| Homer, Odyssey (English) (XML Header) [genre: poetry; hexameter] [word count] [lemma count] [Hom. Od.]. | ||
| <<Hom. Od. 9.403 | Hom. Od. 9.500 (Greek English(2)) | >>Hom. Od. 9.566 |
9.461"As spoke he drove the ram
outside, but when we were a little way out from the cave and yards, I
first got from under the ram's belly, and then freed my
comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by constantly
heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them down to
the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had
escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed.
However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning that they were
to hush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on board at
once and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their places, and
smote the gray sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out
as my voice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops .
Cyclops ,’ said I,
‘you should have taken better measure of your man before eating
up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, do you intend by violence
[biê ] to eat up your visitors in your own cave?
You might have known that your derangement would find you out, and
now Zeus and the other gods have punished you.’
Cyclops again, but the men begged and prayed of me to hold my
tongue.
Cyclops , if any one asks you
who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was
the valiant warrior Odysseus, son of Laertes, who lives in
Ithaca .’
mantis ] here, at one time, a man
both brave and of great stature, Telemos son of Eurymos, who was an
excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he
grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and
said I should lose my sight by the hand of Odysseus. I have been all
along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman
strength, whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling,
who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my
drink; come here, then, Odysseus, that I may make you presents to
show my hospitality, and urge Poseidon to help you forward on your
journey - for Poseidon and I are father and son. He, if he so will,
shall heal me, which no one else neither god nor man can
do.’
psukhê , to the house of Hades, as I am that it
will take more than Poseidon to cure that eye of
yours.’
Cyclops ’ sheep, and divided them equitably amongst us so
that none might have reason to complain. As for the ram, my
companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share; so I
sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to Zeus,
who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only
thought how he might destroy my ships and my comrades.
9.475"‘
9.480"He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that it was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried us back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my men by nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon they laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were before, I was for jeering at the
9.494"‘Do not,’ they exclaimed, ‘be mad enough to provoke this savage creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.’
9.500"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage, ‘
9.506"On this he groaned, and cried out, ‘Alas, alas, then the old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a seer [
9.522"Then I said, ‘I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and sending you down, bereft of your
9.526"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed, saying, ‘Hear me, great Poseidon; if I am indeed your own true-begotten son, grant that Odysseus may never reach his home alive; or if he must get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men let him reach his home in another man's ship and find trouble in his house.’
9.536"Thus did he pray, and Poseidon heard his prayer. Then he picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way towards the shore of the island.
9.543"When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the sea shore; we also landed the
9.556"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they took their places and smote the gray sea with their oars; so we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades.
| Homer, Odyssey (English) (XML Header) [genre: poetry; hexameter] [word count] [lemma count] [Hom. Od.]. | ||
| <<Hom. Od. 9.403 | Hom. Od. 9.500 (Greek English(2)) | >>Hom. Od. 9.566 |
