Stasimon 3
[Episode]
Tightly the pincers shall grip the neck
Chorus
of him who feasts upon his guest; for soon will he lose the light of his eye by fire; already the brand, a tree’s huge limb,
610
lurks amid the embers charred.
615
Oh! come ye then and work his doom, pluck out the maddened Cyclops’ eye, that he may rue his drinking.
And I too fain would leave the Cyclops’ lonely land and see king Bromius, ivy-crowned, the god I sorely miss. Ah! shall I ever come to that?
620
Odysseus
(leaving the cave cautiously.) Silence, ye cattle! I adjure you;
close your lips; make not a sound! I’ll not let a man of you so much as breathe or wink or clear his throat, that yon pest awake not, until the sight in the Cyclops’ eye has passed through the fiery ordeal.
625
Chorus
Silent we stand with ’bated breath.
Odysseus
In then, and mind your fingers grip the brand, for it is splendidly red-hot.
630
Chorus
Thyself ordain who first must seize the blazing bar and burn the Cyclops’ eye out, that we may share alike whate’er betides.
First Half-Chorus
Standing where I am before the door, I am too far off to thrust the fire into his eye.
635
Second Half-Chorus
I have just gone lame.
First Half-Chorus
Why, then, thou art in the same plight as I; for somehow or other I sprained my ankle, standing still.
Odysseus
Sprained thy ankle, standing still?
640
Second Half-Chorus
Yes, and my eyes are full of dust or ashes from somewhere or other.
640
Odysseus
These are sorry fellows, worthless as allies.
Chorus
Because I feel for my back and spine, and express no wish to have my teeth
knocked out, I am a coward, am I? Well, but I know a spell of Orpheus, a most excellent one, to make the brand enter his skull of its own accord, and set alight the one-eyed son of Earth.
645
Odysseus
Long since I knew thou wert by nature such an one,
and now I know it better; I must employ my own friends; but, though thou bring no active aid, cheer us on at any rate, that I may find my friends emboldened by thy encouragement. [Exit Odysseus.
650
Chorus
That will I do; the Carianἐν τῷ Καρὶ κινδυνεύειν to run a risk in the person of the Carian. Latin experimentum facere in corpore vili, i.e. to let some one, whose life is less valuable, run the risk instead of doing so oneself. The Carians, being the earliest mercenaries, were commonly selected for any very dangerous enterprise and so this proverb arose. shall run the risk for us;
and as far as encouragement goes, let the Cyclops smoulder.
655
What ho! my gallants, thrust away, make haste and burn his eye-brow off, the monster’s guest-devouring. Oh! singe and scorch
the shepherd of Aetna; twirl the brand and drag it round and be careful lest in his agony he treat thee to some wantonness.
660
Cyclops
(Bellowing in the cave.) Oh! oh! my once bright eye is burnt to cinders now.
Chorus
Sweet indeed the triumph-song; pray sing it to us, Cyclops.
Cyclops
(from within.) Oh! oh! once more; what outrage on me and what ruin! But never shall ye escape this rocky cave unpunished, ye worthless creatures; for I will stand in the entrance of the cleft and fit my hands into it thus. [Staggering to the entrance.
665
Chorus
Why dost thou cry out, Cyclops?
Chorus
Thou art indeed a sorry sight.
670
Cyclops
Aye, and a sad one, too.
670
Chorus
Didst fall among the coals in a drunken fit?
Cyclops
Noman has undone me.
Chorus
Then there is no one hurting thee after all.
Cyclops
Noman is blinding me.
Chorus
Then art thou not blind.
Cyclops
As blind as thou, forsooth.i.e., as blind as you must be if you cannot see it; but Paley interprets as you say but not as is really the case.
Chorus
How, pray, could no man have made thee blind?
Cyclops
Thou mockest me; but where is this Noman.
675
Chorus
Nowhere, Cyclops.
675
Cyclops
It was the stranger, vile wretch! who proved my ruin, that thou mayst understand rightly, by swilling me with the liquor he gave me.
Chorus
Ah! wine is a terrible foe, hard to wrestle with.
Cyclops
Tell me, I adjure thee, have they escaped or are they still within?
Chorus
Here they are ranged in silence, taking the rock to screen them.
680
Chorus
Close against the rock. Hast caught them?
Cyclops
Trouble on trouble! I have run my skull against the rock and cracked it.
Chorus
Aye, and they are escaping thee.
Cyclops
This way, was it not? ’Twas this way thou saidst.
685
Chorus
No, not this way.
685
Chorus
They are getting round thee on the left.
Cyclops
Alas! I am being mocked; ye jeer me in my evil plight.
Chorus
They are no longer there; but facing thee that stranger stands.
Cyclops
Master of villainy, where, oh! where art thou?
Odysseus
Some way from thee
I am keeping careful guard over the person of Odysseus.
690
Cyclops
What, a new name! hast changed thine?
Odysseus
Yes, Odysseus the name my father gave me. But thou wert doomed to pay for thy unholy feast; for I should have seen Troy burned to but sorry purpose,
unless I had avenged on thee the slaughter of my comrades.
695
Cyclops
Woe is me! ’tis an old oracle coming true; yes, it said I should have my eye put out by thee on thy way home from Troy; but it likewise foretold that thou wouldst surely pay for this,
tossing on the sea for many a day.
700
Odysseus
Go hang! E’en as I say, so have I done. And now will I get me to the beach and start my hollow ship across the sea of Sicily to the land of my fathers.
Cyclops
Thou shalt not; I will break a boulder off this rock
and crush thee, crew and all, beneath my throw. Blind though I be, I will climb the hill, mounting through yonder tunnel.
705
Chorus
As for us, henceforth will we be the servants of Bacchus, sharing the voyage of this hero Odysseus.