The Odyssey (Oxford World's Classics Hardback Collection), page 26
somehow get clear from deadly Charybdis and sail on, and
then fight off Scylla when she tries to carry off my men?”
‘So I spoke, and she, bright among goddesses, at once answered:115
“Stubborn man! Here you are again, looking for fighting
and trouble! Will you not yield even to the immortal gods?
I tell you, Scylla is not human, but an immortal affliction,
a terrible thing, obdurate, savage, and impossible to fight.
There is no defence; flight from her is the best course.120
If you waste time near her rock putting on your armour
I am afraid she will burst out and attack you again, and
grab men from the ship to match the number of her heads.
No; you must drive on with full power, and call on Crataïs,
Scylla’s mother, who bore her to be a torment to mortals,125
and she will then prevent her from darting out at you again.
‘ “Next you will come to is the isle of Thrinacia, where many
cattle and fat sheep belonging to Helios the Sun-god graze:
seven herds of cattle, and as many again of fine fleecy sheep,
with fifty head in each. No births take place in these flocks,130
nor do any of them ever die; their shepherds are goddesses,
nymphs with beautiful hair—Phaëthusa and Lampetië,
whom bright Neaera bore to Hyperion* the Sun-god.
When their revered mother had given birth and raised them
she sent them to a new home on the far-off isle of Thrinacia135
to watch over their father’s sheep and crook-horned cattle.
If you fix your mind on home and leave them unharmed,
you may all still reach Ithaca, though after much suffering;
but if you harm them, I predict destruction for you, your ship,
and your companions. If you yourself escape, you will reach140
your home late, in a sorry state, after losing all your men.”
‘So she spoke, and Dawn appeared on her golden throne.
The bright goddess departed, directing her steps inland;
and I made my way back to my ship, and ordered my
crew to get themselves on board and slip the stern-cables,145
and without more ado they embarked and sat at their oarlocks,
and sitting in rows they struck the grey salt sea with their oars.
Then lovely-haired Circe, the awesome goddess speaking with
a mortal voice, sent us a following breeze to fill our sail, a
good friend, which blew astern of our dark-prowed ship.150
We secured the tackle all along the ship and sat still,
and the wind and the steersman held her on course.
Only then did I address my companions, troubled at heart:
‘ “Friends, it is not right that only one or two should know
the prophecies that Circe, bright among goddesses, has155
given me; so I shall tell you, and then we shall all know,
whether we die, or escape, evading death and destruction.
The first thing she said was that we must keep clear of the
divine Sirens’ song as they sit in their flowery meadow.
Only I, she said, should hear their voice; you must bind me160
painfully tight with ropes, so that I stay immobile in place,
upright on the mast-box, with the ropes’ ends lashed round
the mast. And if I entreat you and order you to release me,
you must bind me more tightly, using even more ropes.”
‘So I explained everything to my companions, in detail.165
For a while the well-built ship sailed swiftly on its way
towards the Sirens’ island, sped on by the favourable breeze.
But then the wind dropped suddenly, and there followed a
still, airless calm; some divine power had hushed the waves.
My companions stood up, and lowering the sail stowed it in170
the hollow part of the ship, and then, sitting at their oars, they
beat the water into white foam with their polished pine blades.
Meanwhile I fetched a great wheel of wax and with the sharp
bronze cut it into small pieces, which I set about kneading in
my brawny hands; and the wax quickly grew warm under my175
great strength and the rays of the Sun-god, Hyperion’s son.
With this I blocked the ears of all my crew, one after the other,
and they bound me hand and foot where I stood, upright
on the mast-box, and lashed the ropes’ ends to the mast; then
they took their seats and struck the grey sea with their oars.180
When we were as far away in our rapid course as a man’s voice
carries when he shouts, the Sirens did not fail to notice our
swift ship drawing close, and they began their clear-voiced song:
“Odysseus of many tales, great glory of the Achaeans, draw near;
bring your ship into land, and listen to our twofold song!185
No man has ever sailed past this place in his black ship without
hearing the honey-toned voice that issues from our lips, and
then, full of delight, going on his way a much wiser man.
You see, we know everything that both Trojans and Argives
endured on Troy’s wide plain, by the will of the gods; and we190
know too all that happens on the earth that nourishes many.”
‘So they sang, in their ravishing voices. My heart longed to
listen, and I kept signing with my eyebrows, trying to tell
my men to release me; but they bent to their oars and rowed on.
Straightaway Perimedes and Eurylochus rose to their feet and 195
set about binding me with more ropes, tying them more tightly.
Only when they had driven the ship well past the Sirens, and
we could no longer hear their voices or the words of their song,
did my trusty companions quickly remove the wax with which
I had blocked their ears, and set me free from my bonds.200
‘When we had left the island behind us, I soon saw a cloud
of spray and a heavy swell, and heard a booming noise. My
companions were terrified; the oars all flew from their hands
and fell with a splash into the water, and the ship stopped still,
since they could no longer wield the long oars to drive it on.205
I went up and down the ship, stopping beside each of
my companions and encouraging them with gentle words:
“Friends, there are horrors ahead which we must undergo;
but what is coming our way is no worse than the time when
the Cyclops imprisoned us in his hollow cave by violent force;210
yet we escaped even from there, by my courage, scheming, and
forethought, and I think we shall one day remember this too.
So listen now, and let us all be resolved to do as I say;
you must all take your seats at your oarlocks, and beat the
salt sea’s deep surf with your oars, in the hope that Zeus will215
somehow grant that we escape unscathed from this danger too.
My orders for you, steersman, are these, and you must store them
in your mind, since you handle the hollow ship’s steering-oar:
hold the ship well away from that cloud of spray and swell,
and head for this rock, in case she veers the other way220
without your noticing, and so you pitch us into disaster.”
‘So I spoke, and they without more ado obeyed my words.
I said no more about Scylla, the inescapable danger,
in case my crew should be terrified at my words and
forget to row, and huddle together in the ship’s bilge.225
But then I forgot the galling command that Circe
had given me, telling me not to arm myself in any way.
I arrayed myself in my famed armour and picked up two
long spears in my hands, and set off for the foredeck,
because from there I expected to catch my first sight of230
rock-dwelling Scylla, who was to bring misery to my men;
but I could not see her anywhere, even though my eyes grew
weary with peering everywhere on the mist-covered rock.
‘So, wailing, we sailed on through the narrow passage.
On one beam was Scylla, and on the other bright Charybdis235
made a hideous noise as she gulped the salt water down.
Whenever she spewed it out she churned up the whole sea,
seething like a cauldron on a great fire, and the spray
was flung upwards to fall on the rocky crags on both sides;
but every time she sucked the sea’s salt water back down,240
the whole of her boiling inner gulf was revealed, and the
rock roared terribly around, exposing the seabed far below,
dark with sand; and pale terror gripped my companions.
We gazed at Charybdis, fearing destruction; and while we
looked, Scylla snatched six of my crew from the hollow245
ship, the best of my men in the strength of their hands.
When I looked back at the swift ship and my companions,
I saw their arms and legs flailing above me, high in the air—
screaming, and in their hearts’ agony calling on me by
name, though this was the last time they were to do so.250
As a fisherman on a jutting rock with a long rod scatters
his bait to lure little fishes, and casts into the sea his
line with its horn tube,* made from a field-reared ox,
and he hooks one, pulling it gasping from the water;
so my men were lifted aloft towards the rocks, gasping,255
and Scylla at her cave entrance gobbled them up, shrieking
and stretching out their hands to me in their dreadful agony.
This was the most pitiable sight my eyes endured, of all the
hardships I suffered while exploring the pathways of the sea.
‘When we had escaped from the rocks, and from terrible260
Charybdis and Scylla, we soon came to the god’s splendid
island, where lived the fine, broad-browed cattle of Hyperion
the Sun-god, and also numerous flocks of his sturdy sheep.
Even though our black ship was still out on the open sea,
I could hear the lowing of cattle being driven to stalls265
for the night, and the sheep’s bleating; and there came into
my mind the words of the blind seer, Teiresias the Theban,
and of Circe the Aeaean, who time and again had told me to
steer clear of the island of the Sun who brings joy to mortals.
So then, troubled at heart, I addressed my companions:270
“You have endured much, comrades, but you must listen to my
words, and I will tell you the prophecy spoken by Teiresias,
and by Circe the Aeaean, who time and again told me to
steer clear of the island of the Sun who brings joy to mortals.
Both said many times that our most terrible danger lay there.275
So look sharp, and drive our black ship well past the island.”
‘So I spoke, and their hearts were shattered within them,
and immediately Eurylochus answered me with bitter words:
“You are a hard man, Odysseus! Your energy never flags,
and your limbs never weary; you must be made all of iron,280
if you are going to forbid men exhausted by toil and lack
of sleep to set foot on dry land, on to this sea-girt island
where we could once again make ourselves a welcome supper.
You are telling us instead to keep drifting on through the
fast-dropping night, and go wandering from this island over285
the mist-shrouded sea. At night fierce winds, ship-wreckers,
spring up; and where could a man escape sheer destruction
if a sudden stormy squall should chance to blow up, from either
the South Wind or the evil-gusting West, which can especially
smash a ship to pieces, despite the will of our lords the gods?290
No, I tell you—let us now give way to black night, and stay
by our swift ship and prepare ourselves a meal; and at dawn
we shall embark and launch our ship on to the broad deep.”
‘So spoke Eurylochus, and the rest of my crew agreed
with him. It was then I realized some god was planning evil295
for us, and I addressed him, speaking in winged words:
“Eurylochus, I am but one man, and you force me to it.
But listen, all of you; you must swear a mighty oath to me,
that if we chance to find a herd of cattle or a grand flock
of sheep, no one will in any way yield to fatal recklessness300
and kill a single ox or sheep; instead you must be patient, and
content to eat the food that the immortal Circe has given us.”
‘So I spoke, and they without more ado swore as I had ordered them.
When they had sworn to hold back, and ended their oath,
we anchored our well-built ship in a harbour with a curving shore,305
with a sweet-water spring nearby; my companions went ashore
and then set about preparing our supper in their skilful way.
When they had put away their desire for eating and drinking
they called to mind their dear comrades and wept for them,
those whom Scylla had seized from the hollow ship and eaten;310
and as they lamented sweet sleep came over them. When
it was the third part of the night, and the stars had crossed
their zenith, Zeus who gathers the clouds roused a wind
with an astonishing blast against us, and hid the earth and
sea alike in clouds; and night rushed down from the high sky.315
But when early-born Dawn with her rosy fingers appeared
we beached our ship and then hauled her into a hollow cave,
where lovely nymphs had their dancing-floors and gatherings.
Then I called an assembly, and addressed my companions:
“My friends, since there is food and drink in our swift ship320
let us keep clear of the cattle, in case we suffer some mishap;
these cattle and sturdy sheep are the property of an awesome
god, Helios the Sun, who observes all and hears all things.”
‘So I spoke, and their proud hearts were persuaded.
But for a full month the South Wind blew ceaselessly, and325
then the only winds that sprang up were the East and South.
For as long as my men had victuals and red wine they kept
away from the cattle, since they were eager to save their
lives; but when the ship’s provisions gave out altogether,
they were compelled to range far afield in search of prey,330
hunting with bent hooks for fish or birds, anything
that came to hand; for hunger kept tormenting their bellies.
So I went off through the island on my own, to pray to
the gods, hoping that one of them might show me my way.
When I had gone far enough in the island to avoid my men,335
to a place sheltered from the wind, I washed my hands
and prayed to all the gods who live on Olympus; and they
then poured a sweet sleep over my eyelids. Meanwhile
Eurylochus was setting out a wicked plan before his friends:
‘ “We have suffered much, comrades, but you must listen to340
my words. All ways of dying are hateful to wretched mortals,
but the most miserable way to meet one’s doom is by hunger.
So come, let us drive off the best of the Sun-god’s cattle, and
sacrifice them to the gods who dwell in the wide high sky.
Then, if we ever manage to reach Ithaca, our native land,345
we shall before anything else build a rich temple to Hyperion
the Sun-god, and deposit many splendid offerings in it.
But if the god is angry because of his straight-horned cattle
and wishes to wreck our ship, and the other gods follow him,
then I would rather lose my life with one last gulp of sea-water350
than have it slowly squeezed out of me on some desolate island.”
‘So spoke Eurylochus, and his companions agreed with him.
Without more ado they rounded up the best of the Sun-god’s cattle;
these were nearby, for the crook-horned beasts with their broad
foreheads were grazing not far from the dark-prowed ship.355
My men then surrounded the cattle and prayed to the gods,
and picked some fresh leaves from a high-branched oak tree,
since they had no white barley* in the well-benched ship.
When they had prayed and slaughtered the beasts and flayed
them, they cut out the thigh-bones and wrapped them in fat,360
making a double layer, and laid raw hunks of meat on top.
Then, since they had no wine to pour over the blazing sacrifice,
they made libations with water while cooking all the entrails.
When the thigh-bones were quite burnt and they had tasted the guts,
they chopped the rest into pieces and threaded them onto skewers.365
‘It was at this point that sweet sleep suddenly left my eyelids,
and I set off for the swift ship and the shore of the sea.
When I had reached a place not far from the well-balanced ship,
the sweet savour of cooking meat came drifting around me;
I let out a cry of misery, and shouted aloud to the immortal gods:370
“Father Zeus, and you other blessed gods who live for ever!
So it was to drive me into delusion that you lulled me into that
cruel sleep, while my men planned this monstrous deed back here!”
‘Swiftly a messenger, Lampetië of the long robe, came to the
Sun-god Hyperion, with the news that we had killed his cattle.375
Straightaway he addressed the immortals, furious in his heart:
