{"collection":"Classics","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/cla/eurip/cyclops.htm","path":"cla/eurip/cyclops.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/cla/eurip/cyclops.htm","text":"The Cyclops\nBy Euripides\nTranslated by E. P. Coleridge\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nDramatis Personae\nSILENUS, old servant of the CYCLOPS\nCHORUS OF SATYRS\nODYSSEUS\nTHE CYCLOPS\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nBefore the great cave of the CYCLOPS at the foot of Mount Aetna. SILENUS\nenters. He has a rake with him, with which he cleans up the ground\nin front of the cave as he soliloquizes.\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nSILENUS O Bromius, unnumbered are the toils I bear because of thee,\nno less now than when I was young and hale; first, when thou wert\ndriven mad by Hera and didst leave the mountain nymphs, thy nurses;\nnext, when in battle with earth-born spearmen I stood beside thee\non the right as squire, and slew Enceladus, smiting him full in the\nmiddle of his targe with my spear. Come, though, let me see; must\nI confess 'twas all a dream? No, by Zeus! since I really showed his\nspoils to the Bacchic god. And now am I enduring to the full a toil\nstill worse than those. For when Hera sent forth a race of Tyrrhene\npirates against thee, that thou mightest be smuggled far away, I,\nas soon as the news reached me, sailed in quest of thee with my children;\nand, taking the helm myself, I stood on the end of the stern and steered\nour trim craft; and my sons, sitting at the oars, made the grey billows\nfroth and foam as they sought thee, my liege, But just as we had come\nnigh Malea in our course, an east wind blew upon the ship and drove\nus hither to the rock of Aetna, where in lonely caverns dwell the\none-eyed children of ocean's god, the murdering Cyclopes. Captured\nby one of them we are slaves in his house; Polyphemus they call him\nwhom we serve; and instead of Bacchic revelry we are herding a godless\nCyclops's flocks; and so it is my children, striplings as they are,\ntend the young thereof on the edge of the downs; while my appointed\ntask is to stay here and fill the troughs and sweep out the cave,\nor wait upon the ungodly Cyclops at his impious feasts. His orders\nnow compel obedience; I have to scrape out his house with the rake\nyou see, so as to receive the Cyclops, my absent master, and his sheep\nin clean caverns.\nBut already I see my children driving their browsing flocks towards\nme.\nWhat means this? is the beat of feet in the Sicinnis dance the same\nto you now as when ye attended the Bacchic god in his revelries and\nmade your way with dainty steps to the music of lyres to the halls\nof Althaea? (The CHORUS OF SATYRS enters, driving a flock of goats\nand sheep. Servants follow them.)\nCHORUS (singing, strophe)\nOffspring of well-bred sires and dams, pray whither wilt thou be\ngone from me to the rocks? Hast thou not here a gentle breeze, and\ngrass to browse, and water from the eddying stream set near the cave\nin troughs? and are not thy young ones bleating for thee? Pst! pst!\nwilt thou not browse here, here on the dewy slope? Ho! ho ere long\nwill I cast a stone at thee. Away, away! O horned one, to the fold-keeper\nof the Cyclops, the country-ranging shepherd.\n(antistrophe)\nLoosen thy bursting udder; welcome to thy teats the kids, whom thou\nleavest in the lambkins' pens. Those little bleating kids, asleep\nthe livelong day, miss thee; wilt then leave at last the rich grass\npastures on the peaks of Aetna and enter the fold?...\n(epode)\nHere we have no Bromian god; no dances here, or Bacchantes thyrsus-bearing;\nno roll of drums, or drops of sparkling wine by gurgling founts; nor\nis it now with Nymphs in Nysa I sing a song of Bacchus, Bacchus! to\nthe queen of love, in quest of whom I once sped on with Bacchantes,\nwhite of foot. Dear friend, dear Bacchic god, whither art roaming\nalone, waving thy auburn locks, while I, thy minister, do service\nto the one-eyed Cyclops, a slave and wanderer I, clad in this wretched\ngoat-skin dress, severed from thy love?\nSILENUS Hush, children! and bid our servants fold the flocks in the\nrock-roofed cavern.\nLEADER OF THE CHORUS (to Servants) Away! (To SILENUS) But prithee,\nwhy such haste, father?\nSILENUS I see the hull of a ship from Hellas at the shore, and men,\nthat wield the oar, on their way to this cave with some chieftain.\nAbout their necks they carry empty vessels and pitchers for water;\nthey are in want of food. Luckless strangers! who can they be? They\nknow not what manner of man our master Polyphemus is, to have set\nfoot here in his cheerless abode and come to the jaws of the cannibal\nCyclops in an evil hour. But hold ye your peace, that we may inquire\nwhence they come to the peak of Sicilian Aetna. (ODYSSEUS and his\ncompanions enter. They carry baskets for provisions and water jars.)\nODYSSEUS Pray tell us, sirs, of some river-spring whence we might\ndraw a draught to slake our thirst, or of someone willing to sell\nvictuals to mariners in need.\nWhy, what is this? We seem to have chanced upon a city of the Bromian\ngod; here by the caves I see a group of Satyrs. To the eldest first\nI bid \"All hail!\nSILENUS All hail, sir! tell me who thou art, and name thy country.\nODYSSEUS Odysseus of Ithaca, king of the Cephallenians' land.\nSILENUS I know him for a prating knave, one of Sisyphus' shrewd offspring.\nODYSSEUS I am the man; abuse me not.\nSILENUS Whence hast thou sailed hither to Sicily?\nODYSSEUS From Ilium and the toils of Troy.\nSILENUS How was that? didst thou not know the passage to thy native\nland?\nODYSSEUS Tempestuous winds drove me hither against my will.\nSILENUS God wot! thou art in the same plight as I am.\nODYSSEUS Why, wert thou too drifted hither against thy will?\nSILENUS I was, as I pursued the pirates who carried Bromius off.\nODYSSEUS What land is this and who are its inhabitants?\nSILENUS This is mount Aetna, the highest point in Sicily.\nODYSSEUS But where are the city-walls and ramparts?\nSILENUS There are none; the headlands, sir, are void of men.\nODYSSEUS Who then possess the land? the race of wild creatures?\nSILENUS The Cyclopes, who have caves, not roofed houses.\nODYSSEUS Obedient unto whom? or is the power in the people's hands?\nSILENUS They are rovers; no man obeys another in anything.\nODYSSEUS Do they sow Demeter's grain, or on what do they live?\nSILENUS On milk and cheese and flesh of sheep.\nODYSSEUS Have they the drink of Bromius, the juice of the vine?\nSILENUS No indeed! and thus it is a joyless land they dwell in.\nODYSSEUS Are they hospitable and reverent towards strangers?\nSILENUS Strangers, they say, supply the daintiest meat.\nODYSSEUS What, do they delight in killing men and eating them?\nSILENUS No one has ever arrived here without being butchered.\nODYSSEUS Where is the Cyclops himself? inside his dwelling?\nSILENUS He is gone hunting wild beasts with hounds on Aetna.\nODYSSEUS Dost know then what to do, that we may be gone from the\nland?\nSILENUS Not I, Odysseus; but I would do anything for thee.\nODYSSEUS Sell us food, of which we are in need.\nSILENUS There is nothing but flesh, as I said.\nODYSSEUS Well, even that is a pleasant preventive of hunger.\nSILENUS And there is cheese curdled with fig-juice, and the milk\nof kine.\nODYSSEUS Bring them out; a man should see his purchases.\nSILENUS But tell me, how much gold wilt thou give me in exchange?\nODYSSEUS No gold bring I, but Dionysus' drink.\nSILENUS (joyfully) Most welcome words! I have long been wanting\nthat.\nODYSSEUS Yes, it was Maron, the god's son, who gave me a draught.\nSILENUS What! Maron whom once I dandled in these arms?\nODYSSEUS The son of the Bacchic god, that thou mayst learn more certainly.\nSILENUS Is it inside the ship, or hast thou it with thee?\nODYSSEUS This, as thou seest, is the skin that holds it, old sir.\nSILENUS Why, that would not give me so much as a mouthful.\nODYSSEUS This, and twice as much again as will run from the skin.\nSILENUS Fair the rill thou speakest of, delicious to me.\nODYSSEUS Shall I let thee taste the wine unmixed, to start with?\nSILENUS A reasonable offer; for of a truth a taste invites the purchase.\nODYSSEUS Well, I haul about a cup as well as the skin.\nSILENUS Come, let it gurgle in, that I may revive my memory by a\npull at it.\nODYSSEUS (pouring) There then!\nSILENUS (smelling it) Ye gods! what a delicious scent it has!\nODYSSEUS What! didst thou see it?\nSILENUS No, i' faith, but I smell it.\nODYSSEUS Taste it then, that thy approval may not stop at words.\nSILENUS (taking a drink) Zounds! Bacchus is inviting me to dance;\nha! ha!\nODYSSEUS Did it not gurgle finely down thy throttle?\nSILENUS Aye that it did, to the ends of my fingers.\nODYSSEUS Well, we will give thee money besides.\nSILENUS Only undo the skin, and never mind the money.\nODYSSEUS Bring out the cheeses then and lambs.\nSILENUS I will do so, with small thought of any master. For let me\nhave a single cup of that and I would turn madman, giving in exchange\nfor it the flocks of every Cyclops and then throwing myself into the\nsea from the Leucadian rock, once I have been well drunk and smoothed\nout my wrinkled brow. For if a man rejoice not in his drinking, he\nis mad; for in drinking it's possible for this to stand up straight,\nand then to fondle breasts, and to caress well tended locks, and there\nis dancing withal, and oblivion of woe. Shall not I then purchase\nso rare a drink, bidding the senseless Cyclops and his central eye\ngo hang? (SILENUS goes into the cave.)\nLEADER Hearken, Odysseus, let us hold some converse with thee.\nODYSSEUS Well, do so; ours is a meeting of friends.\nLEADER Did you take Troy and capture the famous Helen?\nODYSSEUS Aye, and we destroyed the whole family of Priam.\nLEADER After capturing your blooming prize, were all of you in turn\nher lovers? for she likes variety in husbands; the traitress! the\nsight of a man with embroidered breeches on his legs and a golden\nchain about his neck so fluttered her, that she left Menelaus, her\nexcellent little husband. Would there had never been a race of women\nborn into the world at all, unles it were for me alone!\nSILENUS (reappearing with food) Lo! I bring you fat food from the\nflocks, king Odysseus, the young of bleating sheep and cheeses of\ncurdled milk without stint. Carry them away with you and begone from\nthe cave at once, after giving me a drink of merry grape-juice in\nexchange.\nLEADER Alack! yonder comes the Cyclops; what shall we do?\nODYSSEUS Then truly are we lost, old sir! whither must we fly?\nSILENUS Inside this rock, for there ye may conceal yourselves.\nODYSSEUS Dangerous advice of thine, to run into the net!\nSILENUS No danger; there are ways of escape in plenty in the rock.\nODYSSEUS No, never that; for surely Troy will groan and loudly too,\nif we flee from a single man, when I have oft withstood with my shield\na countless host of Phrygians. Nay, if die we must, we will die a\nnoble death; or, if we live, we will maintain our old renown at least\nwith credit. (The CYCLOPS enters as SILENUS goes into the cave. The\nCYCLOPS, not noticing ODYSSEUS and his companions, addresses the CHORUS\nin anger.)\nCYCLOPS A light here! hold it up! what is this? what means this idleness,\nyour Bacchic revelry? Here have we no Dionysus, nor clash of brass,\nnor roll of drums. Pray, how is it with my newly-born lambs in the\ncaves? are they at the teat, running close to the side of their dams?\nIs the full amount of milk for cheeses milked out in baskets of rushes?\nHow now? what say you? One of ye will soon be shedding tears from\nthe weight of my club; look up, not down.\nLEADER There! my head is bent back till I see Zeus himself; I behold\nboth the stars and Orion.\nCYCLOPS Is my breakfast quite ready?\nLEADER 'Tis laid; be thy throat only ready.\nCYCLOPS Are, the bowls too full of milk?\nLEADER Aye, so that thou canst swill off a whole hogshead, so it\nplease thee.\nCYCLOPS Sheep's milk or cows' milk or a mixture of both?\nLEADER Whichever thou wilt; don't swallow me, that's all.\nCYCLOPS Not I; for you would start kicking in the pit of my stomach\nand kill me by your antics. (Catching sight Of ODYSSEUS and his followers)\nHa! what is this crowd I see near the folds? Some pirates or robbers\nhave put in here. (SILENUS comes out of the cave. He has made himself\nappear as though he had just suffered a terrible beating.) Yes, I\nreally see the lambs from my caves tied up there with twisted osiers,\ncheese-presses scattered about, and old Silenus with his bald pate\nall swollen with blows.\nSILENUS Oh! oh! poor wretch that I am, pounded to a fever.\nCYCLOPS By whom? who has been pounding thy head, old sirrah?\nSILENUS These are the culprits, Cyclops, all because I refused to\nlet them plunder thee.\nCYCLOPS Did they not know I was a god and sprung from gods?\nSILENUS That was what I told them, but they persisted in plundering\nthy goods, and, in spite of my efforts, they actually began to eat\nthe cheese and carry off the lambs; and they said they would tie thee\nin a three-cubit pillory and tear out thy bowels by force at thy navel,\nand flay thy back thoroughly with the scourge; and then, after binding\nthee, fling thy carcase down among the benches of their ship to sell\nto someone for heaving up stones, or else throw thee into a mill.\nCYCLOPS Oh, indeed! Be off then and sharpen my cleavers at once;\nheap high the faggots and light them; for they shall be slain forthwith\nand fill this maw of mine, what time I pick my feast hot from the\ncoals, waiting not for carvers, and fish up the rest from the cauldron\nboiled and sodden; for I have had my fill of mountain-fare and sated\nmyself with banquets of lions and stags, but 'tis long I have been\nwithout human flesh.\nSILENUS Truly, master, a change like this is all the sweeter after\neveryday fare; for just of late there have been no fresh arrivals\nof strangers at these caves.\nODYSSEUS Hear the strangers too in turn, Cyclops. We had come near\nthe cave from our ship, wishing to procure provisions by purchase,\nwhen this fellow sold us the lambs and handed them over for a stoup\nof wine to drink himself, a voluntary act on both sides, there was\nno violence employed at all. No, there is not a particle of truth\nin the story he tells; now that he has been caught selling thy property\nbehind thy back.\nSILENUS I? Perdition catch thee!\nODYSSEUS If I am lying, yes.\nSILENUS (in agitation) O Cyclops, by thy sire Poseidon, by mighty\nTriton and Nereus, by Calypso and the daughters of Nereus, by the\nsacred billows and all the race of fishes! I swear to thee, most noble\nsir, dear little Cyclops, master mine, it is not I who sell thy goods\nto strangers, else may these children, dearly as I love them, come\nto an evil end.\nLEADER Keep that for thyself; with my own eyes I saw thee sell the\ngoods to the strangers; and if I lie, perdition catch my sire! but\ninjure not the strangers.\nCYCLOPS Ye lie; for my part I put more faith in him than Rhadamanthus,\ndeclaring him more just. But I have some questions to ask. Whence\nsailed ye, strangers? of what country are you? what city was it nursed\nyour childhood?\nODYSSEUS We are Ithacans by birth, and have been driven from our\ncourse by the winds of the sea on our way from Ilium, after sacking\nits citadel.\nCYCLOPS Are ye the men who visited on Ilium, that bordereth on Scamander's\nwave, the rape of Helen, worst of women?\nODYSSEUS We are; that was the fearful labour we endured.\nCYCLOPS A sorry expedition yours, to have sailed to the land of Phrygia\nfor the sake of one woman\nODYSSEUS It was a god's doing; blame not any son of man. But thee\ndo we implore, most noble son of Ocean's god, speaking as free-born\nmen; be not so cruel as to slay thy friends on their coming to thy\ncave, nor regard us as food for thy jaws, an impious meal; for we\npreserved thy sire, O king, in possession of his temple-seats deep\nin the nooks of Hellas; and the sacred port of Taenarus and Malea's\nfurthest coves remain unharmed; and Sunium's rock, the silver-veined,\nsacred to Zeus-born Athena, still is safe, and Geraestus, the harbour\nof refuge; and we did not permit Phrygians to put such an intolerable\nreproach on Hellas. Now in these things thou too hast a share, for\nthou dwellest in a corner of the land of Hellas beneath Aetna's fire-streaming\nrock; and although thou turn from arguments, still it is a custom\namongst mortal men to receive shipwrecked sailors as their suppliants\nand show them hospitality and help them with raiment; not that these\nshould fill thy jaws and belly, their limbs transfixed with spits\nfor piercing ox-flesh. The land of Priam hath emptied Hellas quite\nenough, drinking the blood of many whom the spear laid low, with the\nruin it has brought on widowed wives, on aged childless dames, and\nhoary-headed sires; and if thou roast and consume the remnant,-a meal\nthou wilt rue,-why, where shall one turn? Nay, be persuaded by me,\nCyclops; forego thy ravenous greed and choose piety rather than wickedness;\nfor on many a man ere now unrighteous gains have brought down retribution.\nSILENUS I will give thee a word of advice! as for his flesh, leave\nnot a morsel of it, and if thou eat his tongue, Cyclops, thou wilt\nbecome a monstrous clever talker.\nCYCLOPS Wealth, manikin, is the god for the wise; all else is mere\nvaunting and fine words. Plague take the headlands by the sea, on\nwhich my father seats himself! Why hast thou put forward these arguments?\nI shudder not at Zeus's thunder, nor know I wherein Zeus is a mightier\ngod than I, stranger; what is more, I reck not of him; my reasons\nhear. When he pours down the rain from above, here in this rock in\nquarters snug, feasting on roast calf's flesh or some wild game and\nmoistening well my up-turned paunch with deep draughts from a tub\nof milk, I rival the thunder-claps of Zeus with my artillery; and\nwhen the north wind blows from Thrace and sheddeth snow, I wrap my\ncarcase in the hides of beasts and light a fire, and what care I for\nsnow? The earth perforce, whether she like it or not, produces grass\nand fattens my flocks, which I sacrifice to no one save myself and\nthis belly, the greatest of deities; but to the gods, not I! For surely\nto eat and drink one's fill from day to day and give oneself no grief\nat all, this is the king of gods for your wise man, but lawgivers\ngo hang, chequering, as they do, the life of man! And so I will not\ncease from indulging myself by devouring thee; and thou shalt receive\nthis stranger's gift, that I may be free of blame,-fire and my father's\nelement yonder, and a cauldron to hold thy flesh and boil it nicely\nin collops. So in with you, that ye may feast me well, standing round\nthe altar to honour the cavern's god. (The CYCLOPS goes into his\ncave, driving ODYSSEUS' men before him.)\nODYSSEUS Alas! escaped from the troubles of Troy and the sea, my\nbarque now strands upon the whim and forbidding heart of this savage.\nO Pallas, mistress mine, goddess-daughter of Zeus, help me, help me\nnow; for I am come to toils and depths of peril worse than all at\nIlium; and thou, O Zeus, the stranger's god, who hast thy dwelling\n'mid the radiant stars, behold these things; for, if thou regard them\nnot, in vain art thou esteemed the great god Zeus, though but a thing\nof naught. (He follows the CYCLOPS reluctantly. SILENUS also goes\nin.)\nCHORUS (singing) Ope wide the portal of thy gaping throat, Cyclops;\nfor strangers' limbs, both boiled and grilled, are ready from off\nthe coals for the to gnaw and tear and mince up small, reclining in\nthy shaggy goat-skin coat.\nRelinquish not thy meal for me; keep that boat for thyself alone.\nAvaunt this cave! avaunt the burnt-offerings, which the godless Cyclops\noffers on Aetna's altars, exulting in meals on strangers' flesh!\nOh! the ruthless monster! to sacrifice his guests at his own hearth,\nthe suppliants of his halls, cleaving and tearing and serving up to\nhis loathsome teeth a feast of human flesh, hot from the coals.\nODYSSEUS (reappearing with a look of horror) O Zeus! what can I\nsay after the hideous sights I have seen inside the cave, things past\nbelief, resembling more the tales men tell than aught they do?\nLEADER OF THE CHORUS What news, Odysseus? has the Cyclops, most godless\nmonster, been feasting on thy dear comrades?\nODYSSEUS Aye, he singled out a pair, on whom the flesh was fattest\nand in best condition, and took them up in his hand to weigh.\nLEADER How went it with you then, poor wretch?\nODYSSEUS When we had entered yonder rocky abode, he lighted first\na fire, throwing logs of towering oak upon his spacious hearth, enough\nfor three wagons to carry as their load; next, close by the blazing\nflame, he placed his couch of pine-boughs laid upon the floor, and\nfilled a bowl of some ten firkins, pouring white milk thereinto, after\nhe had milked his kine; and by his side he put a can of ivy-wood,\nwhose breadth was three cubits and its depth four maybe; next he set\nhis brazen pot a-boiling on the fire, spits too he set beside him,\nfashioned of the branches of thorn, their points hardened in the fire\nand the rest of them trimmed with the hatchet, and the blood-bowls\nof Aetna for the axe's edge. Now when that hell-cook, god-detested,\nhad everything quite ready, he caught up a pair of my companions and\nproceeded deliberately to cut the throat of one of them over the yawning\nbrazen pot; but the other he clutched by the tendon of his heel, and,\nstriking him against a sharp point of rocky stone, dashed out his\nbrains; then, after hacking the fleshy parts with glutton cleaver,\nhe set to grilling them, but the limbs he threw into his cauldron\nto seethe. And I, poor wretch, drew near with streaming eyes and waited\non the Cyclops; but the others kept cowering like frightened birds\nin crannies of the rock, and the blood forsook their skin. Anon, when\nhe had gorged himself upon my comrades' flesh and had fallen on his\nback, breathing heavily, there came a sudden inspiration to me. I\nfilled a cup of this Maronian wine and offered him a draught, saying,\n\"Cyclops, son of Ocean's god, see here what heavenly drink the grapes\nof Hellas yield, glad gift of Dionysus.\" He, glutted with his shameless\nmeal, took and drained it at one draught, and, lifting up his hand,\nhe thanked me thus \"Dearest to me of all my guests! fair the drink\nthou givest me to crown so fair a feast.\" Now when I saw his delight,\nI gave him another cup, knowing the wine would make him rue it, and\nhe would soon be paying the penalty. Then he set to singing; but I\nkept filling bumper after bumper and heating him with drink. So there\nhe is singing discordantly amid the weeping of my fellow-sailors,\nand the cave re-echoes; but I have made my way out quietly and would\nfain save thee and myself, if thou wilt. Tell me then, is it your\nwish, or is it not, to fly from this unsocial wretch and take up your\nabode with Naiad nymphs in the halls of the Bacchic god? Thy father\nwithin approves this scheme; but there! he is powerless, getting all\nhe can out of his liquor; his wings are snared by the cup as if he\nhad flown against bird-lime, and he is fuddled; but thou art young\nand lusty; so save thyself with my help and regain thy old friend\nDionysus, so little like the Cyclops.\nLEADER Best of friends, would we might see that day, escaping the\ngodless Cyclops!\nODYSSEUS Hear then how I will requite this vile monster and rescue\nyou from thraldom.\nLEADER Tell me how; no note of Asiatic lyre would sound more sweetly\nin our ears than news of the Cyclops' death.\nODYSSEUS Delighted with this liquor of the Bacchic god, he fain would\ngo a-reveling with his brethren.\nLEADER I understand; thy purpose is to seize and slay him in the\nthickets when clone, or push him down a precipice.\nODYSSEUS Not at all; my plan is fraught with subtlety.\nLEADER What then? Truly we have long heard of thy cleverness.\nODYSSEUS I mean to keep him from this revel, saying he must not give\nthis drink to his brethren but keep it for himself alone and lead\na happy life. Then when he falls asleep, o'ermastered by the Bacchic\ngod, I will put a point with this sword of mine to an olive-branch\nI saw lying in the cave, and will set it on fire; and when I see it\nwell alight, I will lift the heated brand, and, thrusting it full\nin the Cyclops' eye, melt out his sight with its blaze; and, as when\na man in fitting the timbers of a ship makes his auger spin to and\nfro with a double strap, so will I make the brand revolve in the eye,\nthat gives the Cyclops light and will scorch up the pupil thereof.\nLEADER Ho! ho! how glad I feel! wild with joy at the contrivance!\nODYSSEUS That done, I will embark thee and those thou lovest with\nold Silenus in the deep hold of my black ship, my ship with double\nbanks of oars, and carry you away from this land.\nLEADER Well, can I too lay hold of the blinding brand, as though\nthe god's libation had been poured? for I would fain have a share\nin this offering of blood.\nODYSSEUS Indeed thou must, for the brand is large, and thou must\nhelp hold it.\nLEADER How lightly would I lift the load of e'en a hundred wains,\nif that will help us to grub out the eye of the doomed Cyclops, like\na wasp's nest.\nODYSSEUS Hush! for now thou knowest my plot in full, and when I bid\nyou, obey the author of it; for I am not the man to desert my friends\ninside the cave and save myself alone. And yet I might escape; I am\nclear of the cavern's depths already; but no! to desert the friends\nwith whom I journeyed hither and only save myself is not a righteous\ncourse. (He re-enters the cave.)\nFIRST SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Come, who will be the first and who\nthe next to him upon the list to grip the handle of the brand, and,\nthrusting it into the Cyclops' eye, gouge out the light thereof?\nSECOND SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Hush! hush! Behold the drunkard leaves\nhis rocky home, trolling loud some hideous lay, a clumsy tuneless\nclown, whom tears await. Come, let us give this boor a lesson in revelry.\nEre long will he be blind at any rate.\nFIRST SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Happy he who plays the Bacchanal amid\nthe precious streams distilled from grapes, stretched at full length\nfor a revel, his arm around the friend he loves, and some fair dainty\ndamsel on his couch, his hair perfumed with nard and glossy, the while\nhe calls, \"Oh! who will ope the door for me?\" (The CYCLOPS enters.\nHe is obviously drunk.)\nCYCLOPS (singing) Ha! ha! full of wine and merry with a feast's\ngood cheer am I, my hold freighted like a merchant-ship up to my belly's\nvery top. This turf graciously invites me to seek my brother Cyclopes\nfor revel in the spring-tide. Come, stranger, bring the wine-skin\nhither and hand it over to me.\nSECOND SEMI-CHORUS (singing) Forth from the house its fair lord\ncomes, casting his fair glance round him. We have someone to befriend\nus. A hostile brand is awaiting thee, no tender bride in dewy grot.\nNo single colour will those garlands have, that soon shall cling so\nclose about thy brow.\nODYSSEUS (returning with the wine-skin. He is followed by SILENUS,\nwho is also drunk.) Hearken, Cyclops; for I am well versed in the\nways of Bacchus, whom I have given thee to drink.\nCYCLOPS And who is Bacchus? some reputed god?\nODYSSEUS The greatest god men know to cheer their life.\nCYCLOPS I like his after-taste at any rate.\nODYSSEUS This is the kind of god he is; he harmeth no man.\nCYCLOPS But how does a god like being housed in a wine-skin?\nODYSSEUS Put him where one may, he is content there.\nCYCLOPS It is not right that gods should be clad in leather.\nODYSSEUS What of that, provided he please thee? does the leather\nhurt thee?\nCYCLOPS I hate the wine-skin, but the liquor we have here I love.\nODYSSEUS Stay, then, Cyclops; drink and be merry.\nCYCLOPS Must I not give my brethren a share in this liquor?\nODYSSEUS No, keep it thyself and thou wilt appear of more honour.\nCYCLOPS Give it my friends and I shall appear of more use.\nODYSSEUS Revelling is apt to end in blows, abuse, and strife.\nCYCLOPS I may be drunk, but no man will lay hands on me for all that.\nODYSSEUS Better stay at home, my friend, after a carouse.\nCYCLOPS Who loves not revelling then is but a simpleton.\nODYSSEUS But whoso stays at home, when drunk, is wise.\nCYCLOPS What shall we do, Silenus? art minded to stay?\nSILENUS That I am; for what need have we of others to share our drink,\nCyclops?\nCYCLOPS Well, truly the turf is soft as down with its fresh flowering\nplants.\nSILENUS (seating himself) Aye, and 'tis pleasant drinking in the\nwarm sunshine. Come, let me see thee stretch thy carcase on the ground.\nCYCLOPS (sitting down) There then Why art thou putting the mixing-bowl\nbehind me?\nSILENUS That no one passing by may upset it.\nCYCLOPS Nay, but thy purpose is to drink upon the sly; set it between\nus. (To ODYSSEUS) Now tell me, stranger, by what name to call thee.\n(SILENUS is drinking steadily and stealthily.)\nODYSSEUS Noman. What boon shall I receive of thee to earn my thanks?\nCYCLOPS I will feast on thee last, after all thy comrades.\nODYSSEUS Fair indeed the honour thou bestowest on thy guest, sir\nCyclops!\nCYCLOPS (turning suddenly to SILENUS) Ho, sirrah! what art thou\nabout? taking a stealthy pull at the wine?\nSILENUS No, but it kissed me for my good looks.\nCYCLOPS Thou shalt smart, if thou kiss the wine when it kisses not\nthee.\nSILENUS Oh! but it did, for it says it is in love with my handsome\nface.\nCYCLOPS (holding out his cup) Pour in; only give me my cup full.\nSILENUS H'm! how is it mixed? just let me make sure. (Takes another\npull.)\nCYCLOPS Perdition! give it me at once.\nSILENUS Oh, no! I really cannot, till I see thee with a crown on,\nand have another taste myself.\nCYCLOPS My cup-bearer is a cheat.\nSILENUS No really, but the wine is so luscious. Thou must wipe thy\nlips, though, to get a draught.\nCYCLOPS There! my lips and beard are clean now.\nSILENUS Bend thine elbow gracefully, and then quaff thy cup, as thou\nseest me do, and as now thou seest me not. (Burying his face in his\ncup)\nCYCLOPS Aha! what next?\nSILENUS I drunk it off at a draught with much pleasure.\nCYCLOPS Stranger, take the skin thyself and be my cup-bearer.\nODYSSEUS Well, at any rate the grape is no stranger to my hand.\nCYCLOPS Come, pour it in.\nODYSSEUS In it goes! keep silence, that is all.\nCYCLOPS A difficult task when a man is deep in his cups.\nODYSSEUS Here, take and drink it off; leave none. Thou must be silent\nand only give in when the liquor does.\nCYCLOPS God wot! it is a clever stock that bears the grape.\nODYSSEUS Aye, and if thou but swallow plenty of it after a plentiful\nmeal, moistening thy belly till its thirst is gone, it will throw\nthee into slumber; but if thou leave aught behind, the Bacchic god\nwill parch thee for it.\nCYCLOPS Ha! ha! what a trouble it was getting out! This is pleasure\nunalloyed; earth and sky seem whirling round together; I see the throne\nof Zeus and all the godhead's majesty. Kiss thee! no! There are the\nGraces trying to tempt me. I shall rest well enough with my Ganymede\nhere; yea, by the Graces, right fairly; for I like lads better than\nthe wenches.\nSILENUS What! Cyclops, am I Ganymede, Zeus's minion?\nCYCLOPS (attempting to carry him into the cave) To be sure, Ganymede\nwhom I am carrying off from the halls of Dardanus.\nSILENUS I am undone, my children; outrageous treatment waits me.\nLEADER OF THE CHORUS Dost find fault with thy lover? dost scorn him\nin his cups?\nSILENUS Woe is me! most bitter shall I find the wine ere long. (SILENUS\nis dragged into the cave by the CYCLOPS.)\nODYSSEUS Up now, children of Dionysus, sons of a noble sire, soon\nwill yon creature in the cave, relaxed in slumber as ye see him, spew\nfrom his shameless maw the meat. Already the brand inside his lair\nis vomiting cloud of smoke; and the only reason we prepared it was\nto burn the Cyclops' eye; so mind thou quit thee like a man.\nLEADER I will have a spirit as of rock or adamant; but go inside,\nbefore my father suffers any shameful treatment; for here thou hast\nthings ready.\nODYSSEUS O Hephaestus, lord of Aetna, rid thyself for once and all\nof a troublesome neighbour by burning his bright eye out. Come, Sleep,\nas well, offspring of sable Night, come with all thy power on the\nmonster god-detested; and never after Troy's most glorious toils destroy\nOdysseus and his crew by the hands of one who recketh naught of God\nor man; else roust we reckon Chance a goddess, and Heaven's will inferior\nto hers. (ODYSSEUS re-enters the cave.)\nCHORUS (singing) Tightly the pincers shall grip the neck of him\nwho feasts upon his guests; for soon will he lose the light of his\neye by fire; already the brand, a tree's huge limb, lurks amid the\nembers charred. Oh! come ye then and work his doom, pluck out the\nmaddened Cyclops' eye, that he may rue his drinking. And I too fain\nwould leave the Cyclops' lonely land and see king Bromius, ivy-crowned,\nthe god I sorely miss. Ah! shall I ever come to that?\nODYSSEUS (leaving the cave cautiously) Silence, ye cattle! I adjure\nyou; close your lips; make not a sound I'll not let a man of you so\nmuch as breathe or wink or clear his throat, that yon pest awake not,\nuntil the sight in the Cyclops' eye has passed through the fiery ordeal.\nLEADER OF THE CHORUS Silent we stand with bated breath.\nODYSSEUS In then, and mind your fingers grip the brand, for it is\nsplendidly red-hot.\nLEADER Thyself ordain who first must seize the blazing bar and burn\nthe Cyclops' eye out, that we may share alike whate'er betides.\nFIRST SEMI-CHORUS Standing where I am before the door, I am too far\noff to thrust the fire into his eye.\nSECOND SEMI-CHORUS I have just gone lame.\nFIRST SEMI-CHORUS Why, then, thou art in the same plight as I; for\nsomehow or other I sprained my ankle, standing still.\nODYSSEUS Sprained thy ankle, standing still?\nSECOND SEMI-CHORUS Yes, and my eyes are full of dust or ashes from\nsomewhere or other.\nODYSSEUS These are sorry fellows, worthless as allies.\nLEADER Because I feel for my back and spine, and express no wish\nto have my teeth knocked out, I am a coward, am I? Well, but I know\na spell of Orpheus, a most excellent one, to make the brand enter\nhis skull of its own accord, and set alight the one-eyed son of Earth.\nODYSSEUS Long since I knew thou wert by nature such an one, and now\nI know it better; I must employ my own friends; but, though thou bring\nno active aid, cheer us on at any rate, that I may find my friends\nemboldened by thy encouragement. (ODYSSEUS goes back into the cave.)\nLEADER That will I do; the Carian shall run the risk for us; and\nas far as encouragement goes, let the Cyclops smoulder.\nCHORUS (singing) What ho! my gallants, thrust away, make haste and\nburn his eyebrow off, the monster's guest-devouring. Oh! singe and\nscorch the shepherd of Aetna; twirl the brand and drag it round and\nbe careful lest in his agony he treat thee to some wantonness.\nCYCLOPS (bellowing in the cave) Oh! oh! my once bright eye is burnt\nto cinders now.\nLEADER OF THE CHORUS Sweet indeed the triumph-song; pray sing it\nto us, Cyclops.\nCYCLOPS (from within) Oh! oh! once more; what outrage on me and\nwhat ruin! But never shall ye escape this rocky cave unpunished, ye\nworthless creatures; for will stand in the entrance of the cleft and\nfit my hands into it thus. (Staggering to the entrance)\nLEADER Why dost thou cry out, Cyclops?\nCYCLOPS I am undone.\nLEADER Thou art indeed a sorry sight.\nCYCLOPS Aye, and a sad one, too.\nLEADER Didst fall among the coals in a drunken fit?\nCYCLOPS Noman has undone me,\nLEADER Then there is no one hurting thee after all.\nCYCLOPS Noman is blinding me.\nLEADER Then art thou not blind.\nCYCLOPS As blind as thou, forsooth.\nLEADER How, pray, could no man have made thee blind?\nCYCLOPS Thou mockest me; but where is this Noman?\nLEADER Nowhere, Cyclops.\nCYCLOPS It was the stranger, vile wretch! who proved my ruin, that\nthou mayst understand rightly, by swilling me with the liquor he gave\nme.\nLEADER Ah! wine is a terrible foe, hard to wrestle with.\nCYCLOPS Tell me, I adjure thee, have they escaped or are they still\nwithin? (During the following lines, ODYSSEUS and his men slip by\nthe CYCLOPS, despite his efforts to stop them.)\nLEADER Here they are ranged in silence, taking the rock to screen\nthem.\nCYCLOPS On which side?\nLEADER On thy right.\nCYCLOPS Where?\nLEADER Close against the rock. Hast caught them?\nCYCLOPS Trouble on trouble! I have run my skull against the rock\nand cracked it\nLEADER Aye, and they are escaping thee.\nCYCLOPS This way, was it not? 'Twas this way thou saidst.\nLEADER No, not this way.\nCYCLOPS Which then?\nLEADER They are getting round thee on the left.\nCYCLOPS Alas! I am being mocked; ye jeer me in my evil plight.\nLEADER They are no longer there; but facing thee that stranger stands.\nCYCLOPS Master of villainy, where, oh! where art thou?\nODYSSEUS Some way from thee I am keeping careful guard over the person\nof Odysseus.\nCYCLOPS What, a new name! hast changed thine?\nODYSSEUS Yes, Odysseus, the name my father gave me. But thou wert\ndoomed to pay for thy unholy feast; for I should have seen Troy burned\nto but sorry purpose, unless I had avenged on thee the slaughter of\nmy comrades.\nCYCLOPS Woe is me! 'tis an old oracle coming true; yes, it said I\nshould have my eye put out by thee on thy way home from Troy; but\nit likewise foretold that thou wouldst surely pay for this, tossing\non the sea for many day.\nODYSSEUS Go hang! E'en as I say, so have I done. And now will I get\nme to the beach and start my hollow ship across the sea of Sicily\nto the land of my fathers.\nCYCLOPS Thou shalt not; I will break a boulder off this rock and\ncrush thee, crew and all, beneath my throw. Blind though I be, I will\nclimb the hill, mounting through yonder tunnel.\nLEADER As for us, henceforth will we be the servants of Bacchus,\nsharing the voyage of this hero Odysseus.\nTHE END","title":"The Cyclops, By Euripides","type":"page"}