§187φῦναι γυναικῶν ὤφελ’ — εἰ μὴ’μοὶ μόνῳ.
CHORUS: should never have been born—except for me alone.
§188ἰδοὺ τάδ’ ὑμῖν ποιμένων βοσκήματα, §189ἄναξ Ὀδυσσεῦ, μηκάδων ἀρνῶν τροφαί, §190πηκτοῦ γάλακτός τ’ οὐ σπάνια τυρεύματα.
SILENUS: Behold, here are these pasture-animals of the shepherds for you, King Odysseus, the offspring of bleating lambs, and cheese-molds, not scarce, of curdled milk.
Take them; and depart as quickly as possible from the caves, having given me in return the drink of the grape of Bacchus.
§193—οἴμοι·
—Alas!
Κύκλωψ ὅδ’ ἔρχεται·
Here comes the Cyclops.
τί δράσομεν;
What shall we do?
§194ἀπολώλαμεν γάρ, ὦ γέρον·
ODYSSEUS: We are lost, indeed, old man.
ποῖ χρὴ φυγεῖν;
Where must we flee?
§195ἔσω πέτρας τῆσδ’, οὗπερ ἂν λάθοιτέ γε.
SILENUS: Inside this rock, where you might indeed escape notice.
§196δεινὸν τόδ’ εἶπας, ἀρκύων μολεῖν ἔσω.
ODYSSEUS: Terrible is this you say, to go inside the nets.
§197οὐ δεινόν· εἰσὶ καταφυγαὶ πολλαὶ πέτρας.
SILENUS: Not terrible; there are many refuges in the rock.
§198οὐ δῆτ’· ἐπεί τἂν μεγάλα γ’ ἡ Τροία στένοι, §199εἰ φευξόμεσθ’ ἕν’ ἄνδρα, μυρίον δ’ ὄχλον §200Φρυγῶν ὑπέστην πολλάκις σὺν ἀσπίδι.
ODYSSEUS: Not so; for Troy would groan greatly indeed, if we should flee from one man, when a countless crowd of Phrygians I often withstood with my shield.
But, if we must die, we will die nobly, or living we will preserve our former fame.
§203ἄνεχε·
CYCLOPS: Make way!
πάρεχε·
Bring forth!
τί τάδε·
What is this?
τίς ἡ ῥᾳθυμία;
What is this laziness?
§204τί βακχιάζετ’;
Why are you reveling?
οὐχὶ Διόνυσος τάδε, §205οὐ κρόταλα χαλκοῦ τυμπάνων τ’ ἀράγματα.
This is not Dionysus, nor the bronze castanets and the beatings of drums.
§206πῶς μοι κατ’ ἄντρα νεόγονα βλαστήματα;
How are my newborn offspring doing in the caves?
§207ἦ πρός γε μαστοῖς εἰσι χὑπὸ μητέρων §208πλευρὰς τρέχουσι, σχοινίνοις τ’ ἐν τεύχεσιν §209πλήρωμα τυρῶν ἐστιν ἐξημελγμένον;
Are they indeed at the breasts and running under their mothers' sides, and in the wicker vessels is there the fullness of milked cheeses?
§210τί φατε;
What do you say?
τί λέγετε;
What do you speak?
τάχα τις ὑμῶν τῷ ξύλῳ §211δάκρυα μεθήσει· βλέπετ’ ἄνω καὶ μὴ κάτω.
Soon someone of you with the cudgel will shed tears; look up, and not down.
SILENUS: Behold, we are looking up to Zeus himself, and I behold both the stars and Orion.
§214ἄριστόν ἐστιν εὖ παρεσκευασμένον;
CYCLOPS: Is the meal well prepared?
§215πάρεστιν.
SILENUS: It is ready.
ὁ φάρυγξ εὐτρεπὴς ἔστω μόνον.
Only let your throat be prepared.
§216ἦ καὶ γάλακτός εἰσι κρατῆρες πλέῳ;
CYCLOPS: And are the mixing bowls of milk full?
§217ὥστ’ ἐκπιεῖν γέ σ’, ἢν θέλῃς, ὅλον πίθον.
SILENUS: So that you can drink down even a whole jar, if you wish.
§218μήλειον ἢ βόειον ἢ μεμιγμένον;
CYCLOPS: Sheep's, or cow's, or mixed?
§219ὧν ἂν θέλῃς σύ, μὴ’μὲ καταπίῃς μόνον.
SILENUS: Whichever you wish, only do not swallow me.
CYCLOPS: By no means; since, jumping in the middle of my belly, you would destroy me by your dances.
§222ἔα·
Ha!
τίν’ ὄχλον τόνδ’ ὁρῶ πρὸς αὐλίοις;
What crowd is this I see near the folds?
§223λῃσταί τινες κατέσχον ἢ κλῶπες χθόνα;
Have some pirates or thieves occupied the land?
§224ὁρῶ γέ τοι τούσδ’ ἄρνας ἐξ ἄντρων ἐμῶν §225στρεπταῖς λύγοισι σῶμα συμπεπλεγμένους, §226τεύχη τε τυρῶν συμμιγῆ, γέροντά τε §227πληγαῖς πρόσωπον φαλακρὸν ἐξῳδηκότα.
I see indeed these lambs from my caves, their bodies bound with twisted osiers, and vessels of cheeses mixed together, and the old man with his bald head swollen with blows.
§228ὤμοι, πυρέσσω συγκεκομμένος τάλας.
SILENUS: Alas, I am feverish, miserably beaten up.
§229ὑπὸ τοῦ;
CYCLOPS: By whom?
τίς ἐς σὸν κρᾶτ’ ἐπύκτευσεν, γέρον;
Who boxed your head, old man?
§230ὑπὸ τῶνδε, Κύκλωψ, ὅτι τὰ σ’ οὐκ εἴων φέρειν.
SILENUS: By these men, Cyclops, because I would not let them carry off your goods.
§231οὐκ ᾖσαν ὄντα θεόν με καὶ θεῶν ἄπο;
CYCLOPS: Did they not know that I am a god and sprung from gods?
§232ἔλεγον ἐγὼ τάδ’· οἳ δ’ ἐφόρουν τὰ χρήματα· §233καὶ τόν γε τυρὸν οὐκ ἐῶντος ἤσθιον §234τούς τ’ ἄρνας ἐξεφοροῦντο·
SILENUS: I told them so; but they were carrying off the goods; and indeed, they were eating the cheese though I forbade it, and they were carrying out the lambs.
δήσαντες δὲ σὲ §235κλῳῷ τριπήχει, κᾆτα τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν μέσον §236τὰ σπλάγχν’ ἔφασκον ἐξαμήσεσθαι βίᾳ, §237μάστιγί τ’ εὖ τὸ νῶτον ἀποθλίψειν σέθεν, §238κἄπειτα συνδήσαντες ἐς θἁδώλια §239τῆς νηὸς ἐμβαλόντες ἀποδώσειν τινὶ §240πέτρους μοχλεύειν, ἢ’ς μυλῶνα καταβαλεῖν.
And having bound you with a collar of three cubits, they said that they would violently tear out your middle eye, or your entrails, and thoroughly flay your back with a whip, and then, having bound you, cast you onto the benches of the ship and sell you to someone to heave rocks, or cast you into a millhouse.
§241ἄληθες;
CYCLOPS: Really?
οὔκουν κοπίδας ὡς τάχιστ’ ἰὼν §242θήξεις μαχαίρας καὶ μέγαν φάκελον ξύλων §243ἐπιθεὶς ἀνάψεις; ὡς σφαγέντες αὐτίκα §244πλήσουσι νηδὺν τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπ’ ἄνθρακος §245θερμὴν ἔδοντος δαῖτα τῷ κρεανόμῳ, §246τὰ δ’ ἐκ λέβητος ἑφθὰ καὶ τετηκότα.
Therefore, going as quickly as possible, you shall sharpen the meat-cleavers, and having laid on a great bundle of wood, light it; so that, being slaughtered immediately, they shall fill my belly from the coals, giving a hot feast to the meat-carver, and others boiled from the cauldron and melted.
§247ὡς ἔκπλεώς γε δαιτός εἰμ’ ὀρεσκόου· §248ἅλις λεόντων ἐστί μοι θοινωμένῳ §249ἐλάφων τε, χρόνιος δ’ εἴμ’ ἀπ’ ἀνθρώπων βορᾶς.
For I am quite full of mountain-dwelling feast; I have had enough of feasting on lions and stags, and it has been a long time since I ate human flesh.
SILENUS: Novel things indeed after the usual, master, are sweeter.
οὐ γὰρ αὖ νεωστί γε §252ἄλλοι πρὸς ἄντρα σοι ἐσαφίκοντο ξένοι.
For indeed not recently have other strangers arrived at your caves.
§253Κύκλωψ, ἄκουσον ἐν μέρει καὶ τῶν ξένων.
ODYSSEUS: Cyclops, listen to the strangers in turn.
We, wanting to buy food, came near your caves from our ship.
§256τοὺς δ’ ἄρνας ἡμῖν οὗτος ἀντ’ οἴνου σκύφου §257ἀπημπόλα τε κἀδίδου πιεῖν λαβὼν §258ἑκὼν ἑκοῦσι, κοὐδὲν ἦν τούτων βίᾳ.
And this man sold the lambs to us in exchange for a cup of wine, and having received it, he drank willingly to willing buyers, and there was nothing of these by force.
SILENUS: But this man says nothing sound of what he speaks, since he was caught selling your goods secretly from you.
§261ἐγώ;
ODYSSEUS: I?
κακῶς γὰρ ἐξόλοι’.
May you perish miserably!
§261bεἰ ψεύδομαι.
SILENUS: If I am lying.
§262μὰ τὸν Ποσειδῶ τὸν τεκόντα σ’, ὦ Κύκλωψ, §263μὰ τὸν μέγαν Τρίτωνα καὶ τὸν Νηρέα, §264μὰ τὴν Καλυψὼ τάς τε Νηρέως κόρας, §265τά θ’ ἱερὰ κύματ’ ἰχθύων τε πᾶν γένος, §266ἀπώμοσ’, ὦ κάλλιστον ὦ Κυκλώπιον, §267ὦ δεσποτίσκε, μὴ τὰ σ’ ἐξοδᾶν ἐγὼ §268ξένοισι χρήματ’.
SILENUS: By Poseidon who begot you, Cyclops, by great Triton and Nereus, by Calypso and the daughters of Nereus, and the sacred waves and all the race of fishes, I swear, O most beautiful, O dear little Cyclops, O little master, that I did not sell your goods to the strangers.
ἢ κακῶς οὗτοι κακοὶ
Or may these evil men perish miserably!