§353σύ τ’, ὦ φαεννῶν ἀστέρων οἰκῶν ἕδρας §354Ζεῦ ξένι’, ὅρα τάδ’· εἰ γὰρ αὐτὰ μὴ βλέπεις, §355ἄλλως νομίζῃ Ζεὺς τὸ μηδὲν ὢν θεός.
And you, who inhabit the seats of the bright stars, Zeus, god of hospitality, look upon this; for if you do not look upon it, you are being regarded as Zeus in vain, being a god who is nothing.
§356Εὐρείας φάρυγγος, ὦ Κύκλωψ, §357ἀναστόμου τὸ χεῖλος· ὡς ἕτοιμά σοι §358ἑφθὰ καὶ ὀπτὰ καὶ ἀνθρακιᾶς ἄπο §359χναύειν, βρύκειν, §359aκρεοκοπεῖν μέλη ξένων, §360δασυμάλλῳ ἐν αἰγίδι κλινομένῳ.
O Cyclops of the wide throat, open wide your lips; for ready for you are things boiled and roasted and from the hot coals, to gnaw, to devour, to carve up the limbs of the strangers, as you recline on your thick-wooled goat-skin.
Do not, do not share any with me; alone by yourself, fill the hull of your ferry-boat.
§363χαιρέτω μὲν αὖλις ἅδε, §364χαιρέτω δὲ θυμάτων §365ἀποβώμιος ἃν ἔχει θυσίαν §366Κύκλωψ Αἰτναῖος ξενικῶν §367κρεῶν κεχαρμένος βορᾷ.
Farewell to this cave, and farewell to the sacrifice, far from the altar, which he keeps, the Etnaean Cyclops, rejoicing in the meal of the strangers' flesh.
§369Νηλής, ὦ τλᾶμον, ὅστις §370ἐφεστίους ἱκτῆρας ἐκθύει δόμων, §373ἑφθά τε δαινύμενος, μυσαροῖσί τ’ ὀδοῦσιν §372κόπτων βρύκων §374θέρμ’ ἀπ’ ἀνθράκων κρέα, §374bΜή μοι μὴ προσδίδου· §374cμόνος μόνῳ γέμιζε πορθμίδος σκάφος.
Merciless, O wretched one, is he who slaughters suppliants of the hearth from his home, feasting on boiled meat, and with defiled teeth cutting and devouring hot meat from the coals, Do not, do not share any with me; alone by yourself, fill the hull of your ferry-boat.
§374dχαιρέτω μὲν αὖλις ἅδε, §374eχαιρέτω δὲ θυμάτων §374fἀποβώμιος ἃν ἔχει θυσίαν §374gΚύκλωψ Αἰτναῖος ξενικῶν §374hκρεῶν κεχαρμένος βορᾷ.
Farewell to this cave, and farewell to the sacrifice, far from the altar, which he keeps, the Etnaean Cyclops, rejoicing in the meal of the strangers' flesh.
ODYSSEUS: O Zeus, what shall I say, having seen terrible things inside the cave, and unbelievable, resembling myths, not the deeds of mortals?
§377τί δ’ ἔστ’, Ὀδυσσεῦ;
CHORUS: What is it, Odysseus?
μῶν τεθοίναται σέθεν §378φίλους ἑταίρους ἀνοσιώτατος Κύκλωψ;
Has the most impious Cyclops feasted upon your dear companions?
ODYSSEUS: Two of them, indeed, having observed them and weighed them in his hands, those who had the most well-nourished thickness of flesh.
§381πῶς, ὦ ταλαίπωρ’, ἦτε πάσχοντες τάδε;
CHORUS: How, O wretched one, did you experience these things?
§382ἐπεὶ πετραίαν τήνδ’ ἐσήλθομεν χθόνα, §383ἀνέκαυσε μὲν πῦρ πρῶτον, ὑψηλῆς δρυὸς §384κορμοὺς πλατείας ἐσχάρας βαλὼν ἔπι, §385τρισσῶν ἁμαξῶν ὡς ἀγώγιμον βάρος.
ODYSSEUS: When we entered this rocky place, first he kindled a fire, throwing onto the wide hearth logs of a tall oak tree, about the weight of three wagon-loads.
Then on the ground he spread a bed of fir leaves near the flame of the fire.
And he filled a mixing-bowl of about ten amphoras, having milked the cows, pouring in the white milk.
And he placed beside him an ivy-wood cup, about three cubits in width, and in depth it appeared to be four.
§392καὶ χάλκεον λέβητ’ ἐπέζεσεν πυρί, §393ὀβελούς τ’, ἄκρους μὲν ἐγκεκαυμένους πυρί, §394ξεστοὺς δὲ δρεπάνῳ τἄλλα, παλιούρου κλάδων, §395Αἰτναῖά τε σφαγεῖα πελέκεων γνάθοις.
And he made a bronze cauldron boil over the fire, and spits, their tips indeed charred in the fire, but the rest smoothed with a sickle, made from branches of buckthorn, and Etnaean slaughter-bowls for the jaws of axes.
§396ὡς δ’ ἦν ἕτοιμα πάντα τῷ θεοστυγεῖ §397Ἅιδου μαγείρῳ, φῶτε συμμάρψας δύο §398ἔσφαζ’ ἑταίρων τῶν ἐμῶν, ῥυθμῷ θ’ ἐνὶ §399τὸν μὲν λέβητος ἐς κύτος χαλκήλατον, §400τὸν δ’ αὖ, τένοντος ἁρπάσας ἄκρου ποδός, §401παίων πρὸς ὀξὺν στόνυχα πετραίου λίθου, §402ἐγκέφαλον ἐξέρρανε, καὶ καθαρπάσας §403λάβρῳ μαχαίρᾳ σάρκας ἐξώπτα πυρί §404τὰ δ’ ἐς λέβητ’ ἐφῆκεν ἕψεσθαι μέλη
And when everything was ready for that god-hated cook of Hades, grasping two men of my companions he slaughtered them, and in a single rhythm he threw one into the hollow of the bronze-beaten cauldron, and the other, seizing him by the tendon of his foot's end, striking him against the sharp point of a rocky stone, he scattered his brains; and having cut up the flesh with a greedy knife, he roasted it on the fire, and threw the limbs into the cauldron to boil.
And I, wretched man, shedding tears from my eyes, kept close to the Cyclops and served him.
But the others, like birds in the recesses of the rock, remained cowering, and there was no blood in their skin.
§409ἐπεὶ δ’ ἑταίρων τῶν ἐμῶν πλησθεὶς βορᾶς §410ἀνέπεσε, φάρυγος αἰθέρ’ ἐξιεὶς βαρύν, §411ἐσῆλθέ μοί τι θεῖον·
But when, filled with the meal of my companions, he fell back, sending out a heavy breath from his throat, a certain divine idea came to me.
ἐμπλήσας σκύφος §412Μάρωνος αὐτῷ τοῦδε προσφέρω πιεῖν, §413λέγων τάδ’· Ὦ τοῦ ποντίου θεοῦ Κύκλωψ, §414σκέψαι τόδ’ οἷον Ἑλλὰς ἀμπέλων ἄπο §415θεῖον κομίζει πῶμα, Διονύσου γάνος. §416ὃ δ’ ἔκπλεως ὢν τῆς ἀναισχύντου βορᾶς §417ἐδέξατ’ ἔσπασέν τ’ ἄμυστιν ἑλκύσας §418κἀπῄνεσ’ ἄρας χεῖρα· Φίλτατε ξένων, §419καλὸν τὸ πῶμα δαιτὶ πρὸς καλῇ δίδως. §420ἡσθέντα δ’ αὐτὸν ὡς ἐπῃσθόμην ἐγώ, §421ἄλλην ἔδωκα κύλικα, γιγνώσκων ὅτι §422τρώσει νιν οἷνος καὶ δίκην δώσει τάχα.
Having filled a cup, I offered him this wine of Maron to drink, saying these things: "O Cyclops, son of the sea god, look at this, what a divine drink Greece brings from the vines, the joy of Dionysus." And he, being full of his shameless meal, received it and drained it at a single draught, and praised me, raising his hand: "Dearest of strangers, a beautiful drink you give to go with a beautiful feast." And when I perceived that he was pleased, I gave him another cup, knowing that the wine would trip him up and he would soon pay the penalty.
§423καὶ δὴ πρὸς ᾠδὰς εἷρπ’.
And indeed he turned to singing.
ἐγὼ δ’ ἐπεγχέων §424ἄλλην ἐπ’ ἄλλῃ σπλάγχν’ ἐθέρμαινον ποτῷ.
But I, pouring in cup after cup, warmed his innards with the drink.
And he sings alongside my weeping sailors, out of tune, and the cave resounds.
ἐξελθὼν δ’ ἐγὼ §427σιγῇ.
But I came out in silence.
σὲ σῶσαι κἄμ’, ἐὰν βούλῃ, θέλω.
I want to save you and myself, if you wish.
§428ἀλλ’ εἴπατ’ εἴτε χρῄζετ’ εἴτ’ οὐ χρῄζετε §429φεύγειν ἄμεικτον ἄνδρα καὶ τὰ Βακχίου §430ναίειν μέλαθρα Δαναΐδων νυμφῶν μέτα.
But tell me whether you wish or do not wish to flee this unsociable man and to dwell in the halls of Bacchus together with the Danaid nymphs.
§431ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔνδον σὸς πατὴρ τάδ’ ᾔνεσεν.
For your father inside has assented to this.
§432ἀλλ’ ἀσθενὴς γὰρ κἀποκερδαίνων ποτοῦ, §433ὥσπερ πρὸς ἰξῷ τῇ κύλικι λελημμένος §434πτέρυγας ἀλύει· σὺ δέ—νεανίας γὰρ εἶ— §435σώθητι μετ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ τὸν ἀρχαῖον φίλον §436Διόνυσον ἀνάλαβ’, οὐ Κύκλωπι προσφερῆ.
But indeed he is weak and snatching at the drink, caught by the cup as if by birdlime, he flutters his wings; but you—for you are a young man— save yourself with me, and recover your old friend Dionysus, who is not like the Cyclops.
CHORUS: O dearest friend, if only we might see that day, having escaped the impious head of the Cyclops.