Homer, Odyssey

§ 9.500 “So said they, but did not persuade my great-hearted heart, instead, with a resentful heart I spoke back to him again:' Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you about the shameful blinding of your eye, say that Odysseus the sacker of cities blinded you,

§ 9.505 Laertes' son who has a house in Ithaca!' “So said I, and he cried out and answered me:'Oh no! Very surely, the prophesies, spoken long ago, have come upon me. There used to be a certain seer here, a man good and great, Telemus Eurymides, who excelled in the art of prophecy

§ 9.510 and grew old prophesying to the Cyclopes, who told me all this would come to pass in time to come, that I'd lose my sight at the hands of Odysseus. So, I always took it that some big and handsome man would come here, clothed in great prowess.

§ 9.515 But now, small and feeble and worthless as he is, he blinded my eye after he tamed me with wine. But come here, Odysseus, so I can put a guest gift beside you and urge the earth-shaker to grant you convoy, for I am his son, and he claims to be my father.

§ 9.520 He himself, not any other blessed god or mortal man, will heal me, if he wants to.' “So said he, then I said to him in answer:'If only it were as certain I'd be able, once I made you bereft of life and lifetime, to send you into the house of Hades

§ 9.525 as it's certain not even the earth-shaker is going to heal your eye!' “So said I, and he then prayed to lord Poseidon, stretching out both arms to the starry sky:'Hear me, earth-holder Poseidon, dark-haired one, if I am truly yours, and you claim to be my father,

§ 9.530 grant that Odysseus the sacker of cities not reach home, Laertes' son who has a house in Ithaca!' But if it's his lot to see his loved ones and reach his well-built house and his fatherland, may he get there cruelly late, having lost all his comrades,

§ 9.535 on someone else's ship, and may he find trouble in his house!' “So said he in prayer, and the dark-haired one heard him. Then the Cyclops again picked up a much larger stone, whirled, threw, put immeasurable muscle into it, threw it down behind our cyan-prowed ship,

§ 9.540 and barely missed reaching the tip of the rudder. The sea was dashed up by the stone as it went down, and wave carried the ship forward and drove it to come to dry land. But when we reached that island where the rest of our well-benched ships had stayed together, about them our companions

§ 9.545 sat in mourning, ever waiting for us When we got there we beached the ship on the sand and went ashore ourselves at the edge of sea's surf. We took the Cyclops' sheep out of the hollow ship, and divided up so none would go cheated of a fair share by me.

§ 9.550 My well-greaved comrades gave the ram to me alone, as an honor, when the sheep were divided. I sacrificed him to Zeus, dark-clouded Cronides, who rules over all, and burned the thighs. He did not heed my offerings, but pondered how all the well-benched ships

§ 9.555 and my trusty comrades would be destroyed. So then all day until the sun went down, we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine. When the sun went down and dusk came on, we laid down then to sleep at the edge of sea's surf.

§ 9.560 When early-born rose-fingered Dawn appeared, I then roused my comrades and bid them get aboard themselves and free up the stern cables. Then they went aboard at once and sat down at the oarlocks, and, seated in rows, beat the gray sea with their oars.

§ 9.565 “We sailed on from there with grief in our hearts at the loss of dear comrades, glad to have escaped death.”

§ 10.1 BOOK 10 “We reached the island of Aeolia. There lived Aeolus Hippotades, dear to gods immortal, on a floating island, a wall of unbreakable bronze all around it, and the smooth rock ran sheer up.

§ 10.5 His twelve children were also in the palace, six daughters and six sons in their prime. He gave his daughters to his sons to be their wives. They always dine beside their dear father and devoted mother. Countless good things lie beside them, and the house,

§ 10.10 steaming with sacrifice, echoes around the courtyard by day, and at night they sleep again beside their venerable wives in blankets and in corded beds. And when we reached their fine home and city, he welcomed me a whole month and asked about each thing,

§ 10.15 Ilium, the Argive ships, and the return home of the Achaeans, and I duly recounted everything to him. But when I also asked the way and bid him dispatch me, that one refused nothing, and made me a convoy. He gave me a leather bag, of a nine year-old ox he'd skinned,

§ 10.20 and bound the ways of the blustering winds in it, for Cronion had made him master of the winds, both to start and stop the ones he wishes. He tied it tight in our hollow ship with a shiny silver cord, so nothing would blow out even a little,

§ 10.25 then he sent forth West Wind's breath to blow for me, to carry the ships as well as ourselves. But he wasn't going to succeed, for by our own folly we perished. “Nine days we sailed, day and night alike, and on the tenth our fatherland appeared,

§ 10.30 and we caught sight of them tending fires, near as they were. Then sweet sleep came upon me in my weariness, for I always controlled the ship's sheet and didn't give it to another comrade, so we'd reach our fatherland faster. My comrades talked to one another,

§ 10.35 and said I was bringing home gold and silver, gifts from great-hearted Aeolus Hippotades. In this way, glancing at another near him, one would say:'Humph! How dear and honored this one is to all mankind, whoever's land and city he arrives at.

§ 10.40 While from Troy he brings many beautiful treasures from the spoils, we, who made the same journey, return home holding empty hands together. Just now Aeolus favored him with friendship and gave him this. But come, let's quickly see what these things are,

§ 10.45 how much of any gold and silver's in the leather bag.' So said they, and my comrades' evil plan prevailed. They loosened the leather bag and all the winds rushed out, and storm at once snatched them and carried them, crying, out to sea, away from fatherland. Then I

§ 10.50 awoke and pondered in my noble heart whether to throw myself from the ship and perish in the sea or submit in silence and stay still among the living. But I submitted and stayed, covered myself, and lay in the ship. The ships were borne by the evil windstorm

§ 10.55 to the island of Aeolia, as my comrades groaned. “We went ashore there and drew water, and my comrades soon took dinner beside our swift ships. Then after they partook of food and drink, I then took a herald and comrade with me

§ 10.60 and went to Aeolus' famous home. I came upon him dining beside his wife and his children. We came into the house and sat on the threshold by the doorposts. They were amazed at heart and asked:'Why have you come, Odysseus? What cruel divinity assailed you?

§ 10.65 We sent you off kindly, so you could reach your home and fatherland, or anywhere that's dear to you.' “So said they. Then with a grieving heart I answered:'Evil comrades, and reckless sleep to boot, have harmed me, so, heal me, friends, for the power is in you!'

§ 10.70 “So said I, addressing them with words meant to win them, but they were silent. Then their father answered:'Get off this island quickly, most contemptible of the living, for I don't have the right, to see on his way or aid, that man who's hated by the blessed gods.

§ 10.75 Go, since you've come here most hated by immortals!' “So saying, he sent me, groaning heavily, from his house. We sailed on from there with grief in our hearts, and my men's spirit was afflicted by painful rowing for our foolishness, since a convoy no longer appeared.

§ 10.80 “Six days we sailed, day and night alike, and on the seventh we reached the sheer citadel of Lamus, Laestrygonian Telepylus, where herdsman greets herdsman: the one driving in hails and the one driving out answers. A sleepless man there could earn two wages,

§ 10.85 one tending cattle, the other pasturing white sheep, for the paths of day and night are close together. Then when we entered the famous harbor, around which steep rock extends continuously on both sides, and, at its mouth, jutting headlands protrude,

§ 10.90 opposite each other, and the entrance is narrow, all of them kept their double-curved ships inside. They were moored close together inside the hollow harbor, for waves never grew in it, neither great nor small, but there was a white calm about it.

§ 10.95 But I alone kept my black ship outside, at its edge, tied the cables to the rock, climbed to a rugged lookout, and stood. Works of neither men nor oxen appeared there, and we saw only smoke spurting from the ground.

§ 10.100 I then sent comrades to go and find out who the men were who ate bread upon the earth. I chose two men, and sent a third with them as a herald, They went ashore and went along a smooth road, where wagons brought wood down from the lofty mountains to the city.

§ 10.105 In front of the city they met a girl fetching water, Antiphates the Laestrygonian's mighty daughter, who'd gone down to the fair-flowing spring Artacia from where they carried water to the city. They stood beside and spoke to her, and asked

§ 10.110 who their king was and over whom he ruled. She very quickly pointed out her father's high-roofed house. But when they entered the famous house, they found a woman, as big as a mountain peak, and they shrank from the sight of her. She immediately called from assembly famous Antiphates,

§ 10.115 her husband, who devised wretched destruction for them. At once he seized one of my comrades and prepared him for dinner. The other two jumped up and came in flight to the ships. Then he made a cry throughout the city, and the mighty Laestrygonians heard, and stalked from one place and other,

§ 10.120 countless ones, not like men, but like Giants. They threw from the rocks with boulders big as a man can carry, and at once an evil din arose throughout the ships, of ships being smashed and men being killed. Piercing them like fish, they carried off their gruesome meal.

§ 10.125 While they were destroying them in the very deep harbor I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh and with it cut away my cyan-prowed ship's cable. At once I urged and bid my comrades lay on the oar handles, so we'd get out of danger,

§ 10.130 and they all tossed up the sea in fear of destruction. My ship gladly fled the overhanging rocks to the sea, but the others were all destroyed together where they were. We sailed on from there with grief in our hearts at the loss of dear comrades, glad to have escaped death.

§ 10.135 We reached the island of Aeaea, and there lived the dread goddess with human speech, fair-haired Circe, sister of malign Aeetes. Both were born of Helios, who brings light to mortals, and of their mother Perses, whom Oceanus bore as his daughter.

§ 10.140 There, we headed with our ship down to the beach in silence, into a ship-sheltering harbor, and some god led the way. We got out then and lay there for two days and two nights, eating our hearts in pain and exhaustion. But when fair-haired Dawn brought the third day on,

§ 10.145 right then I grabbed my spear and a sharp sword and climbed quickly from the ship to a vantage point, in the hope I'd somehow see the works and hear the sound of mortals. I climbed to a rugged lookout, and stood, and smoke from the wide-wayed ground was visible to me,

§ 10.150 in Circe's palace, through dense thickets and a forest. Then I considered in my mind and heart whether to go and find out, since I'd seen the sparkling smoke. This way seemed better to me as I pondered, to go first to my swift ship and the sea's shore,

§ 10.155 give my comrades dinner, and send them to find out. But when, on my way, I was near my double-curved ship, right then some god, alone as I was, took pity on me, and sent a high-horned hart, a big one, right into my path. He'd come down to the river from his pasture in the forest,

§ 10.160 to drink, for the sun's strength already held him. I struck him, down on the spine, in the middle of the back, and the bronze spear pierced right through. He fell down squealing in the dust, and his spirit flew away. Stepping on him, I pulled the bronze spear from the wound,

§ 10.165 leaned it down, and left it on the ground. Then I plucked twigs and willow branches, braided a rope a fathom's length long, well-plaited over and across, tied the feet of the dread monster together, and, carrying him on my neck, went to my black ship,

§ 10.170 leaning on my spear, since there was no way to carry him on my shoulder with either hand, for he was a very big beast. I threw him down in front of the ship, and, going to each man, roused my comrades with words meant to win them:'Friends, despite our grief, we won't go down

§ 10.175 to the house of Hades before the destined day comes on us. But come, as long as there's food and drink in our swift ship, let's remember food and not let ourselves be consumed by hunger!' “So said I, and they quickly obeyed my words. Uncovering themselves beside the barren sea's shore,

§ 10.180 they beheld the hart with wonder, for he was a very big beast. Then after they'd looked and satisfied their eyes, they washed their hands and made a sumptuous feast. So then all day until the sun went down, we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine.

§ 10.185 When the sun went down and dusk came on, we laid down then to sleep at the edge of sea's surf. When early-born rose-fingered Dawn appeared, right then I held an assembly and said among them all:'Comrades, though you're suffering evil, listen to my words!

§ 10.190 Friends, since we don't know which way darkness is, which way dawn, which way sun that shines on mortals goes beneath the earth, or which way it comes back up, then let's consider quickly it there's still some course of action, though I don't think there is. For I climbed to a rugged lookout and saw the island,

§ 10.195 around which the boundless sea is encircled. The island itself lies low, and in its center I saw smoke with my eyes, through dense thickets and a forest.' “So said I, and their dear heart was broken as they recalled the deeds of the Laestrygonian Antiphates

§ 10.200 and the violence of the man-eater, the great-hearted Cyclops. They cried shrilly, letting thick tears fall, but no good result came of their weeping. “Then I counted into two all my well-greaved comrades and assigned to both of them a leader.

§ 10.205 I led one of them; godlike Eurylochus, the other. We quickly shook lots in a bronze helmet and out popped the lot of great-hearted Eurylochus. He made his way with twenty-two crying companions, and they left us, weeping, behind.

§ 10.210 In a glen they found the house of Circe, built of polished stones, in an open place, and about it were mountain wolves and lions, whom she'd enchanted, since she gave them evil drugs. But they didn't attack the men. They stood up on them

§ 10.215 instead, and fawned over them wagging their long tails. As when dogs fawn about their master coming from a feast, for he always carries tidbits to please their appetite, so the strong-clawed wolves and lions fawned about them, but they were afraid when they saw the dread monsters.

§ 10.220 They stood in the doorway of the fair-haired goddess and heard Circe singing in a beautiful voice as she plied a great immortal web, such as the works of goddesses are: delicate, lovely, and splendid. The first of them to speak was leader of men Polites,

§ 10.225 who was the dearest and most devoted of my comrades:'Friends, someone inside, either woman or goddess, is plying a great web and singing beautifully, and the whole floor is echoing, so let's quickly cry out to her.' “So said he, and they cried out and called.

§ 10.230 She soon came out, opened the shiny doors, and called them in, and they all, in ignorance, followed, but Eurylochus stayed behind, suspecting it was a trick. She led them in and sat them down on chairs and couches and in their presence stirred cheese, barley groats,

§ 10.235 and pale green honey in Pramnean wine, then mixed baneful drugs into the food, so they'd completely forget their fatherland. Then after she gave it and they drank, right then she struck them with her wand and confined them in pigsties. They had the head, voice, hair, and shape

§ 10.240 of pigs, but their minds were intact, as they were before. So they'd been confined, crying. Now Circe threw to them oak and ilex acorns and cornel fruit to eat, such as pigs that sleep on the ground always eat. “ Eurylochus at once came to my swift black ship

§ 10.245 and told the news of my comrades and their bitter fate. But he couldn't speak a word at all, much though he wanted to, stricken at heart with great sorrow. The eyes in him were filled with tears, and his heart was set on weeping. But when we all questioned him in amazement,

§ 10.250 right then he told of the destruction of the rest of his comrades:'We went, as you bid, through the thickets, brilliant Odysseus. In a glen we found a beautiful house, built of polished stones, in an open place, and someone there, either woman or goddess, was plying a great web

§ 10.255 and singing clearly, and cried out and called her. She soon came out, opened the shiny doors, and called them in, and they all, in ignorance, followed, but I stayed behind, suspecting it was a trick. Then they all together disappeared, and none of them

§ 10.260 reappeared, though I sat and watched a long time.' “So said he. Then I slung a silver-studded sword over my shoulder, a big bronze one, and a bow about me, then ordered him to guide me back the same way. But he clasped my knees with both his hands and begged,

§ 10.265 and, in lamentation, spoke winged words to me:'Don't take me there against my will, Zeus -nurtured one, but leave me where I am, for I know you'll neither come yourself nor bring any other of your comrades. Let's flee quickly with those here, for we may still avoid the evil day!'

§ 10.270 “So said he. Then I in answer said to him:' Eurylochus, surely, stay where you are in this place, eating and drinking beside my hollow black ship, but I'm going, and have a mighty need to. “So saying, I went up from the ship and sea.

§ 10.275 But when, going up through the sacred glens, I was about to reach the great house of Circe of the many drugs, then Hermes of the golden wand met me as I was going toward the house, in the guise of a young man with his first beard, whose youthful manhood is most graceful.

§ 10.280 He put his hand in mine, spoke my name, and said:'Why now, wretched one, do you go alone through the hilltops, ignorant of the place as you are? Your comrades are confined there in Circe's home, like pigs with crowded hiding places. Are you coming here to free them? But I don't think that you'll

§ 10.285 return yourself, no, you'll stay there like the others. But come, I'll rescue you from evils and save you. Here, take this good drug and enter Circe's house. It might keep the evil day away from your head. Now I'll tell you all the malign designs of Circe.

§ 10.290 She'll make you a potion and throw drugs in your food, but won't be able so to enchant you, for the good drug I gave you won't permit it. Now I'll tell every thing. When Circe strikes you with her very long wand, draw your sharp sword then from beside your thigh,

§ 10.295 and rush at Circe as if eager to kill her. She'll cower in fear and urge you sleep with her, and don't then afterwards reject the bed of the goddess, so she'll free your comrades and take care of you. But make her swear a great oath on the blessed ones,

§ 10.300 that she won't plan another evil misery for you, lest she make you, stripped naked, unmanly and a coward.' “So saying, Argeiphontes gave me the drug, pulling it from the ground, and showed me its nature. It was black at the root, and its flower was like milk.

§ 10.305 Gods call it moly, and it's hard for mortal men to dig it up, but gods are able to do everything. “Then Hermes departed to tall Olympus through the wooded island, and I went to the house of Circe, and my heart was much troubled on my way.

§ 10.310 I stood in the door of the fair-haired goddess. I stood there and shouted, and the goddess heard my voice. She soon came out, opened the shiny doors, and called me in, then I followed with grief in my heart. She brought me in and sat me on a silver-studded chair,

§ 10.315 beautiful, intricately worked. A foot-rest for my feet was under it. She made me a potion in a golden goblet, so I would drink, and threw a drug in, with evil intent in her heart. Then after she gave and I drank but it didn't enchant me, she struck me with her wand, called out my name, and said:

§ 10.320'Go now to the pigsty, lie with the rest of your comrades!' “So said she, but I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh and rushed at Circe as if eager to kill her. With a great cry she ran under, clasped my knees, and, wailing, spoke winged words to me:

§ 10.325'What man and from where are you? Where are your city and parents? Wonder holds me that you drank this drug but weren't at all enchanted, for no other man ever withstood this drug the first time he drank it and it passed his wall of teeth. In your chest you have some kind of mind that can't be charmed.

§ 10.330 Surely you're Odysseus, the wily one that Argeiphontes of the golden wand ever told me would come with a swift black ship on his way back from Troy. But come, put your sword in its sheath, and then let the two of us get in our bed, so, mixing

§ 10.335 in making love and love, we'll get to trust each other.' “So said she. Then I in answer said to her:' Circe, how can you bid me be gentle with you, who made my comrades pigs in your palace, and with a wily mind, since you have me here, bid me

§ 10.340 go into your bedroom and get in your bed, so you can make me, stripped naked, unmanly and a coward? And I won't be willing to get into your bed unless, goddess, you dare to swear a great oath to me, that you won't plan another evil misery for me.'

§ 10.345 “So said I, and she at once swore as I'd bid her. Then after she'd sworn and completed the oath, right then I got into Circe's gorgeous bed. “Meanwhile, handmaids worked in the palace, four of them, who were the maidservants in her house.

§ 10.350 They were born of springs, and of groves, and of sacred rivers that flow toward the sea. One of them threw fine purple blankets on the chairs, on top, then threw cloths under them below. The second one pulled silver tables in front of the chairs

§ 10.355 and placed golden baskets on them. The third mixed sweet honey-hearted wine in a silver bowl and set out golden goblets. The fourth brought water and lit a big fire under a great tripod, and the water heated.

§ 10.360 The after the water boiled in the dazzling bronze, she sat me in a tub and bathed me from the great tripod, over my head and shoulders, once she'd mingled it to suit me, until she took the heart-wasting weariness from my limbs. Then after she bathed me and anointed me richly with olive oil,

§ 10.365 she threw a fine cloak and tunic about me, brought me in and sat me on a silver-studded chair, beautiful, intricately worked. A foot-rest for my feet was under it. A handmaid brought water for washing in a fine golden pitcher and poured it above a silver basin

§ 10.370 so we could wash, then pulled a polished table beside us. A venerable housekeeper brought bread and set it before us placing many foods on it, pleasing us from her stores, and bid us eat, but I was not pleased at heart, and I sat there, my mind on something else, my heart foreboding evil.

§ 10.375 “Now Circe noticed, how I sat but did not throw my hands upon the food and how a mighty sorrow held me, then stood close by and spoke winged words to me:'Why do you sit this way, Odysseus, like a mute, eating your heart but touching neither food nor drink?

§ 10.380 Perhaps you suspect another trick? You needn't fear at all, for I've sworn a mighty oath to you.' “So said she. Then I in answer said to her:' Circe, what man who is right-minded would dare partake of food and drink

§ 10.385 before he freed his comrades and saw them in his eyes? but, if you bid me eat and drink in earnest, free them, so I can see my trusty comrades with my eyes.' “So said I, and Circe walked directly through her hall, holding her wand in her hand, opened the doors of the pigsty,

§ 10.390 and drove them out, looking like hogs nine years old. Then they stood opposite, and she went through them and smeared on each another drug. From their limbs bristles flowed, the ones the ruinous drug that lady Circe'd given them made grow before,

§ 10.395 and they soon became men. They were younger than before, and handsomer by far, and bigger to look at. They knew me, and each clasped my hands. A longing to weep came on us all, and about us the house echoed horribly. The goddess herself felt pity for us.

§ 10.400 The goddess divine stood near and said to me:' Zeus -born Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus, go now to your swift ship and sea's shore. First of all, haul your ship onto land, then stow all your goods and gear in caves,

§ 10.405 then come back yourself and bring your trusty comrades.' “So said she. Then my manly heart obeyed, and I made my way to my swift ship and sea's shore. Then on my swift ship I found my trusty comrades, grieving pitiably, shedding thick tears.

§ 10.410 As when calves in the barnyard all frisk opposite the cows of the herd, coming to the dunghill once they've had their fill of fodder, and the pens no longer hold them, but mooing constantly they run about their mothers, so they, when they saw me with their eyes,

§ 10.415 poured over me in tears. Then it seemed they felt as if they'd reached their fatherland and the city itself of rugged Ithaca, where they were born and bred, and as they wept they spoke winged words to me:'We rejoice as much at your returning, Zeus -nurtured one,

§ 10.420 as if we'd reached our fatherland, Ithaca. But come, recount the destruction of the rest of our comrades!' “So said they. Then I spoke to them with words meant to win them:'First of all, we'll haul our ship onto land, then we'll stow all our goods and gear in caves,

§ 10.425 then all of you spur yourselves to follow me so you can see your comrades in Circe's sacred home, eating and drinking, for they have an abundance.' “So said I, and they quickly obeyed my words. Only Eurylochus held back all my comrades,