Ancient Greek · The Wanderings

Ὀδυσσείας ι

Book 9. Odysseus Tells His Tale: The Cicones, the Lotus-Eaters, and the Cyclops

Odysseus tells his name and begins his story: the Cicones, the Lotus-Eaters, the cave of the Cyclops. He blinds Polyphemus and escapes under the sheep.

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Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said:
τὸνhimὁ · accusative singular masculine pronounobject of προσέφη
δand/thenδέ · particlecoordinating word
ἀπαμειβόμενοςansweringἀπαμείβομαι · present medio-passive participle, nominative singular masculineadverbial to προσέφη
Middle participle of 'exchange words'; frames direct speech, standard formula opening.
προσέφηspoke toπρόσφημι · imperfect active indicative, 3rd singular verbmain verb
πολύμητιςof many wilesπολύμητις · nominative singular masculine adjectivemodifies Ὀδυσσεύς
Fixed epithet for Odysseus, πολύ- 'much' + μῆτις 'craft/cunning'.
ὈδυσσεύςOdysseusὈδυσσεύς · nominative singular masculine nounsubject of προσέφη
GrammarStock epithet of Odysseus "Of many wiles / much resourcefulness" is one of Odysseus' fixed epithets, used to fill the verse and mark his character. Such formulaic epithets recur throughout the poem.
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"Lord Alcinous, most renowned of all the people,
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truly it is a fine thing to listen to a bard
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such as this man is, like the gods in his voice.
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For I say there is no fulfillment more graceful
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than when good cheer holds sway over the whole people,
Wordeuphrosynê: festive joy The word denotes the merriment of a shared feast, a high social good in Homeric society, not mere private happiness.
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and the banqueters throughout the halls listen to a bard
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as they sit in their rows, and beside them the tables are laden
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with bread and meats, and drawing wine from the mixing-bowl
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the cup-bearer carries it round and pours it into the cups.
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This seems to my mind to be the fairest thing of all.
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But your heart was moved to ask about my grievous sorrows,
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so that I may grieve and groan still more in my mourning.
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What, then, shall I tell you first, and what last of all?
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since the gods of heaven have given me sorrows in plenty.
WordThe Ouranian gods "The sons of Heaven," a poetic title for the Olympian gods as descendants of Ouranos (Sky).
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Now first I will tell my name, so that you too
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may know it, and that I, once I have escaped the pitiless day,
Word"the pitiless day" A formulaic phrase for the day of doom or death; here Odysseus means surviving his perils. Homer often pairs ἦμαρ (day) with such adjectives.
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may be a guest-friend to you, though I dwell in a home far off.
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I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who for all my cunning
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am known to men, and my fame reaches to heaven.
Wordkleos: glory kleos is the renown a hero wins and that survives in song; "my fame reaches heaven" is a recurring image of boundless glory.
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I dwell in clear-skied Ithaca; on it there is a mountain,
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Neriton, its leaves trembling, conspicuous; and round about lie islands,
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many of them, very close to one another,
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Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus.
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Ithaca itself lies low, highest up in the sea,
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toward the dark west, while the others lie apart toward the dawn and the sun,
Wordzophos: the gloomy west zophos means the murky darkness associated with the west and the underworld, contrasted here with the dawn (ἠώς) in the east.
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a rugged land, but a good nurse of young men; and for myself
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I can see nothing sweeter to behold than my own country.
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Truly Calypso, shining among goddesses, kept me there,
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in her hollow caves, longing to have me for her husband;
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and in the same way Circe detained me in her halls,
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the guileful Aeaean, longing to have me for her husband;
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but never did they persuade the heart within my breast.
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So there is nothing sweeter than one's own homeland and parents,
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even if a man dwells in a rich house far away
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in a foreign land, apart from his parents.
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But come, let me tell you also of my grievous homecoming,
Wordnostos: the homecoming nostos, the return home, is the central theme of the whole poem; here it is qualified as πολυκηδέα, "full of woes."
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which Zeus laid upon me as I journeyed from Troy.
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From Ilium the wind carried me and brought me near the Cicones,
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to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and destroyed its men;
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and from the city, taking their wives and much treasure,
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we divided it up, so that none might go cheated of an equal share.
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Then indeed I urged that we flee with nimble foot,
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but the great fools would not obey.
Wordnêpioi: blind fools nêpios marks people who fail to grasp the consequences of their action; here the men's heedlessness leads to disaster.
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There much wine was drunk, and many sheep
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they slaughtered along the shore, and shambling crook-horned cattle.
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Meanwhile the Cicones went and called out to other Cicones,
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who were their neighbors, more in number and better men,
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dwelling inland, skilled at fighting men from chariots
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and, where need be, on foot as well.
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They came then as many as the leaves and flowers that grow in their season,
Word"as many as leaves and flowers" A classic Homeric simile of multitude; the enemy's numbers are likened to spring foliage and blossom.
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at dawn; and then the evil doom of Zeus came upon
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us, ill-fated men, that we might suffer many griefs.
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They drew up and fought their battle beside the swift ships,
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and they hurled at one another with bronze-tipped spears.
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So long as it was morning and the sacred day was waxing,
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so long we held our ground and beat them off, though they were more.
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But when the sun moved toward the hour of unyoking the oxen,
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then the Cicones overpowered and routed the Achaeans.
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Six well-greaved comrades from each ship
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perished; the rest of us escaped death and doom.
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From there we sailed onward, grieving in our hearts,
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glad to be alive after death, but having lost dear comrades.
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Yet my curved ships did not go onward
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before we had called, three times each, on every one of our poor comrades
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who died on the plain, cut down by the Cicones.
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Then cloud-gathering Zeus roused the North Wind against our ships
Grammar"cloud-gatherer" Zeus A fixed epithet of Zeus as the storm-god who marshals the clouds. Such name-plus-epithet formulas are a hallmark of oral hexameter.
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with a tremendous tempest, and with clouds he covered
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land and sea alike; and night rose up from the sky.
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The ships were driven headlong, and the force of the wind
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tore their sails into three and four pieces.
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These we lowered into the ships, fearing destruction,
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and rowed the ships hard toward the mainland.
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There for two nights and two days continually
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we lay, eating our hearts out with weariness and pain alike.
Word"eating our hearts out" A vivid Homeric idiom for inward grief: literally "devouring the spirit (thymos)."
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But when fair-haired Dawn brought on the third day,
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we set up our masts, hauled up the white sails,
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and sat, and the wind and the helmsmen kept the ships straight.
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And now I would have reached my homeland unharmed,
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but as I was rounding Cape Malea the wave and the current
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and the North Wind drove me back and forced me past Cythera.
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From there for nine days I was carried by deadly winds
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over the fish-filled sea; but on the tenth we set foot
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on the land of the Lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food.
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There we went ashore on the mainland and drew water,
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and at once my comrades took their meal beside the swift ships.
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But when we had tasted of food and drink,
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then I sent comrades ahead to go and learn
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what manner of men those were who eat bread upon the earth,
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choosing two men, and sending a third with them as a herald.
GrammarDual number: "two men" ἄνδρε δύω is in the dual, a special grammatical number for pairs that Homer still uses. It signals exactly two, distinct from the plural.
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They went at once and mingled with the Lotus-eating men.
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Now the Lotus-eaters did not plot destruction
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against our comrades, but gave them lotus to taste.
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And whoever of them ate the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus
Word"honey-sweet" A stock epithet meaning "sweet as honey," applied to wine, fruit, sleep, and other pleasures throughout Homer.
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no longer wished to bring back word or to return,
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but wished to stay there among the Lotus-eating men,
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feeding on the lotus and forgetting their homecoming.
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These men I led back to the ships by force, weeping,
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and dragging them I bound them fast beneath the benches in the hollow ships.
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Then I ordered the rest of my trusty comrades
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to hurry and go aboard the swift ships,
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lest any of them eat of the lotus and forget his homecoming.
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They went aboard at once and sat down at the oarlocks,
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and sitting in their rows they struck the gray sea with their oars.
Word"the gray sea" πολιός ("gray, hoary") is a recurring epithet of the sea, evoking its foam-flecked surface. A formulaic verse closing this rowing scene.
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From there we sailed onward, grieving in our hearts,
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and we came to the land of the Cyclopes, overbearing and lawless,
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who, trusting in the immortal gods,
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neither plant any plant with their hands nor plow,
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but all things grow for them unsown and unplowed,
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wheat and barley and vines, which bear
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the grapes for wine, and the rain of Zeus makes them grow.
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They have no assemblies for counsel, nor any laws,
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but they dwell on the peaks of the high mountains
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in hollow caves, and each lays down the law
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for his own children and wives, and they take no heed of one another.
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Now a wooded island stretches out across from the harbor,
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neither close to the land of the Cyclopes nor far off,
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thick with forest; and on it wild goats beyond counting
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breed, for no tread of men keeps them away,
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nor do hunters frequent it, who through the woodland
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suffer hardship as they range over the mountain peaks.
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It is held by no flocks and broken by no plowing,
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but unsown and unplowed all its days
WordUnsown and unplowed These two alpha-privative adjectives (negated by the prefix a-) emphasize the island's untouched wildness: never seeded, never tilled.
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it lies empty of men, and feeds only the bleating goats.
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For the Cyclopes have no red-cheeked ships beside them,
WordRed-cheeked ships A standing epithet for ships, whose bows were painted with red ochre (miltos). Lacking ships, the Cyclopes cannot trade or colonize.
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nor are there shipwrights among them who might labor to build
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well-benched ships, which would accomplish each errand,
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reaching the cities of men, as in the many ways
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that men cross the sea in ships to one another;
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such men would have made the island a well-built home for them.
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For it is not a poor land at all, and would bear everything in season.
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There are meadows along the shores of the gray sea,
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well-watered and soft; there vines would never fail.
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There is land smooth for plowing; a deep crop they could always
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reap there in season, for the soil beneath is very rich.
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And there is a sheltered harbor, where no mooring-rope is needed,
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neither to cast anchor-stones nor to make fast the stern-cables,
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but a man may beach his ship and wait until the sailors'
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spirit urges him on and the breezes blow fair.
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And at the head of the harbor bright water flows,
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a spring from beneath a cave; and poplars grow round about.
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There we sailed in, and some god guided us
WordA god guided us in Odysseus credits an unseen god for steering the ships safely through the pitch-dark night. The imperfect tense pictures the guiding as ongoing through the whole approach.
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through the murky night, and nothing showed itself to be seen;
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for thick mist lay about the ships, nor did the moon
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shine from heaven, but was held down under the clouds.
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There no one caught sight of the island with his eyes,
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nor the long waves rolling in toward the shore
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did we see, before we ran the well-benched ships aground.
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When the ships were beached we took down all the sails,
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and we ourselves stepped out onto the surf of the sea;
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there we fell asleep and waited for bright Dawn.
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When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
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marveling at the island, we wandered all about it.
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And the nymphs, daughters of Zeus who bears the aegis, roused
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the mountain-roaming goats, so that my comrades might dine.
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At once we took our curved bows and long-socketed hunting-spears
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out of the ships, and dividing ourselves into three bands
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we began to shoot; and soon the god granted us game to our hearts' content.
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Twelve ships followed me, and to each one
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nine goats fell by lot; for me alone they set apart ten.
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So then, all day long until the setting of the sun
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we sat feasting on abundant meat and sweet wine;
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for the red wine of the ships was not yet used up,
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but still remained; for each crew had drawn off plenty in jars
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when we took the sacred citadel of the Kikones.
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And we looked across to the land of the Cyclopes, who were near,
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to their smoke, and the sound of their sheep and goats.
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When the sun went down and darkness came on,
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then we lay down to sleep upon the surf of the sea.
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When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
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then I called an assembly and spoke among them all:
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'The rest of you stay here now, my trusty comrades;
WordTrusty comrades A recurring formula for Odysseus's loyal crew. The epithet eriêres means "well-fitted, faithful."
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but I, with my own ship and my own comrades,
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will go and make trial of these men, to learn who they are,
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whether they are violent and savage, with no sense of justice,
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or hospitable, and have a god-fearing mind.'
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So saying, I boarded the ship and ordered my comrades
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to come aboard themselves and to loose the stern-cables.
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They quickly went aboard and sat down at the oarlocks,
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and sitting in their rows they struck the gray sea with their oars.
WordStriking the gray sea A recurring formulaic verse for rowing out. "Gray sea" (poliê hals) is the standard epithet, and the imperfect verb pictures the steady, repeated beat of the oars.
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But when we reached the place, which was near at hand,
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there at the edge, close to the sea, we saw a cave,
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high, roofed over with laurels. And there many
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flocks, sheep and goats, used to rest; and around it a yard
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stood built high with stones sunk deep in the earth
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and with tall pines and high-crowned oaks.
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There a monstrous man made his lair, who tended his flocks
WordMonstrous The adjective pelôrios marks the Cyclops as gigantic and prodigious, beyond human scale. Homer repeats it to keep his looming size before us.
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alone, far off; and he did not mingle with others,
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but kept apart, and his heart was set on lawlessness.
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For he was fashioned a monstrous wonder, and did not look
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like a man who eats bread, but rather like a wooded peak
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of high mountains, which stands out alone, apart from the rest.
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Then I ordered the rest of my trusty comrades
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to stay there by the ship and to guard the ship,
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but I, choosing the twelve best of my comrades,
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set out; and I carried a goatskin of dark wine,
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sweet, which Maron, son of Euanthes, had given me,
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the priest of Apollo, who watched over Ismaros,
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because we had protected him, with his child and his wife,
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out of reverence; for he dwelt in the wooded grove
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of Phoebus Apollo. And he gave me splendid gifts:
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he gave me seven talents of well-wrought gold,
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and he gave me a mixing-bowl of solid silver; and then
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he drew off wine into jars, twelve in all,
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sweet and unmixed, a divine drink; and not one
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of the slaves or serving-women in the house knew of it,
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but only himself, his dear wife, and one housekeeper.
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And whenever they drank that honey-sweet red wine,
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he would fill one cup and pour it into twenty measures
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of water, and a sweet fragrance rose from the mixing-bowl,
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marvelous; then there was no pleasure in holding back from it.
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I filled a great skin with this and carried it, and provisions too
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in a leather bag; for at once my proud heart suspected
WordProud heart The thumos is the seat of feeling and impulse; agênôr means "manly, lordly." Odysseus's foreboding here marks his characteristic foresight.
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that a man would come upon us clothed in great strength,
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a savage, knowing well neither justice nor laws.
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Swiftly we came to the cave, but we did not find him
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inside; he was herding his fat flocks out in the pasture.
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Going into the cave, we gazed at each thing in turn.
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The racks were laden heavy with cheeses, and the pens were crowded
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with lambs and kids; and each kind was penned apart,
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were penned, the older-born apart, the middle-born apart,
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and apart again the newborn lambs. With whey all his vessels swam,
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the pails and the bowls, well-made, into which he did his milking.
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There first my companions begged me with their words
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to take some cheeses and go back, and then afterward
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quickly to drive the kids and lambs to the swift ship
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out of the pens and sail away over the salt water;
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but I would not listen — and far better had it been —
GrammarUnaugmented aorist middle πιθόμην is the aorist middle of πείθω, here 'I was not persuaded / I would not listen.' Odysseus narrates his fatal choice with the ironic regret 'far better had it been.'
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so that I might see the man himself, and whether he would give me guest-gifts.
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But his appearing was not destined to be welcome to my companions.
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There we kindled a fire and made sacrifice, and ourselves
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took some of the cheeses and ate, and waited for him inside,
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sitting, until he came back herding. He carried a heavy load
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of dry wood, to serve him for his supper,
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and flinging it down inside the cave he made a great din;
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and we in fear shrank away into a corner of the cave.
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Then he drove into the wide cavern his fat flocks,
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all those he milked, but the males he left outside the door,
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the rams and he-goats, out in the deep courtyard.
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Then he lifted high and set in place a great door-stone,
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a massive one: not twenty-two good four-wheeled wagons
GrammarThe stone's impossible weight The potential optative ὀχλίσσειαν ('could not pry it up') with the count of twenty-two wagons conveys the boulder's monstrous mass — a hyperbole that also seals the men's trap.
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could have pried it up from the ground —
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so huge a sheer crag did he set against the doorway.
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Then sitting down he milked the ewes and bleating goats,
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all in due order, and put her young beneath each one.
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At once he curdled half of the white milk,
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gathered it up and laid it away in woven baskets,
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and the other half he set up in vessels, so that he might have it
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to take and drink, and that it might serve him for his supper.
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But when he had busily finished his tasks,
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then he kindled the fire, and caught sight of us, and asked:
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"Strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery ways?
Word'The watery ways' ὑγρὰ κέλευθα, 'the wet paths,' is a standard Homeric phrase for sea-routes — the sea imagined as roads traveled by ships.
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Is it on some business, or do you wander recklessly
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like raiders over the sea, men who roam about
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risking their own lives and bringing harm to strangers?"
Grammar'Staking their lives' The participle παρθέμενοι (aorist middle of παρατίθημι) means 'having set down as a stake' — pirates gamble their own ψυχαί. The participle modifies the wandering raiders of the line above.
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So he spoke, and our hearts were broken within us,
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in terror of his deep voice and his monstrous bulk.
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But even so I answered him with words and said:
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"We are Achaeans, driven off our course from Troy
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by winds of every kind over the great gulf of the sea;
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homeward bound, by another way, by other paths
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we have come — so, I suppose, Zeus willed to contrive it.
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We claim to be the men of Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
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whose fame is now the greatest under heaven,
WordKleos κλέος is the renown a hero wins and that endures in song. Odysseus invokes Agamemnon's sky-high glory to impress — and intimidate — the Cyclops.
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so great a city did he sack, and destroyed a host of
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people. But we for our part, reaching your knees,
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have come, hoping you might offer a guest-gift, or otherwise
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give us a present, as is the right of strangers.
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Respect the gods, mighty one: we are your suppliants,
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and Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and of strangers,
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Zeus the god of guests, who attends honored strangers."
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So I spoke, and at once he answered me with a pitiless heart:
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"You are a fool, stranger, or have come from far away,
GrammarReduplicated perfect εἰλήλουθας is the perfect of ἔρχομαι, 'you have come.' The reduplicated stem marks the perfect, here describing the stranger's present state of having arrived from afar.
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you who bid me fear the gods or shun them.
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The Cyclopes care nothing for Zeus who bears the aegis,
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nor for the blessed gods, since we are far stronger;
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I would not spare you to escape the hatred of Zeus,
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neither you nor your companions, unless my own heart bade me.
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But tell me, where did you moor your well-built ship when you came —
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somewhere far off, or close by? — so that I may know."
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So he spoke, testing me, but he did not catch me, who knew much,
Grammar'He did not escape my notice' λάθεν (aorist of λανθάνω) takes the accusative participle εἰδότα, 'me knowing much.' The idiom means his trick did not slip past the much-knowing Odysseus.
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and I answered him back with cunning words:
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"Poseidon the earth-shaker wrecked my ship,
GrammarEarth-shaker ἐνοσίχθων ('earth-shaker') is a fixed epithet of Poseidon. Odysseus' lie is pointed: he blames Poseidon — who will soon become his real enemy through this very encounter.
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casting it against the rocks at the borders of your land,
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driving it onto a headland; the wind bore it in from the sea.
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But I with these men here escaped sheer destruction."
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So I spoke, and he answered me nothing with his pitiless heart,
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but springing up he laid his hands upon my companions,
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and seizing two together, like puppies, against the ground
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he dashed them; their brains ran out upon the floor and soaked the earth.
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Cutting them limb from limb he made ready his meal,
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and ate like a mountain-bred lion, leaving nothing —
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entrails and flesh and marrow-filled bones alike.
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And we, weeping, lifted up our hands to Zeus,
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seeing the brutal deeds; helplessness gripped our hearts.
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But when the Cyclops had filled his huge belly,
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eating human flesh and drinking unmixed milk on top of it,
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he lay down inside the cave, stretched out among his flocks.
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Him I planned, in my great-hearted spirit,
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to approach, and drawing my sharp sword from my thigh,
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to stab him in the chest, where the midriff holds the liver,
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feeling for the spot; but another thought held me back.
GrammarImperfect of restraint ἔρυκεν is imperfect, 'kept holding me back' — the ongoing inner check while Odysseus calculates. A 'second thought' restrains the first impulse.
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For there we too would have perished in sheer destruction:
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for we could never have pushed away from the lofty doorway
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with our hands the massive stone he had set against it.
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So then, groaning, we waited for the bright Dawn.
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When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
GrammarRosy-fingered Dawn This is Homer's recurring formulaic epithet for Dawn (Eos), used at line-end to open a new day. Such formulas are building blocks of oral hexameter verse.
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then he kindled the fire and milked his splendid flocks,
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all in due order, and put her young beneath each one.
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But when he had busily finished his tasks,
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again he seized two together and made ready his meal.
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Having eaten, he drove his fat flocks out of the cave,
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easily lifting away the great door-stone; and then
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he set it back, as one might fit a lid upon a quiver.
WordLid on a quiver The simile of capping a quiver underscores how effortlessly the monster handles a stone twenty-two wagons could not move.
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With a loud whistle the Cyclops turned his fat flocks toward the mountain;
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but I was left there, brooding on evil,
Word'Building mischief in the depths' βυσσοδομεύω literally means 'to build deep down,' a vivid metaphor for plotting in secret — Odysseus laying the scheme of vengeance.
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to find some way to take revenge, if Athena would grant me the triumph.
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And this in my mind seemed the best plan:
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There lay beside the pen a great club of the Cyclops,
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green olive wood; he had cut it so as to carry it
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once dried. Looking at it, we likened it
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to the mast of a black ship of twenty oars,
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a broad freighter that crosses the great gulf of the sea —
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so great was it in length, so great in thickness to behold.
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Of it I stood beside it and cut off about a fathom's length,
GrammarAorist participle 'standing by' παραστάς (aorist participle of παρίστημι) sets the scene before the main verb ἀπέκοψα ('I cut off'): Odysseus first takes his stand by the club, then cuts.
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and handed it to my companions, and bade them shave it smooth;
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they made it even, and I stood by and sharpened
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the tip, then took it at once and hardened it in the blazing fire.
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And I stowed it well away, hiding it under the dung
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that lay scattered in great heaps throughout the cave;
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Then I ordered the rest to draw lots,
WordCasting lots The phrase means to shake lots in a helmet to decide by chance. Odysseus lets fate choose who will share the deadly task.
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to see who would dare, along with me, to lift the stake
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and grind it into his eye, once sweet sleep had come over him.
GrammarOptative in a temporal clause The optative marks an indefinite future moment within Odysseus's reported plan: 'whenever sleep should come.' It depends on the past-tense framing of the narrative.
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And those drew the lot whom I myself would have wished to choose,
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four of them, and I was reckoned the fifth among them.
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At evening he came, herding his fine-fleeced flock.
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At once he drove the fat flock into the wide cave,
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all of them, and left nothing outside in the deep yard,
339
whether suspecting something, or because a god so ordered it.
340
Then he lifted the great doorstone high and set it in place,
341
and sitting down he milked the ewes and bleating goats,
342
each one in turn, and put her young beneath each.
343
But when he had hurried through and finished his tasks,
344
again he snatched up two men together and made them his supper.
345
And then I came up close and spoke to the Cyclops,
346
holding in my hands an ivy-wood bowl of dark wine:
347
"Here, Cyclops, drink wine, now that you have eaten human flesh,
348
so you may know what sort of drink our ship kept hidden
349
within it. I was bringing you this libation, in hope you might pity me
WordLibation A libation is wine poured out as an offering. Odysseus frames his gift in the language of ritual hospitality, sharpening the irony of his guest-host relationship with the monster.
350
and send me home. But you rage on past all bearing.
351
Hard wretch, how will any other man ever come to you again,
352
out of all the many people, since you have acted without decency?"
353
So I spoke, and he took it and drank it down. He was terribly pleased,
354
drinking the sweet draught, and asked me for a second:
355
"Give me more, and freely, and tell me your name
356
right now, so I may give you a guest-gift to delight you;
357
for the grain-giving earth bears for the Cyclopes too
358
wine of great clusters, and the rain of Zeus swells it;
359
but this is a stream of pure ambrosia and nectar."
360
So he spoke, and again I handed him the gleaming wine.
361
Three times I brought and gave it, three times he drank it in his folly.
362
But when the wine had stolen around the Cyclops's wits,
363
then I addressed him with honeyed words:
364
"Cyclops, you ask my famous name, and I
365
will tell it. But give me the guest-gift you promised.
366
Noman is my name. Noman they call me,
WordNoman — the pun Outis means 'no one.' Odysseus's false name sets up the trick: when the Cyclops cries that 'Noman' is killing him, his neighbors hear 'no one.' It also puns on mêtis, 'cunning.'
367
my mother and father and all my companions besides."
368
So I spoke, and at once he answered me with pitiless heart:
369
"Noman I will eat last, after his companions,
370
and the others before him. That shall be your guest-gift."
371
He spoke, and sank back and fell flat on his back, and then
372
lay there, his thick neck lolling sideways, and sleep,
373
the conqueror of all, seized him. From his gullet poured the wine
WordSleep, conqueror of all Pandamatôr, 'all-subduing,' is a stock epithet for sleep. Here it underlines that the giant who fears no god is overcome by ordinary sleep and drink.
374
and gobbets of human flesh, and he belched, heavy with wine.
375
Then I drove the stake under the deep ashes,
376
until it should grow hot, and with words I heartened all my companions,
377
so that none of them, shrinking in fear, would draw back from me.
378
But when the olive-wood stake was about to catch fire in the flames,
379
green though it was, and glowed terribly,
380
then I carried it close from the fire, and around me my companions
381
stood; and a god breathed great courage into us.
382
They took the olive-wood stake, sharp at its tip,
383
and drove it into his eye; and I, bearing down from above,
384
twisted it, as when a man bores a ship's timber
385
with a drill, while others below keep it spinning with a strap,
386
gripping it at either end, and it runs round steadily on and on.
387
So we took the fire-pointed stake in his eye
388
and spun it, and the blood ran round it as it grew hot.
389
The blast singed all his eyelids round about and his brows
390
as the eyeball burned, and its roots crackled in the fire.
391
As when a smith dips a great axe or an adze
392
into cold water, and it hisses loud
393
as he tempers it — for in this lies the strength of iron —
394
so his eye hissed around the olive-wood stake.
395
He gave a great and terrible cry, and the rock rang around him,
396
and we drew back in terror. He wrenched the stake
397
out of his eye, all fouled with streaming blood,
398
and flung it from him with his hands, frantic with pain,
399
and called aloud to the Cyclopes who all around him
400
lived in their caves among the windswept headlands.
401
They heard his shout and came thronging from every side,
402
and standing around the cave they asked what troubled him:
403
"Why, Polyphemus, so distressed, have you cried out like this
404
through the immortal night, and made us sleepless?
405
Surely no mortal is driving off your flocks against your will?
406
Surely no one is killing you by trickery or by force?"
WordBy guile or by force The pairing 'by trickery or by force' is a stock Homeric antithesis. The neighbors' innocent 'no one' (mê tis) unwittingly echoes the name Outis.
407
And from inside the cave mighty Polyphemus answered them:
408
"Friends, Noman is killing me by guile and not by force!"
409
And answering they spoke winged words:
GrammarWinged words 'Winged words' is one of Homer's most familiar formulaic epithets for speech, used to introduce direct address.
410
"If no one is using force on you, alone as you are,
411
there is no escaping a sickness from great Zeus;
412
so pray to your father, lord Poseidon."
413
So they spoke and went away, and my own heart laughed,
414
to think how my name and my flawless cunning had deceived him.
WordFlawless cunning Mêtis is the practical, scheming intelligence that defines Odysseus. The line caps the Noman trick: name and cunning together undo the giant.
415
But the Cyclops, groaning and writhing in his pains,
416
groped with his hands and took the stone away from the doorway,
417
and sat himself in the doorway with both hands spread out,
418
in case he might catch any man slipping out among the sheep;
419
for so, it seems, he hoped in his mind that I was a fool.
420
But I kept planning how things might turn out for the best,
421
whether I could find for my companions and for myself
422
some release from death; and I wove all my tricks and cunning,
423
since it was a matter of life itself: great peril was near at hand.
WordFor his very life The phrase 'concerning the psukhê' means with one's life at stake. Psukhê here is the life-breath that survival depends on.
424
And this seemed in my heart the best plan:
425
There were rams, well fed and thick-fleeced,
426
handsome and large, with wool dark as violets;
427
these I bound together silently with the well-twisted withies
428
on which the lawless monster Cyclops used to sleep,
429
taking them three by three: the middle one carried a man,
430
while the two on either side went along, keeping my companions safe.
431
Three rams carried each man. But I myself —
432
there was a ram, by far the best of all the flock —
433
him I grasped by the back, and curling beneath his shaggy belly
434
I lay; and with my hands in the marvelous fleece
435
I clung, twisted around it, with an enduring heart.
WordWith an enduring heart The phrase 'with a steadfast spirit' belongs to the same root that gives Odysseus the epithet polytlas, 'much-enduring.' It marks his signature capacity to hold on through hardship.
436
So then, groaning, we waited for the divine Dawn.
437
When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
GrammarRosy-fingered Dawn This whole line is a recurring formula. The fixed epithets 'early-born' and 'rosy-fingered' fill the verse and mark the start of a new day.
438
then the male sheep rushed out to pasture,
439
but the females bleated about the pens, unmilked,
440
for their udders were bursting. And their master, worn with cruel pains,
441
worn down with pain, he felt along the backs of all the rams
442
as they stood upright; but the fool did not realize this,
Wordthe fool Homer applies nēpios to the Cyclops, the same word used for helpless infants. It marks his witlessness in failing to grasp the trick.
443
how the men were bound beneath the breasts of his woolly sheep.
444
Last of the flock the ram walked out toward the door,
445
weighed down by his fleece and by me, my mind racing.
446
Feeling him over, mighty Polyphemus spoke to him:
GrammarAorist participle ἐπιμασσάμενος is an aorist middle participle, 'having felt over.' Such participles set an action just completed before the main verb.
447
"Dear ram, why do you come through the cave like this, the last
448
of the flock? Never before have you trailed behind the sheep,
449
but far the first you grazed on the tender flowers of the grass,
450
striding wide, and first you reached the river's streams,
451
and first you longed to come back home to the fold
452
at evening; but now you are last of all. Surely you grieve for your master's
453
eye, which an evil man blinded out,
454
with his wretched companions, after mastering my wits with wine,
Wordmastered by wine δαμάζω means to subdue or tame, often of taming animals or conquering foes; here wine 'masters' the mind, the same verb later used of the Cyclops himself.
455
Noman, who I say has not yet escaped destruction.
WordNoman Outis ('Noman') is the false name Odysseus gave; the pun let the other Cyclopes mistake the cry for 'no man is harming me.' The Cyclops still does not see the trick.
456
If only you could share my mind and find a voice
457
to tell me where that man dodges away from my fury;
458
then his brains would be dashed throughout the cave, this way and that,
459
smashed against the ground, and my heart would find
460
relief from the evils that worthless Noman has brought me."
WordWordplay on Noman οὐτιδανός ('worthless, of no account') echoes the name Οὖτις ('Noman'), a bitter pun the Cyclops makes without grasping its meaning.
461
So speaking he sent the ram out from himself through the door.
462
When we had gone a little way from the cave and the yard,
463
first I freed myself from under the ram, then loosed my companions.
464
Quickly the long-legged sheep, fat with their tallow,
465
we drove, turning them often, until we reached the ship.
466
A welcome sight we were to our dear companions,
467
we who had escaped death; but for the others they mourned, lamenting.
468
But I would not let them weep, and signaled each with my brows
469
to stop; instead I ordered them quickly to throw the fine-fleeced sheep
470
in great numbers aboard the ship and sail the salt water.
471
They embarked at once and sat down at the oarlocks,
472
and sitting in their rows they struck the gray sea with their oars.
GrammarFormulaic rowing line This whole line is a recurring formula for putting out to sea. ἐρετμοῖς is dative of instrument, 'with their oars.'
473
But when I was as far off as a man's shout carries,
474
then I called out to the Cyclops with taunting words:
475
"Cyclops, it was no weakling's companions you were going
476
to devour in your hollow cave by your brute strength.
GrammarOld instrumental ending -φι The suffix -φι is an archaic Homeric ending serving as instrumental/dative, 'by mighty force.' It survives mainly in epic formulas.
477
Your evil deeds were surely bound to catch up with you,
478
you wretch, since you had no shame to eat your guests
479
in your own house; for this Zeus and the other gods have punished you."
480
So I spoke, and then he grew still angrier at heart,
481
and breaking off the peak of a great mountain he hurled it,
482
and threw it down in front of the dark-prowed ship,
GrammarDark-prowed kyanoprōiros, 'dark-prowed,' is a standard epithet for ships. The -οιο ending is the old Homeric genitive singular.
483
barely; it just missed striking the tip of the steering-oar.
484
The sea surged up as the rock came down into it,
485
and the backward-rushing wave carried the ship toward the shore,
486
a flood-tide from the deep, and forced it to reach the land.
487
But I took in my hands a very long pole
488
and shoved us off, and urging my companions I ordered them
489
to fall on the oars, so we might escape from disaster,
GrammarPurpose with the optative After a past main verb, the purpose clause ἵνα... φύγοιμεν takes the optative ('so that we might escape'), the regular sequence after secondary tenses.
490
nodding with my head; and they bent forward and rowed.
491
But when we were twice as far across the sea,
492
then I called out to the Cyclops again; and around me my companions
493
tried to hold me back with soothing words, one from this side, one from that:
Grammar'one from this side, one from that' The idiom ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος literally 'another from another place' conveys 'each from a different direction,' a common Homeric distributive pattern.
494
"Reckless man, why do you want to provoke this savage creature?
495
Just now by hurling into the sea he brought the ship
496
back to the mainland, and we thought we would die right there.
497
If he had heard one of us speak or call out,
498
he would have crushed our heads and the ship's timbers together
499
by hurling a jagged boulder; for he throws that far."
500
So they spoke, but they did not persuade my great-hearted spirit,
GrammarImperfect of attempted action The imperfect πεῖθον here is conative, 'they kept trying to persuade' or 'they did not succeed in persuading,' showing an effort that failed.
501
but again I spoke to him with an angry heart:
502
"Cyclops, if any mortal man should ever
503
ask you about the shameful blinding of your eye,
504
say that Odysseus the sacker of cities blinded it,
GrammarSacker of cities ptoliporthios, 'sacker of cities,' is a heroic epithet of Odysseus. The form ptoli- preserves an old initial consonant cluster of polis.
505
the son of Laertes, whose home is in Ithaca."
506
So I spoke, and he answered me with a groan:
507
"Oh no, indeed the old prophecies have come upon me!
WordCry of dismay ō popoi is a Homeric exclamation of shock or grief, used by gods and mortals alike, roughly 'alas' or 'oh no.'
508
There was a seer here once, a man both noble and tall,
509
Telemus son of Eurymus, who excelled in prophecy
510
and grew old among the Cyclopes as their seer.
511
He told me that all this would come to pass hereafter,
GrammarFuture infinitive in indirect speech The future infinitive τελευτήσεσθαι reports what the seer foretold, expressing a prediction about time to come within indirect statement.
512
that I would lose my sight at the hands of Odysseus.
513
But I always expected some great and handsome man
514
to come here, clothed in mighty strength;
515
but now a small, worthless, feeble thing
Wordsmall and feeble The three contemptuous adjectives ('small, worthless, feeble') heighten the irony: the seemingly weak Odysseus has overcome the giant by cunning.
516
has blinded my eye, after mastering me with wine.
517
But come here, Odysseus, so I may set guest-gifts before you
518
and urge the famous Earth-shaker to give you safe passage;
GrammarEarth-shaker ennosigaios, 'earth-shaker,' is a fixed epithet of Poseidon, here in the accusative as object of the verb.
519
for I am his son, and he claims to be my father.
520
He himself, if he wishes, will heal me, and no one else,
521
neither of the blessed gods nor of mortal men."
522
So he spoke, and I answered him, saying:
523
"If only I could rob you of your life and your days
Wordlife and lifetime psychē (life-breath) and aiōn (life-span) together mean the whole of one's living existence, which Odysseus wishes he could strip away.
524
and send you into the house of Hades,
525
as surely as not even the Earth-shaker will heal your eye."
526
So I spoke, and then to lord Poseidon
527
he prayed, stretching his hands to the starry sky:
528
"Hear me, Poseidon, dark-haired holder of the earth,
GrammarAorist imperative κλῦθι ('hear!') is an aorist imperative, the form regular at the start of prayers, calling for immediate attention.
529
if I am truly yours, and you claim to be my father,
530
grant that Odysseus the sacker of cities never reach his home,
531
the son of Laertes, whose home is in Ithaca.
532
But if it is his fate to see his loved ones and reach
533
his well-built house and his native land,
534
let him come late and in misery, having lost all his companions,
GrammarOptative of wish ἔλθοι is an optative expressing a wish or prayer: 'may he come late and badly.' The optative is the standard mood for prayers.
535
on another man's ship, and find troubles in his house."
536
So he spoke in prayer, and the dark-haired god heard him.
537
Then once more he lifted a stone far larger than the first
538
and hurled it, whirling it, and put boundless force behind it,
539
and threw it down behind the dark-prowed ship,
540
barely; it just missed striking the tip of the steering-oar.
541
The sea surged up as the rock came down into it,
542
and the wave bore the ship forward and forced it to reach the land.
543
But when we came to the island, where the other
544
well-benched ships were waiting all together, and around them our companions
545
sat lamenting, ever watching for us,
546
coming there we ran the ship aground on the sand,
547
and we ourselves stepped out onto the breaking surf of the sea.
548
Then taking the Cyclops' sheep from the hollow ship
549
we divided them, so that none might leave cheated of an equal share.
550
But the ram my well-greaved companions gave to me alone,
GrammarWell-greaved euknēmides, 'well-greaved' (wearing fine shin-armor), is a recurring epithet of the Achaeans/companions. It agrees with ἑταῖροι in the nominative.
551
as the sheep were shared out, they gave it to me as a special honor; and on the shore
552
to Zeus of the dark clouds, son of Cronos, who is lord over all,
553
I made sacrifice and burned the thigh-pieces; but he paid no heed to the offerings,
GrammarImperfect of ritual The imperfect ekaion ("was burning") views the sacrifice as an ongoing action, a vivid scene rather than a single completed event.
554
but instead he was pondering how they might all be destroyed,
555
my well-benched ships and my trusty companions.
556
So then for the whole day, until the sun went down,
557
we sat feasting on endless meat and sweet wine.
558
But when the sun set and the darkness came on,
559
then we lay down to sleep on the breaking surf of the sea.
560
And when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
561
then I urged my companions on and gave the order
562
for them to climb aboard and loose the stern-cables;
563
and they quickly embarked and sat down at the oarlocks,
564
and sitting in their rows they struck the gray sea with their oars.
WordThe gray sea Polios means "gray" or "grizzled," describing the foam-flecked, weathered color of the sea. This is a recurring formula for rowing out.
565
From there we sailed onward, grieving at heart,
566
glad to be out of death's reach, yet having lost our dear companions.

The particulars

The text: Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Wanderings.
Translation: Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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