THE ODYSSEY

EXCERPT

Telling the rest of my companions to stay on board, I chose twelve of the strongest and most daring and set off in that direction. With us we took a goatskin full of wine. It was so strong that you had to mix in twenty parts of water before it could be drunk, and when you did, such a sweet fragrance rose from the ruby liquid it was impossible to keep your lips from the cup – not that I took it for ourselves to drink, but because I knew that we were going to meet a huge and savage man who had nothing but evil in his heart.

We went to the cave while he was out grazing his sheep in the meadows. It was wide and lofty and ran deep into the mountain. Inside, there were even stone pens for the Cyclops’ herds. In one corner were stacks of cheeses and in another great jars filled with whey and the empty tubs and pails he used for milking. My companions were terrified, and begged me to let them help themselves to some cheeses and a sheep and goat or two apiece and then be off. I ignored them, being curious to meet the Cyclops and see what he would give us of his own accord, rather than stealing from him. If only I had listened to my men! As it was, we just helped ourselves to a little of the cheese and sat down to wait for him.

When he arrived, he was carrying a huge load of firewood which he threw down onto the floor of the cave with such a crash that the whole place shook and we shrank back trembling into a dark corner. Next he drove in his ewes and began to milk them, leaving the rams and billy-goats outside. After that, he went to the cave entrance and picked up a rock so huge and heavy that twenty chariots could not have dragged it from its place; but he lifted it with ease with his two bare hands and blocked the entrance to the cave. Then he set the lambs under the mother sheep to suckle and made half the milk he had collected into cheese, keeping the rest to drink. When all his tasks were finished, he lit a fire. Its flames lit up the corner we were cowering in and he spotted us.

“Who are you fellows?” he roared, “and how did you get here? Have you come to trade, or are you here like pirates, ready to make off with other peoples’ goods, to kill or to be killed?”

His angry words and deep, rough voice put fear into our hearts, but I managed to stand up and say to him:

“We are lost Achaeans, soldiers of the mighty Agamemnon, and we are trying to get home from Troy, but the gods have chosen to drive us off our course with contrary winds, and now we throw ourselves at your feet and beg your help. Give us food and shelter, as is the custom everywhere, and as almighty Zeus, the traveller’s guardian, would wish.”

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