Epeisodion 1
Silenus
(reappearing with food.) Lo! I bring you fat food from the flocks, king Odysseus, the young of bleating sheep
and cheeses of curdled milk without stint. Carry them away with you and be gone from the cave at once, after giving me a drink of merry grape-juice in exchange.
190
Chorus
Alack! yonder comes the Cyclops; what shall we do?
Odysseus
Then truly are we lost, old sir! whither must we fly?
Silenus
Inside this rock, for there ye may conceal yourselves.
195
Odysseus
Dangerous advice of thine, to run into the net!
Silenus
No danger; there are ways of escape in plenty in the rock.
Odysseus
No, never that; for surely Troy will groan and loudly too, if we flee from a single man, when I have oft withstood
with my shield a countless host of Phrygians. Nay, if die we must, we will die a noble death; or, if we live, we will maintain our old renown at least with credit.
200
Cyclops
A light here! hold it up! what is this? what means this idleness, your Bacchic revelry? Here have we no Dionysus,
nor clash of brass, nor roll of drums. Pray, how is it with my newly-born lambs in the caves? are they at the teat, running close to the side of their dams? Is the full amount of milk for cheeses milked out in baskets of rushes?
205
How now? what say you? One of ye will soon be shedding tears from the weight of my club; look up, not down.
210
Chorus
There! my head is bent back till I see Zeus himself; I behold both the stars and Orion.
Cyclops
Is my breakfast quite ready?
Chorus
’Tis laid; be thy throat only ready.
215
Cyclops
Are the bowls too full of milk?
Chorus
Aye, so that thou canst swill off a whole hogshead, so it please thee.
Cyclops
Sheeps’ milk or cows’ milk or a mixture of both?
Chorus
Whichever thou wilt; don’t swallow me, that’s all.
Cyclops
Not I; for you would start kicking in the pit of my stomach and kill me by your antics. (Catching sight of Odysseus and his followers.) Ha! what is this crowd I see near the folds? Some pirates or robbers have put in here. Yes, I really see the lambs from my caves
220
