed. We in turn have reached your knees

and come to ask whether you might offer a guest-gift

or otherwise give us a present, as is the custom owed to strangers.

But respect the gods, mighty sir: we are your suppliants,

270and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and strangers,

Zeus of strangers, who attends revered guests.’

272ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μʼ αὐτίκʼ ἀμείβετο νηλέι θυμῷ·

νήπιός εἰς, ὦ ξεῖνʼ, ἢ τηλόθεν εἰλήλουθας,

ὅς με θεοὺς κέλεαι ἢ δειδίμεν ἢ ἀλέασθαι·

275οὐ γὰρ Κύκλωπες Διὸς αἰγιόχου ἀλέγουσιν

οὐδὲ θεῶν μακάρων, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτεροί εἰμεν·

οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγὼ Διὸς ἔχθος ἀλευάμενος πεφιδοίμην

οὔτε σεῦ οὔθʼ ἑτάρων, εἰ μὴ θυμός με κελεύοι.

ἀλλά μοι εἴφʼ ὅπῃ ἔσχες ἰὼν ἐυεργέα νῆα,

280ἤ που ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῆς, ἦ καὶ σχεδόν, ὄφρα δαείω.

ὣς φάτο πειράζων, ἐμὲ δʼ οὐ λάθεν εἰδότα πολλά,

ἀλλά μιν ἄψορρον προσέφην δολίοις ἐπέεσσι·

νέα μέν μοι κατέαξε Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων

πρὸς πέτρῃσι βαλὼν ὑμῆς ἐπὶ πείρασι γαίης,

285ἄκρῃ προσπελάσας· ἄνεμος δʼ ἐκ πόντου ἔνεικεν·

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ σὺν τοῖσδε ὑπέκφυγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.

272So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a ruthless heart:

‘You are a fool, stranger, or have come from very far away,

if you tell me to fear or shun the gods.

275The Cyclopes care nothing for aegis-bearing Zeus

or the blessed gods, since we are much stronger.

I would not spare you or your companions to avoid Zeus’s hatred,

unless my own spirit told me to.

But tell me where you moored your well-built ship when you arrived—

280somewhere at the island’s edge, or close by—so that I may know.’

He spoke to probe me, but I knew much, and his test did not escape me.

I answered him in turn with deceptive words:

‘Poseidon, shaker of the earth, smashed my ship

against the rocks at the farthest edge of your land,

285driving it onto a headland; a wind bore it in from the sea.

I alone with these men escaped sheer destruction.’

287ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μʼ οὐδὲν ἀμείβετο νηλέι θυμῷ,

ἀλλʼ ὅ γʼ ἀναΐξας ἑτάροις ἐπὶ χεῖρας ἴαλλε,

σὺν δὲ δύω μάρψας ὥς τε σκύλακας ποτὶ γαίῃ

290κόπτʼ· ἐκ δʼ ἐγκέφαλος χαμάδις ῥέε, δεῦε δὲ γαῖαν.

τοὺς δὲ διὰ μελεϊστὶ ταμὼν ὡπλίσσατο δόρπον·

ἤσθιε δʼ ὥς τε λέων ὀρεσίτροφος, οὐδʼ ἀπέλειπεν,

ἔγκατά τε σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα μυελόεντα.

ἡμεῖς δὲ κλαίοντες ἀνεσχέθομεν Διὶ χεῖρας,

295σχέτλια ἔργʼ ὁρόωντες, ἀμηχανίη δʼ ἔχε θυμόν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ Κύκλωψ μεγάλην ἐμπλήσατο νηδὺν

ἀνδρόμεα κρέʼ ἔδων καὶ ἐπʼ ἄκρητον γάλα πίνων,

κεῖτʼ ἔντοσθʼ ἄντροιο τανυσσάμενος διὰ μήλων.

τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ βούλευσα κατὰ μεγαλήτορα θυμὸν

300ἆσσον ἰών, ξίφος ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ,

οὐτάμεναι πρὸς στῆθος, ὅθι φρένες ἧπαρ ἔχουσι,

χείρʼ ἐπιμασσάμενος· ἕτερος δέ με θυμὸς ἔρυκεν.

αὐτοῦ γάρ κε καὶ ἄμμες ἀπωλόμεθʼ αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον·

οὐ γάρ κεν δυνάμεσθα θυράων ὑψηλάων

305χερσὶν ἀπώσασθαι λίθον ὄβριμον, ὃν προσέθηκεν.

ὣς τότε μὲν στενάχοντες ἐμείναμεν Ἠῶ δῖαν.

287So I spoke, but in his ruthless heart he made no answer.

He sprang up and reached his hands toward my companions,

seized two together, and dashed them against the ground like puppies.

290Their brains ran out onto the floor and soaked the earth.

He cut them limb from limb and prepared them for his supper,

and ate like a mountain-bred lion, leaving nothing—

entrails, flesh, or bones filled with marrow.

We wept and raised our hands to Zeus,

295watching those brutal acts, with helplessness gripping our hearts.

When the Cyclops had filled his enormous belly

with human flesh and drunk unmixed milk after it,

he lay stretched out inside the cave among his sheep.

Then in my great-hearted spirit I planned to go close,

300draw the sharp sword from beside my thigh,

and stab him in the chest where the midriff encloses the liver,

once I had felt for the place with my hand. But a second thought held me back.

For there we too would have perished in sheer destruction:

with our hands we could never have pushed away from the high doorway

305the massive stone he had put there.

So we groaned and waited there for radiant Dawn.

307ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

καὶ τότε πῦρ ἀνέκαιε καὶ ἤμελγε κλυτὰ μῆλα,

πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, καὶ ὑπʼ ἔμβρυον ἧκεν ἑκάστῃ.

310αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σπεῦσε πονησάμενος τὰ ἃ ἔργα,

σὺν δʼ ὅ γε δὴ αὖτε δύω μάρψας ὡπλίσσατο δεῖπνον.

δειπνήσας δʼ ἄντρου ἐξήλασε πίονα μῆλα,

ῥηιδίως ἀφελὼν θυρεὸν μέγαν· αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

ἂψ ἐπέθηχʼ, ὡς εἴ τε φαρέτρῃ πῶμʼ ἐπιθείη.

315πολλῇ δὲ ῥοίζῳ πρὸς ὄρος τρέπε πίονα μῆλα

Κύκλωψ· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ λιπόμην κακὰ βυσσοδομεύων,

εἴ πως τισαίμην, δοίη δέ μοι εὖχος Ἀθήνη.

ἥδε δέ μοι κατὰ θυμὸν ἀρίστη φαίνετο βουλή.

Κύκλωπος γὰρ ἔκειτο μέγα ῥόπαλον παρὰ σηκῷ,

320χλωρὸν ἐλαΐνεον· τὸ μὲν ἔκταμεν, ὄφρα φοροίη

αὐανθέν. τὸ μὲν ἄμμες ἐίσκομεν εἰσορόωντες

ὅσσον θʼ ἱστὸν νηὸς ἐεικοσόροιο μελαίνης,

φορτίδος εὐρείης, ἥ τʼ ἐκπεράᾳ μέγα λαῖτμα·

τόσσον ἔην μῆκος, τόσσον πάχος εἰσοράασθαι.

325τοῦ μὲν ὅσον τʼ ὄργυιαν ἐγὼν ἀπέκοψα παραστὰς

καὶ παρέθηχʼ ἑτάροισιν, ἀποξῦναι δʼ ἐκέλευσα·

οἱ δʼ ὁμαλὸν ποίησαν· ἐγὼ δʼ ἐθόωσα παραστὰς

ἄκρον, ἄφαρ δὲ λαβὼν ἐπυράκτεον ἐν πυρὶ κηλέῳ.

καὶ τὸ μὲν εὖ κατέθηκα κατακρύψας ὑπὸ κόπρῳ,

330ἥ ῥα κατὰ σπείους κέχυτο μεγάλʼ ἤλιθα πολλή·

αὐτὰρ τοὺς ἄλλους κλήρῳ πεπαλάσθαι ἄνωγον,

ὅς τις τολμήσειεν ἐμοὶ σὺν μοχλὸν ἀείρας

τρῖψαι ἐν ὀφθαλμῷ, ὅτε τὸν γλυκὺς ὕπνος ἱκάνοι.

οἱ δʼ ἔλαχον τοὺς ἄν κε καὶ ἤθελον αὐτὸς ἑλέσθαι,

335τέσσαρες, αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ πέμπτος μετὰ τοῖσιν ἐλέγμην.

307When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

he kindled the fire and milked his splendid flocks,

each in due order, and put her young beneath her.

310When he had hurried through and finished all his work,

he again seized two men together and prepared his breakfast.

After eating, he drove the fat flocks from the cave,

easily removing the great door-stone, and afterward

put it back as a man might fit the lid on a quiver.

315With a loud whistle the Cyclops turned his fat flocks

toward the mountain, while I remained behind, brooding on harm—

whether somehow I could take revenge, if Athena granted me triumph.

This plan appeared the best to my mind.

A huge club of the Cyclops lay beside a pen,

320green olive wood he had cut so he could carry it once it dried.

Looking at it, we judged it as large as the mast

of a black twenty-oared ship, a broad merchant vessel

that crosses the great gulf of the sea.

So great its length and thickness appeared to us.

325I stood beside it and cut off a piece about a fathom long,

laid it before my companions, and told them to smooth it.

They made it even; standing by, I sharpened

its tip, then took it and hardened it in the blazing fire.

I laid it away carefully, hiding it under dung

330that lay heaped in great abundance throughout the cave.

Then I told the others to shake lots among themselves,

to see which men would dare to lift the stake with me

and grind it into his eye when sweet sleep came over him.

The lot fell to the very four I myself would have wished to choose,

335and I was counted as the fifth among them.

336ἑσπέριος δʼ ἦλθεν καλλίτριχα μῆλα νομεύων.

αὐτίκα δʼ εἰς εὐρὺ σπέος ἤλασε πίονα μῆλα

πάντα μάλʼ, οὐδέ τι λεῖπε βαθείης ἔκτοθεν αὐλῆς,

ἤ τι ὀισάμενος, ἢ καὶ θεὸς ὣς ἐκέλευσεν.

340αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ ἐπέθηκε θυρεὸν μέγαν ὑψόσʼ ἀείρας,

ἑζόμενος δʼ ἤμελγεν ὄις καὶ μηκάδας αἶγας,

πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, καὶ ὑπʼ ἔμβρυον ἧκεν ἑκάστῃ.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σπεῦσε πονησάμενος τὰ ἃ ἔργα,

σὺν δʼ ὅ γε δὴ αὖτε δύω μάρψας ὡπλίσσατο δόρπον.

345καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼ Κύκλωπα προσηύδων ἄγχι παραστάς,

κισσύβιον μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχων μέλανος οἴνοιο·

Κύκλωψ, τῆ, πίε οἶνον, ἐπεὶ φάγες ἀνδρόμεα κρέα,

ὄφρʼ εἰδῇς οἷόν τι ποτὸν τόδε νηῦς ἐκεκεύθει

ἡμετέρη. σοὶ δʼ αὖ λοιβὴν φέρον, εἴ μʼ ἐλεήσας

350οἴκαδε πέμψειας· σὺ δὲ μαίνεαι οὐκέτʼ ἀνεκτῶς.

σχέτλιε, πῶς κέν τίς σε καὶ ὕστερον ἄλλος ἵκοιτο

ἀνθρώπων πολέων, ἐπεὶ οὐ κατὰ μοῖραν ἔρεξας;

ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δʼ ἔδεκτο καὶ ἔκπιεν· ἥσατο δʼ αἰνῶς

ἡδὺ ποτὸν πίνων καὶ μʼ ᾔτεε δεύτερον αὖτις·

355δός μοι ἔτι πρόφρων, καί μοι τεὸν οὔνομα εἰπὲ

αὐτίκα νῦν, ἵνα τοι δῶ ξείνιον, ᾧ κε σὺ χαίρῃς·

καὶ γὰρ Κυκλώπεσσι φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα

οἶνον ἐριστάφυλον, καί σφιν Διὸς ὄμβρος ἀέξει·

ἀλλὰ τόδʼ ἀμβροσίης καὶ νέκταρός ἐστιν ἀπορρώξ.

360ὣς φάτʼ, ἀτάρ οἱ αὖτις ἐγὼ πόρον αἴθοπα οἶνον.

τρὶς μὲν ἔδωκα φέρων, τρὶς δʼ ἔκπιεν ἀφραδίῃσιν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ Κύκλωπα περὶ φρένας ἤλυθεν οἶνος,

καὶ τότε δή μιν ἔπεσσι προσηύδων μειλιχίοισι·

Κύκλωψ, εἰρωτᾷς μʼ ὄνομα κλυτόν, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ τοι

365ἐξερέω· σὺ δέ μοι δὸς ξείνιον, ὥς περ ὑπέστης.

Οὖτις ἐμοί γʼ ὄνομα· Οὖτιν δέ με κικλήσκουσι

μήτηρ ἠδὲ πατὴρ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι πάντες ἑταῖροι.

ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μʼ αὐτίκʼ ἀμείβετο νηλέι θυμῷ·

Οὖτιν ἐγὼ πύματον ἔδομαι μετὰ οἷς ἑτάροισιν,

370τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους πρόσθεν· τὸ δέ τοι ξεινήιον ἔσται.

336At evening he came, herding his fine-fleeced flocks.

At once he drove all the fat animals

into the broad cave, leaving none outside in the deep yard,

whether he suspected something or a god commanded it so.

340Then he raised the huge door-stone high and set it in place,

sat down, and milked the ewes and bleating goats,

each in due order, and put her young beneath her.

When he had hurried through and finished all his work,

he again seized two men together and prepared his supper.

345Then I stood close beside the Cyclops and addressed him,

holding in my hands an ivy-wood bowl of dark wine:

‘Cyclops, here—drink wine now that you have eaten human flesh,

so you may learn what kind of drink our ship had carried.

I brought it for you as a libation, in case you took pity on me

350and sent me home. But your raging can no longer be endured.

Brute, how could any other man among the multitudes ever visit you

after what you have done, so far beyond all proper measure?’

So I spoke. He took it and drank it down, and he delighted terribly

in the sweet drink, then asked me for a second serving:

355‘Give me more with a willing heart, and tell me your name

now at once, so I can give you a guest-gift that will please you.

For the life-giving earth bears clustered grapes for the Cyclopes too,

and the rain of Zeus makes them grow for us,

but this is a very drop of ambrosia and nectar.’

360So he spoke, and again I gave him the fiery wine.

Three times I brought and gave it; three times he drank in his folly.

When the wine had enveloped the Cyclops’ wits,

then I addressed him with soothing words:

‘Cyclops, you ask me for my famous name. I will tell it,

365but give me the guest-gift just as you promised.

Nobody is my name. Nobody is what my mother, father,

and all my other companions call me.’

So I spoke, and he answered me at once with a ruthless heart:

‘Nobody I will eat last, after his companions;

370the others first. That will be your guest-gift.’

371ἦ καὶ ἀνακλινθεὶς πέσεν ὕπτιος, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

κεῖτʼ ἀποδοχμώσας παχὺν αὐχένα, κὰδ δέ μιν ὕπνος

ᾕρει πανδαμάτωρ· φάρυγος δʼ ἐξέσσυτο οἶνος

ψωμοί τʼ ἀνδρόμεοι· ὁ δʼ ἐρεύγετο οἰνοβαρείων.

375καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼ τὸν μοχλὸν ὑπὸ σποδοῦ ἤλασα πολλῆς,

ἧος θερμαίνοιτο· ἔπεσσι δὲ πάντας ἑταίρους

θάρσυνον, μή τίς μοι ὑποδείσας ἀναδύη.

ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τάχʼ ὁ μοχλὸς ἐλάινος ἐν πυρὶ μέλλεν

ἅψεσθαι, χλωρός περ ἐών, διεφαίνετο δʼ αἰνῶς,

380καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἆσσον φέρον ἐκ πυρός, ἀμφὶ δʼ ἑταῖροι

ἵσταντʼ· αὐτὰρ θάρσος ἐνέπνευσεν μέγα δαίμων.

οἱ μὲν μοχλὸν ἑλόντες ἐλάινον, ὀξὺν ἐπʼ ἄκρῳ,

ὀφθαλμῷ ἐνέρεισαν· ἐγὼ δʼ ἐφύπερθεν ἐρεισθεὶς

δίνεον, ὡς ὅτε τις τρυπῷ δόρυ νήιον ἀνὴρ

385τρυπάνῳ, οἱ δέ τʼ ἔνερθεν ὑποσσείουσιν ἱμάντι

ἁψάμενοι ἑκάτερθε, τὸ δὲ τρέχει ἐμμενὲς αἰεί.

ὣς τοῦ ἐν ὀφθαλμῷ πυριήκεα μοχλὸν ἑλόντες

δινέομεν, τὸν δʼ αἷμα περίρρεε θερμὸν ἐόντα.

πάντα δέ οἱ βλέφαρʼ ἀμφὶ καὶ ὀφρύας εὗσεν ἀυτμὴ

390γλήνης καιομένης, σφαραγεῦντο δέ οἱ πυρὶ ῥίζαι.

ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἀνὴρ χαλκεὺς πέλεκυν μέγαν ἠὲ σκέπαρνον

εἰν ὕδατι ψυχρῷ βάπτῃ μεγάλα ἰάχοντα

φαρμάσσων· τὸ γὰρ αὖτε σιδήρου γε κράτος ἐστίν

ὣς τοῦ σίζʼ ὀφθαλμὸς ἐλαϊνέῳ περὶ μοχλῷ.

395σμερδαλέον δὲ μέγʼ ᾤμωξεν, περὶ δʼ ἴαχε πέτρη,

ἡμεῖς δὲ δείσαντες ἀπεσσύμεθʼ· αὐτὰρ ὁ μοχλὸν

ἐξέρυσʼ ὀφθαλμοῖο πεφυρμένον αἵματι πολλῷ.

τὸν μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἔρριψεν ἀπὸ ἕο χερσὶν ἀλύων,

αὐτὰρ ὁ Κύκλωπας μεγάλʼ ἤπυεν, οἵ ῥά μιν ἀμφὶς

400ᾤκεον ἐν σπήεσσι διʼ ἄκριας ἠνεμοέσσας.

371With that he leaned back and fell flat on his back.

He lay there with his thick neck bent sideways, and sleep,

the all-subduer, took him. Wine poured out of his throat,

along with morsels of human flesh, and he belched in his drunkenness.

375Then I thrust the stake deep beneath the ashes

until it grew hot, and with words encouraged all my companions,

so that no one would draw back from fear.

But when the olive stake in the fire was nearly ready

to catch flame, green though it was, and glowed with terrible brightness,

380I carried it close, out of the fire. My companions

stood around me, and a divine power breathed great courage into us.

They took the olive stake, sharpened at the tip,

and drove it into his eye. I leaned upon it from above

and turned it, as when a man bores a ship’s timber

385with a drill while men below work the strap,

pulling from either side, and the bit runs steadily on.

So we took the fire-pointed stake in his eye

and twisted it, while hot blood ran around it.

The heat of the burning eyeball singed his lids

390and brows all around, and its roots crackled in the fire.

As when a smith plunges a great axe or adze

into cold water with a tremendous hiss

to temper it—for this is what gives iron its strength—

so his eye hissed around the olive stake.

395He gave a great and terrible howl, and the rock rang around us.

We sprang back in terror, while he pulled the stake

out of his eye, drenched in a flood of blood.

Then in his frenzy he hurled it away from him,

and shouted loudly to the Cyclopes living around him

400in caves among the windy peaks.

401οἱ δὲ βοῆς ἀίοντες ἐφοίτων ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος,

ἱστάμενοι δʼ εἴροντο περὶ σπέος ὅττι ἑ κήδοι·

τίπτε τόσον, Πολύφημʼ, ἀρημένος ὧδʼ ἐβόησας

νύκτα διʼ ἀμβροσίην καὶ ἀύπνους ἄμμε τίθησθα;

405ἦ μή τίς σευ μῆλα βροτῶν ἀέκοντος ἐλαύνει;

ἦ μή τίς σʼ αὐτὸν κτείνει δόλῳ ἠὲ βίηφιν;

τοὺς δʼ αὖτʼ ἐξ ἄντρου προσέφη κρατερὸς Πολύφημος·

ὦ φίλοι, Οὖτίς με κτείνει δόλῳ οὐδὲ βίηφιν.

οἱ δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενοι ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευον·

410εἰ μὲν δὴ μή τίς σε βιάζεται οἶον ἐόντα,

νοῦσον γʼ οὔ πως ἔστι Διὸς μεγάλου ἀλέασθαι,

ἀλλὰ σύ γʼ εὔχεο πατρὶ Ποσειδάωνι ἄνακτι.

ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφαν ἀπιόντες, ἐμὸν δʼ ἐγέλασσε φίλον κῆρ,

ὡς ὄνομʼ ἐξαπάτησεν ἐμὸν καὶ μῆτις ἀμύμων.

415Κύκλωψ δὲ στενάχων τε καὶ ὠδίνων ὀδύνῃσι

χερσὶ ψηλαφόων ἀπὸ μὲν λίθον εἷλε θυράων,

αὐτὸς δʼ εἰνὶ θύρῃσι καθέζετο χεῖρε πετάσσας,

εἴ τινά που μετʼ ὄεσσι λάβοι στείχοντα θύραζε·

οὕτω γάρ πού μʼ ἤλπετʼ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ νήπιον εἶναι.

401They heard his cry and came from every direction,

then stood around the cave and asked what troubled him:

‘Why, Polyphemus, have you cried out in such distress

through the immortal night and kept us from sleeping?

405Surely no mortal is driving off your sheep against your will?

Surely no one is killing you by cunning or by force?’

From inside the cave powerful Polyphemus answered:

‘Friends, Nobody is killing me by cunning, not by force!’

They answered him with winged words:

410‘If nobody is using force against you when you are alone,

there is no escaping a sickness sent by mighty Zeus.

Pray instead to your father, lord Poseidon.’

So they spoke and went away, while my dear heart laughed

at how my name had deceived them, together with my flawless strategy.

415The Cyclops, groaning and laboring in pain,

felt about with his hands, removed the stone from the doorway,

and sat himself in the entrance with both hands spread wide,

hoping to catch anyone who tried to pass outside among the sheep.

For he expected in his mind that I would be such a fool.

420αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ βούλευον, ὅπως ὄχʼ ἄριστα γένοιτο,

εἴ τινʼ ἑταίροισιν θανάτου λύσιν ἠδʼ ἐμοὶ αὐτῷ

εὑροίμην· πάντας δὲ δόλους καὶ μῆτιν ὕφαινον

ὥς τε περὶ ψυχῆς· μέγα γὰρ κακὸν ἐγγύθεν ἦεν.

ἥδε δέ μοι κατὰ θυμὸν ἀρίστη φαίνετο βουλή.

425ἄρσενες ὄιες ἦσαν ἐυτρεφέες, δασύμαλλοι,

καλοί τε μεγάλοι τε, ἰοδνεφὲς εἶρος ἔχοντες·

τοὺς ἀκέων συνέεργον ἐυστρεφέεσσι λύγοισιν,

τῇς ἔπι Κύκλωψ εὗδε πέλωρ, ἀθεμίστια εἰδώς,

σύντρεις αἰνύμενος· ὁ μὲν ἐν μέσῳ ἄνδρα φέρεσκε,

430τὼ δʼ ἑτέρω ἑκάτερθεν ἴτην σώοντες ἑταίρους.

τρεῖς δὲ ἕκαστον φῶτʼ ὄιες φέρον· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε—

ἀρνειὸς γὰρ ἔην μήλων ὄχʼ ἄριστος ἁπάντων,

τοῦ κατὰ νῶτα λαβών, λασίην ὑπὸ γαστέρʼ ἐλυσθεὶς

κείμην· αὐτὰρ χερσὶν ἀώτου θεσπεσίοιο

435νωλεμέως στρεφθεὶς ἐχόμην τετληότι θυμῷ.

ὣς τότε μὲν στενάχοντες ἐμείναμεν Ἠῶ δῖαν.

420But I was planning how everything might turn out best,

whether I could discover some release from death for my companions

and for myself. I wove every trick and strategy,

as a man does when his life is at stake, for great evil was close at hand.

This plan appeared the best to my mind.

425There were well-fed rams with heavy fleeces,

fine and large, their wool violet-dark.

Silently I bound them together with well-twisted willow withes

on which the monstrous, lawless Cyclops slept,

taking them three at a time: the middle ram carried a man,

430while the other two walked on either side, shielding my companions.

So three rams carried each man. As for me—

there was one ram, by far the finest of the whole flock.

I gripped him across the back, curled beneath his shaggy belly,

and lay there. With my hands twisted tight in his wondrous fleece,

435I clung without pause, my heart enduring.

So we groaned and waited there for radiant Dawn.

437ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

καὶ τότʼ ἔπειτα νομόνδʼ ἐξέσσυτο ἄρσενα μῆλα,

θήλειαι δὲ μέμηκον ἀνήμελκτοι περὶ σηκούς·

440οὔθατα γὰρ σφαραγεῦντο. ἄναξ δʼ ὀδύνῃσι κακῇσι

τειρόμενος πάντων ὀίων ἐπεμαίετο νῶτα

ὀρθῶν ἑσταότων· τὸ δὲ νήπιος οὐκ ἐνόησεν,

ὥς οἱ ὑπʼ εἰροπόκων ὀίων στέρνοισι δέδεντο.

ὕστατος ἀρνειὸς μήλων ἔστειχε θύραζε

445λάχνῳ στεινόμενος καὶ ἐμοὶ πυκινὰ φρονέοντι.

τὸν δʼ ἐπιμασσάμενος προσέφη κρατερὸς Πολύφημος·

κριὲ πέπον, τί μοι ὧδε διὰ σπέος ἔσσυο μήλων

ὕστατος; οὔ τι πάρος γε λελειμμένος ἔρχεαι οἰῶν,

ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρῶτος νέμεαι τέρενʼ ἄνθεα ποίης

450μακρὰ βιβάς, πρῶτος δὲ ῥοὰς ποταμῶν ἀφικάνεις,

πρῶτος δὲ σταθμόνδε λιλαίεαι ἀπονέεσθαι

ἑσπέριος· νῦν αὖτε πανύστατος. ἦ σύ γʼ ἄνακτος

ὀφθαλμὸν ποθέεις, τὸν ἀνὴρ κακὸς ἐξαλάωσε

σὺν λυγροῖς ἑτάροισι δαμασσάμενος φρένας οἴνῳ,

455Οὖτις, ὃν οὔ πώ φημι πεφυγμένον εἶναι ὄλεθρον.

εἰ δὴ ὁμοφρονέοις ποτιφωνήεις τε γένοιο

εἰπεῖν ὅππῃ κεῖνος ἐμὸν μένος ἠλασκάζει·

τῷ κέ οἱ ἐγκέφαλός γε διὰ σπέος ἄλλυδις ἄλλῃ

θεινομένου ῥαίοιτο πρὸς οὔδεϊ, κὰδ δέ κʼ ἐμὸν κῆρ

460λωφήσειε κακῶν, τά μοι οὐτιδανὸς πόρεν Οὖτις.

ὣς εἰπὼν τὸν κριὸν ἀπὸ ἕο πέμπε θύραζε.

437When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

the males rushed out toward pasture,

while the unmilked females bleated around the pens,

440for their udders were bursting. Their master, worn down

by cruel pain, felt the backs of all the sheep

as they stood upright, but the fool did not perceive

that men were bound beneath the chests of his fleecy sheep.

Last of the flock, the great ram went out the doorway,

445burdened with his wool and with me, thinking hard.

Powerful Polyphemus felt him and said:

‘Dear ram, why are you moving through the cave last of the flock today?

Never before have you lagged behind the sheep.

You are always first to graze the tender flowers of grass,

450striding far, and first to reach the streams of rivers,

and first to long for the pen when you return

at evening. But now you are last of all. Surely you miss

your master’s eye, which a wicked man blinded

with his miserable companions after mastering my wits with wine—

455Nobody, who I tell you has not yet escaped destruction.

If only you could think as I do and be given a voice

to tell me where that man is skulking from my fury!

Then his brains would be dashed across the cave, here and there,

as I struck him against the ground, and my heart would find relief

460from the torments that good-for-nothing Nobody has given me.’

With that he sent the ram out through the doorway.

462ἐλθόντες δʼ ἠβαιὸν ἀπὸ σπείους τε καὶ αὐλῆς

πρῶτος ὑπʼ ἀρνειοῦ λυόμην, ὑπέλυσα δʼ ἑταίρους.

καρπαλίμως δὲ τὰ μῆλα ταναύποδα, πίονα δημῷ,

465πολλὰ περιτροπέοντες ἐλαύνομεν, ὄφρʼ ἐπὶ νῆα

ἱκόμεθʼ. ἀσπάσιοι δὲ φίλοις ἑτάροισι φάνημεν,

οἳ φύγομεν θάνατον, τοὺς δὲ στενάχοντο γοῶντες.

ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐκ εἴων, ἀνὰ δʼ ὀφρύσι νεῦον ἑκάστῳ,

κλαίειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκέλευσα θοῶς καλλίτριχα μῆλα

470πόλλʼ ἐν νηὶ βαλόντας ἐπιπλεῖν ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ.

οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον,

ἑξῆς δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

462When we were a short distance from the cave and yard,

I was first to free myself from beneath my ram, then freed my companions.

Quickly we turned the long-striding sheep, rich in fat,

465this way and that, driving the whole flock until we reached

the ship. We survivors were a welcome sight to our dear companions,

but they groaned and mourned for the dead.

I would not let them weep; I nodded with my brows to each man

and ordered them instead to load the many fine-fleeced sheep

470quickly into the ship and sail over the salt water.

They boarded at once and took their seats at the thole-pins,

and sitting in order they struck the gray sea with their oars.

473ἀλλʼ ὅτε τόσσον ἀπῆν, ὅσσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας,

καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼ Κύκλωπα προσηύδων κερτομίοισι·

475Κύκλωψ, οὐκ ἄρʼ ἔμελλες ἀνάλκιδος ἀνδρὸς ἑταίρους

ἔδμεναι ἐν σπῆι γλαφυρῷ κρατερῆφι βίηφι.

καὶ λίην σέ γʼ ἔμελλε κιχήσεσθαι κακὰ ἔργα,

σχέτλιʼ, ἐπεὶ ξείνους οὐχ ἅζεο σῷ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ

ἐσθέμεναι· τῷ σε Ζεὺς τίσατο καὶ θεοὶ ἄλλοι.

480ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δʼ ἔπειτα χολώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,

ἧκε δʼ ἀπορρήξας κορυφὴν ὄρεος μεγάλοιο,

κὰδ δʼ ἔβαλε προπάροιθε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο

τυτθόν, ἐδεύησεν δʼ οἰήιον ἄκρον ἱκέσθαι,

ἐκλύσθη δὲ θάλασσα κατερχομένης ὑπὸ πέτρης·

485τὴν δʼ αἶψʼ ἤπειρόνδε παλιρρόθιον φέρε κῦμα,

πλημυρὶς ἐκ πόντοιο, θέμωσε δὲ χέρσον ἱκέσθαι.

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ χείρεσσι λαβὼν περιμήκεα κοντὸν

ὦσα παρέξ, ἑτάροισι δʼ ἐποτρύνας ἐκέλευσα

ἐμβαλέειν κώπῃς, ἵνʼ ὑπὲκ κακότητα φύγοιμεν,

490κρατὶ κατανεύων· οἱ δὲ προπεσόντες ἔρεσσον.

473But when we were as far away as a man’s shout will carry,

I addressed the Cyclops with taunting words:

475‘Cyclops, it was no weakling whose companions you were meant

to devour with brutal force inside your hollow cave.

Your wicked deeds were surely bound to overtake you,

brute that you are, because you did not shrink from eating guests in your own house.

For that, Zeus and the other gods have punished you.’

480So I spoke, and his heart grew still more enraged.

He broke off the peak of a great mountain and hurled it,

and it fell just in front of our dark-prowed ship,

narrowly missing the very tip of the steering oar.

The sea surged under the falling rock,

485and the wave’s backwash at once swept the ship toward the mainland,

a flood from the open sea that forced us onto shore.

I seized a long punting pole in both hands

and shoved us clear, then urged my companions and ordered them

to throw their weight into the oars so we might escape disaster,

490nodding with my head. They bent forward and rowed.

491ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ δὶς τόσσον ἅλα πρήσσοντες ἀπῆμεν,

καὶ τότε δὴ Κύκλωπα προσηύδων· ἀμφὶ δʼ ἑταῖροι

μειλιχίοις ἐπέεσσιν ἐρήτυον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος·

σχέτλιε, τίπτʼ ἐθέλεις ἐρεθιζέμεν ἄγριον ἄνδρα;

495ὃς καὶ νῦν πόντονδε βαλὼν βέλος ἤγαγε νῆα

αὖτις ἐς ἤπειρον, καὶ δὴ φάμεν αὐτόθʼ ὀλέσθαι.

εἰ δὲ φθεγξαμένου τευ ἢ αὐδήσαντος ἄκουσε,

σύν κεν ἄραξʼ ἡμέων κεφαλὰς καὶ νήια δοῦρα

μαρμάρῳ ὀκριόεντι βαλών· τόσσον γὰρ ἵησιν.

500ὣς φάσαν, ἀλλʼ οὐ πεῖθον ἐμὸν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν,

ἀλλά μιν ἄψορρον προσέφην κεκοτηότι θυμῷ·

Κύκλωψ, αἴ κέν τίς σε καταθνητῶν ἀνθρώπων

ὀφθαλμοῦ εἴρηται ἀεικελίην ἀλαωτύν,

φάσθαι Ὀδυσσῆα πτολιπόρθιον ἐξαλαῶσαι,

505υἱὸν Λαέρτεω, Ἰθάκῃ ἔνι οἰκίʼ ἔχοντα.

491But when we had crossed the sea to twice our former distance,

I was about to call to the Cyclops again. Around me my companions

tried from every side to restrain me with gentle words:

‘Reckless man, why do you want to provoke that savage?

495Just now he hurled a missile into the sea and drove the ship

back to the mainland, where we thought we would die.

If he had heard any one of us speak or make a sound,

he would have smashed our heads and the ship’s timbers together

with a jagged boulder, so far can he throw.’

500So they spoke, but they did not persuade my great-hearted spirit.

I called back to him instead, my heart still furious:

‘Cyclops, if any mortal man should ask you

about the shameful blinding of your eye,

say that Odysseus, sacker of cities, blinded you—

505Laertes’ son, the man who keeps his home in Ithaca.’

506ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μʼ οἰμώξας ἠμείβετο μύθῳ·

ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δή με παλαίφατα θέσφαθʼ ἱκάνει.

ἔσκε τις ἐνθάδε μάντις ἀνὴρ ἠύς τε μέγας τε,

Τήλεμος Εὐρυμίδης, ὃς μαντοσύνῃ ἐκέκαστο

510καὶ μαντευόμενος κατεγήρα Κυκλώπεσσιν·

ὅς μοι ἔφη τάδε πάντα τελευτήσεσθαι ὀπίσσω,

χειρῶν ἐξ Ὀδυσῆος ἁμαρτήσεσθαι ὀπωπῆς.

ἀλλʼ αἰεί τινα φῶτα μέγαν καὶ καλὸν ἐδέγμην

ἐνθάδʼ ἐλεύσεσθαι, μεγάλην ἐπιειμένον ἀλκήν·

515νῦν δέ μʼ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἄκικυς

ὀφθαλμοῦ ἀλάωσεν, ἐπεί μʼ ἐδαμάσσατο οἴνῳ.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δεῦρʼ, Ὀδυσεῦ, ἵνα τοι πὰρ ξείνια θείω

πομπήν τʼ ὀτρύνω δόμεναι κλυτὸν ἐννοσίγαιον·

τοῦ γὰρ ἐγὼ πάϊς εἰμί, πατὴρ δʼ ἐμὸς εὔχεται εἶναι.

520αὐτὸς δʼ, αἴ κʼ ἐθέλῃσʼ, ἰήσεται, οὐδέ τις ἄλλος

οὔτε θεῶν μακάρων οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·

αἲ γὰρ δὴ ψυχῆς τε καὶ αἰῶνός σε δυναίμην

εὖνιν ποιήσας πέμψαι δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω,

525ὡς οὐκ ὀφθαλμόν γʼ ἰήσεται οὐδʼ ἐνοσίχθων.

506At that he gave a groan and answered me:

‘Ah, now the ancient prophecies have truly come upon me.

A prophet once lived here, a good and mighty man,

Telemus, son of Eurymus, who excelled in prophecy

510and grew old among the Cyclopes as their seer.

He told me all these things would come to pass in later time,

that I would lose my sight at the hands of Odysseus.

But I always expected some great and handsome man

to come here, clothed in enormous strength.

515Instead, a little, worthless weakling

blinded my eye after mastering me with wine.

But come here, Odysseus, so that I may set guest-gifts before you

and urge the renowned Earth-shaker to grant you passage.

For I am his son, and he claims to be my father.

520He himself will heal me if he wishes; no other can,

neither one of the blessed gods nor any mortal man.’

So he spoke, and I answered him:

‘If only I had the power to rob you of life and breath

and send you down inside the house of Hades,

525as surely as not even the Earth-shaker will heal your eye.’

526ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δʼ ἔπειτα Ποσειδάωνι ἄνακτι

εὔχετο χεῖρʼ ὀρέγων εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα·

κλῦθι, Ποσείδαον γαιήοχε κυανοχαῖτα,

εἰ ἐτεόν γε σός εἰμι, πατὴρ δʼ ἐμὸς εὔχεαι εἶναι,

530δὸς μὴ Ὀδυσσῆα πτολιπόρθιον οἴκαδʼ ἱκέσθαι

υἱὸν Λαέρτεω, Ἰθάκῃ ἔνι οἰκίʼ ἔχοντα.

ἀλλʼ εἴ οἱ μοῖρʼ ἐστὶ φίλους τʼ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι

οἶκον ἐυκτίμενον καὶ ἑὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,

ὀψὲ κακῶς ἔλθοι, ὀλέσας ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους,

535νηὸς ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίης, εὕροι δʼ ἐν πήματα οἴκῳ.

ὣς ἔφατʼ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δʼ ἔκλυε κυανοχαίτης.

αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ ἐξαῦτις πολὺ μείζονα λᾶαν ἀείρας

ἧκʼ ἐπιδινήσας, ἐπέρεισε δὲ ἶνʼ ἀπέλεθρον,

κὰδʼ δʼ ἔβαλεν μετόπισθε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο

540τυτθόν, ἐδεύησεν δʼ οἰήιον ἄκρον ἱκέσθαι.

ἐκλύσθη δὲ θάλασσα κατερχομένης ὑπὸ πέτρης·

τὴν δὲ πρόσω φέρε κῦμα, θέμωσε δὲ χέρσον ἱκέσθαι.

526So I spoke. Then he prayed to lord Poseidon,

stretching his hands toward the starry sky:

‘Hear me, Poseidon, dark-haired holder of the earth,

if I am truly yours and you claim to be my father:

530grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, never reach home—

Laertes’ son, whose dwelling is in Ithaca.

But if his lot allows him to see those he loves and come

his well-built house and his native land,

let him come late and in misery, after losing all his companions,

535aboard another man’s ship, and find trouble in his home.’

Such was his prayer, and the dark-haired god listened.

He then hoisted another rock, much larger than the first,

swung it around, and hurled it with measureless force.

It fell just behind our dark-prowed ship,

540narrowly missing the very tip of the steering oar.

The sea surged under the falling rock,

and the wave carried us forward and forced us to reach the island.

543ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τὴν νῆσον ἀφικόμεθʼ, ἔνθα περ ἄλλαι

νῆες ἐύσσελμοι μένον ἁθρόαι, ἀμφὶ δʼ ἑταῖροι

545ἥατʼ ὀδυρόμενοι, ἡμέας ποτιδέγμενοι αἰεί,

νῆα μὲν ἔνθʼ ἐλθόντες ἐκέλσαμεν ἐν ψαμάθοισιν,

ἐκ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ βῆμεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης.

μῆλα δὲ Κύκλωπος γλαφυρῆς ἐκ νηὸς ἑλόντες

δασσάμεθʼ, ὡς μή τίς μοι ἀτεμβόμενος κίοι ἴσης.

550ἀρνειὸν δʼ ἐμοὶ οἴῳ ἐυκνήμιδες ἑταῖροι

μήλων δαιομένων δόσαν ἔξοχα· τὸν δʼ ἐπὶ θινὶ

Ζηνὶ κελαινεφέι Κρονίδῃ, ὃς πᾶσιν ἀνάσσει,

ῥέξας μηρίʼ ἔκαιον· ὁ δʼ οὐκ ἐμπάζετο ἱρῶν,

ἀλλʼ ὅ γε μερμήριξεν ὅπως ἀπολοίατο πᾶσαι

555νῆες ἐύσσελμοι καὶ ἐμοὶ ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι.

543When we came to the island where all our other

well-benched ships waited together, our companions sat around them

545grieving as they watched continually for our return.

We arrived, ran the ship onto the sand,

and went ashore ourselves at the breaking edge of the sea.

We unloaded the Cyclops’ sheep from the hollow ship

and divided them so that no one would leave deprived of an equal share.

550When the sheep were divided, my well-greaved companions

gave the great ram to me alone as an exceptional share. There on the shore

I sacrificed it to Zeus, dark-clouded son of Cronus, who rules over all,

and burned the thighbones. But he paid no heed to the sacrifice,

and instead pondered how all my well-benched ships

555and all my loyal companions might be destroyed.

556ὣς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα

ἥμεθα δαινύμενοι κρέα τʼ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ·

ἦμος δʼ ἠέλιος κατέδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθε,

δὴ τότε κοιμήθημεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης.

560ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἑτάροισιν ἐποτρύνας ἐκέλευσα

αὐτούς τʼ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι·

οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον,

ἑξῆς δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

565ἔνθεν δὲ προτέρω πλέομεν ἀκαχήμενοι ἦτορ,

ἄσμενοι ἐκ θανάτοιο, φίλους ὀλέσαντες ἑταίρους.

556So all that day until the sun went down

we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine.

When the sun went down and darkness came on,

we lay down to sleep along the breaking edge of the sea.

560When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

I roused my companions and ordered them

to embark themselves and cast off the stern cables.

They boarded at once and took their seats at the thole-pins,

and sitting in order they struck the gray sea with their oars.

565From there we sailed onward, sick at heart,

glad to be clear of death, but having lost dear companions.”