SILENUS: O Bromius, because of you I have countless troubles, both now and when my body was strong in youth.
§3πρῶτον μέν, ἡνίκ’ ἐμμανὴς Ἥρας ὕπο §4Νύμφας ὀρείας ἐκλιπὼν ᾤχου τροφούς· §5ἔπειτά γ’ ἀμφὶ γηγενῆ μάχην δορὸς §6ἐνδέξιος σῷ ποδὶ παρασπιστὴς γεγὼς §7Ἐγκέλαδον ἰτέαν εἰς μέσην θενὼν δορὶ §8ἔκτεινα—φέρ’ ἴδω, τοῦτ’ ἰδὼν ὄναρ λέγω;
First, indeed, when, driven mad by Hera, you left the mountain Nymphs who nursed you and fled; and next, in the battle of the spear against the earthborn, standing on your right hand as a shield-bearing comrade, and striking Enceladus with my spear right in the middle of his targe, I slew him—let me see, did I see this in a dream and now speak of it?
§9οὐ μὰ Δί’, ἐπεὶ καὶ σκῦλ’ ἔδειξα βακχίῳ.
No, by Zeus, since I even showed the spoils to Bacchus.
§10καὶ νῦν ἐκείνων μείζον’ ἐξαντλῶ πόνον.
And now I am enduring a labor even greater than those.
§11ἐπεὶ γὰρ Ἥρα σοι γένος Τυρσηνικὸν §12λῃστῶν ἐπῶρσεν, ὡς ὁδηθείης μακράν, §13ἐγὼ πυθόμενος σὺν τέκνοισι ναυστολῶ
For when Hera stirred up against you the Tyrrhenian race of pirates, so that you might be carried far away, I, having learned of it, set sail with my children in search of you.
§14σέθεν κατὰ ζήτησιν. ἐν πρύμνῃ δ’ ἄκρᾳ §15αὐτὸς λαβὼν ηὔθυνον ἀμφῆρες δόρυ, §16παῖδες δ’ ἐρετμοῖς ἥμενοι γλαυκὴν ἅλα §17ῥοθίοισι λευκαίνοντες ἐζήτουν σ’, ἄναξ.
And at the very stern, I myself held and guided the two-oared helm, while my sons, sitting at the oars, made the gray sea white with foam as they sought you, O king.
§18ἤδη δὲ Μαλέας πλησίον πεπλευκότας §19ἀπηλιώτης ἄνεμος ἐμπνεύσας δορὶ §20ἐξέβαλεν ἡμᾶς τήνδ’ ἐς Αἰτναίαν πέτραν, §21ἵν’ οἱ μονῶπες ποντίου παῖδες θεοῦ §22Kύκλωπες οἰκοῦσ’ ἄντρ’ ἔρημ’ ἀνδροκτόνοι.
But just as we had sailed near Malea, an east wind, blowing hard against our vessel, cast us out onto this rocky shore of Etna, where the one-eyed sons of the ocean god, the man-slaying Cyclopes, dwell in desolate caves.
Captured by one of them, we are in his house as slaves; and they call him whom we serve Polyphemus.
ἀντὶ δ’ εὐίων βακχευμάτων §26ποίμνας Κύκλωπος ἀνοσίου ποιμαίνομεν.
And instead of the joyous Bacchic revels, we tend the flocks of an impious Cyclops.
§27παῖδες μὲν οὖν μοι κλιτύων ἐν ἐσχάτοις §28νέμουσι μῆλα νέα νέοι πεφυκότες, §29ἐγὼ δὲ πληροῦν πίστρα καὶ σαίρειν στέγας §30μένων τέταγμαι τάσδε, τῷδε δυσσεβεῖ §31Κύκλωπι δείπνων ἀνοσίων διάκονος.
So my sons, on the outermost slopes of the hills, tend the young sheep, being themselves young; while I, remaining behind to fill the drinking troughs and sweep the house, am appointed to stay here as a servant of unholy banquets for this impious Cyclops.
§32καὶ νῦν, τὰ προσταχθέντ’, ἀναγκαίως ἔχει §33σαίρειν σιδηρᾷ τῇδέ μ’ ἁρπάγῃ δόμους, §34ὡς τόν τ’ ἀπόντα δεσπότην Κύκλωπ’ ἐμὸν §35καθαροῖσιν ἄντροις μῆλά τ’ ἐσδεχώμεθα.
And now, as I must do what is commanded, I must sweep the house with this iron rake, so that both my absent master, the Cyclops, and his sheep may be received into clean caves.
τί ταῦτα;
What is this?
μῶν κρότος σικινίδων §38ὁμοῖος ὑμῖν νῦν τε χὥτε βακχίῳ §39κῶμοι συνασπίζοντες Ἀλθαίας δόμους §40προσῇτ’ ἀοιδαῖς βαρβίτων σαυλούμενοι;
Is the rattle of the sikinnis-dance the same for you now as when, accompanying Bacchus, you went to the halls of Althaea in revelry, approaching with songs, swaying to the lyres?
CHORUS: O child of noble fathers and of noble mothers, whither, I pray, do you go from me over the cliffs?
And does not the swirling water of rivers lie in the troughs near the caves?
οὔ σοι βλαχαὶ τεκέων;
Do you not hear the bleat of your young?
§49—ψύττ’·
—Shoo!
οὐ τᾷδ’ οὔ;
Not this way, no?
οὐ τᾷδε νεμῇ §50κλιτὺν δροσεράν;
Will you not graze here, on the dewy slope?
§51ὠή, ῥίψω πέτρον τάχα σου
Ho! I shall throw a stone at you soon.
—Go on, oh go on, horn-bearing flock, to the sheep-cote of the wild herdsman Cyclops.
Slacken your swelling udders; receive into your teats the offspring whom you leave in the lambs' pens.
The day-sleeping bleats of your small young long for you.
When will you return to the fold, leaving the grassy pastures, inside the cliffs of Etna?
§62a—νύττ’·
—Poke!
οὐ τᾷδ’ οὔ;
Not this way, no?
οὐ τᾷδε νεμῇ §62bκλιτὺν δροσεράν;
Will you not graze here, on the dewy slope?
§62cὠή, ῥίψω πέτρον τάχα σου
Ho! I shall throw a stone at you soon.
—Go on, oh go on, horn-bearing flock, to the sheep-cote of the wild herdsman Cyclops.
§63οὐ τάδε Βρόμιος, οὐ τάδε χοροὶ §64Βάκχαι τε θυρσοφόροι, §65οὐ τυμπάνων ἀλαλαγμοὶ §66κρήναις παρ’ ὑδροχύτοις, §67οὐκ οἴνου χλωραὶ σταγόνες· §68οὐδ’ ἐν Νύσᾳ μετὰ Νυμφᾶν §69ἴακχον ἴακχον ᾠδὰν §70μέλπω πρὸς τὰν Ἀφροδίταν, §71ἃν θηρεύων πετόμαν §72Βάκχαις σὺν λευκόποσιν §73ὦ φίλος· §74ὦ φίλε Βακχεῖε, ποῖ οἰοπολεῖς; §75ποῖ ξανθὰν χαίταν σείεις;
No Bromius is here, nor dances, nor the thyrse-bearing Bacchae, no clash of cymbals by the water-flowing springs, nor fresh drops of wine; nor in Nysa with the Nymphs do I sing the song 'Iacchus, Iacchus' to Aphrodite, whom I used to pursue flying together with the white-footed Bacchae, O dear friend, O dear Bacchic one, where do you wander alone, where do you shake your golden hair?
§76ἐγὼ δ’ ὁ σὸς πρόπολος §77θητεύω Κύκλωπι §78τῷ μονοδέρκτᾳ δοῦλος ἀλαίνων §80σὺν τᾷδε τράγου χλαίνᾳ μελέᾳ §81σᾶς χωρὶς φιλίας.
While I, your servant, serve as a slave to the Cyclops, wandering as a slave of the one-eyed monster, in this wretched goatskin cloak, apart from your friendship.
SILENUS: Be silent, my children, and tell your attendants to gather the flocks into the rock-roofed cave.
§84χωρεῖτ’·
CHORUS LEADER: Go on!
ἀτὰρ δὴ τίνα, πάτερ, σπουδὴν ἔχεις;
But indeed, father, what is your haste?
§85ὁρῶ πρὸς ἀκταῖς ναὸς Ἑλλάδος σκάφος §86κώπης τ’ ἄνακτας σὺν στρατηλάτῃ τινὶ §87στείχοντας ἐς τόδ’ ἄντρον·
SILENUS: I see the hull of a Greek ship at the shore, and the masters of the oars with some leader coming toward this cave.
And about their necks they carry empty vessels, being in need of food, and water pitchers.
ὦ ταλαίπωροι ξένοι, §90τίνες ποτ’ εἰσίν;
O unhappy strangers, whoever can they be?
οὐκ ἴσασι δεσπότην §91Πολύφημον οἷός ἐστιν, ἄξενον στέγην §92τήνδ’ ἐμβεβῶτες καὶ Κυκλωπίαν γνάθον §93τὴν ἀνδροβρῶτα δυστυχῶς ἀφιγμένοι.
They do not know what kind of master Polyphemus is, entering this inhospitable roof and having unfortunately arrived at the man-eating jaw of the Cyclops.
But keep quiet, so that we may learn whence they have come to the Sicilian peak of Etna.
§96ξένοι, φράσαιτ’ ἂν νᾶμα ποτάμιον πόθεν §97δίψης ἄκος λάβοιμεν, εἴ τέ τις θέλει §98βορὰν ὁδῆσαι ναυτίλοις κεχρημένοις;
ODYSSEUS: Strangers, could you tell us where we might find flowing river water to cure our thirst, and if anyone is willing to sell food to needy sailors?
§99--τί χρῆμα;
What is this?
Βρομίου πόλιν ἔοιγμεν ἐσβαλεῖν· §100Σατύρων πρὸς ἄντροις τόνδ’ ὅμιλον εἰσορῶ.
We seem to have entered a city of Bromius; I see this crowd of Satyrs near the caves.
§101χαίρειν προσεῖπα πρῶτα τὸν γεραίτατον.
I bid greetings first to the eldest among you.
§102χαῖρ’, ὦ ξέν’, ὅστις δ’ εἶ φράσον πάτραν τε σήν.
SILENUS: Greetings, stranger! But tell me who you are and what your homeland is.