August 9, 2025 • 37 mins
https://www.solgoodmedia.com Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad-free! Step into a world of daily intrigue and timeless tales with our Classic Adventure Podcast Series! Each day, we bring to life a new chapter from a beloved classic, inviting you on an exhilarating journey through some of the greatest adventure stories ever written. Imagine unraveling the mysteries with Sherlock Holmes, exploring bizarre landscapes with Alice, or circumnavigating the globe in just eighty days. Why settle for mundane daily commutes or routine chores when you can escape into the thrilling escapades of "Treasure Island" or the eerie encounters in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"? Our podcast transforms your every day into a captivating adventure, perfect for both the literary enthusiast and the casual listener seeking an escape from the ordinary. Join us as we traverse the dark depths of "Heart of Darkness," soar through the imaginative realms of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," and survive the wilds with "Robinson Crusoe." Each episode is crafted to make the classics accessible and exciting, ensuring that whether you're reliving your favorite tales or discovering them for the first time, you're guaranteed a gripping experience. Subscribe to our Classic Adventure Podcast Series today and start your daily adventure! Let us awaken the explorer in you as we delve into these timeless narratives, chapter by chapter, transforming your daily routine into an extraordinary journey through the pages of history's most thrilling adventures. Don't just listen to stories—live them every day with us!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Book nine, Ulysses declares himself and begins his story. The
seacons the Tophagy and Cyclops, and Ulysses answered King Altinouse,
it is a good thing to hear a bard with
(00:20):
such a divine voice as this man has. There is
nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people
make merry together, with the guest sitting orderly to listen,
while the table is loaded with bread and meats, and
the cup bearer draws wine and fills his cup for
every man. This is indeed as fair a sight as
(00:43):
a man can see. Now. However, since you are inclined
to ask the story of my sorrows and rekindle my
own sad memories in respect of them, I do not
know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and
conclude my tail, for the hand of heaven has been
(01:03):
laid heavily upon me. Firstly, then I will tell you
my name, that you too may know it, and one day,
if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests.
Though I live so far away from all of you,
I am Ulysses, son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for
(01:26):
all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven.
I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain
called Neritum, covered with forests, and not far from it
there is a group of islands very near to one another,
the Lychium Samee and the wooded island of Zacinthus. It
(01:49):
lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea,
towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds
brave men, and my eyes know none that they better
love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me with
(02:09):
her in her cave and wanted me to marry her,
as did also the cunning and Ian goddess Circe. But
they could neither of them persuade me. For there is
nothing dearer to a man than his own country and
his parents. And however splendid a home he may have
in a foreign country, if it be far from father
(02:30):
or mother, he does not care about it. Now, however,
I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which,
by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
When I had set sail fence, the wind took me
first to Ismarus, which is the city of the Sekhins.
(02:52):
There I sacked the town and put the people to
the sword. We took their wives, and also much booty,
which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might
have reason to complain. I then said that we had
better make off at once, but my men, very foolishly
would not obey me. So they stayed there, drinking much
(03:15):
wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on
the sea shore. Meanwhile, the Secins cried out for help
to other Sekins who lived in land. These were more
in number and stronger, and they were more skilled in
the art of war, for they could fight either from
chariots or on foot, as the occasion served. In the morning. Therefore,
(03:39):
they came as thick as leaves and bloom in summer,
and the hand of heaven was against us, so that
we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array
near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze shod
spears at one another. So long as the day waxed
and it was still mourning, we held our own against
them them, though they were more in number than we.
(04:03):
But as the sun went down towards the time when
men lose their oxen. The Seacans got the better of us,
and we lost half a dozen men from every ship
we had, so we got away with those that were left.
Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but
glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades.
(04:25):
Nor did we leave till we had thrice in vote
each one of the poor fellows who had perished by
the hands of the sekins. Then Jove raised the north
wind against us, till it blew a hurricane, so that
land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and knights
sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships
run before the gale, but the force of the wind
(04:47):
tore our sails to tatters, so we took them down
for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land.
There we lay two days and two nights, suffering much
alike from toil and distress of mind. But on the
morning of the third day we again raised our masts,
set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and
(05:09):
steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at
that time unharmed, had not the north wind and the
currents been against me as I was doubling Cape Malaya,
and set me off my course hard by the island
of Scyphia. I was driven hence by foul winds, for
a space of nine days upon the sea. But on
(05:32):
the tenth day we reached the land of the lotus eaters,
who live on a food that comes from a kind
of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water,
and our crews got their midday meal on the shore
near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk, I
sent two of my company to see what manner of
(05:52):
men the people of the place might be, and they
had a third man under them. They started at once
and went about among the lotus eaters, who did them
no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,
which was so delicious that those who ate of it
left off caring about home, and did not even want
(06:13):
to go back and say what had happened to them,
but were for staying and munching lotus with the lotus eaters,
without thinking further of their return. Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly,
I forced them back to the ships and made them
fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to
go on board at once, lest any of them should
(06:35):
taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to go home.
So they took their places and smoked the gray sea
with their oars. We sailed, hence always in much distress,
till we came to the land of the lawless and
inhuman cyclops. Now the cyclops neither plant nor plow, but
(06:56):
trust in providence, and live on such wheat grapes as
grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild
grapes yield them wine as the sun and the rain
may grow them. They have no laws nor assemblies of
the people, but live in caves on the tops of
high mountains. Each is lord and master in his family,
(07:20):
and they take no account of their neighbours. Now off
their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island, not
quite close to the land of the cyclops, but still
not far. It is overrun with wild goats that breed
there in great numbers, and are never disturbed by foot
of man. For sportsmen, who as a rule will suffer
(07:44):
so much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices, do
not go there. Nor yet again is it ever plowed
or fed down. But it lies a wilderness, untilled and
unsown from year to year, and has no living thing
upon it, but only goats. For the cyclops have no ships,
(08:06):
nor yet shipwrights who could make ships for them. They
cannot therefore go from city to city or sail over
the sea to one another's country, as people who have
ships can do. If they had had these, they would
have colonized the island, for it is a very good
one and would yield everything in due season. There are
(08:26):
meadows that in some places come right down to the seashore,
well watered and full of luscious grass. Grapes would do
there excellently. There is level land for plowing, and it
would always yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil
is deep. There is a good harbor where no cables
(08:48):
are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be moored.
That all one has to do is to beach one's
vessel and stay there till the wind becomes fair for
putting out to sea again. At the head of the harbor,
there was a spring of clear water coming out of
a cave, and there are poplars growing all round it.
(09:10):
Here we entered, But so dark was the night that
some god must have brought us in, for there was
nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist hung all
round our ships. The moon was hidden behind a mass
of clouds, so that no one could have seen the
island if he had looked for it, Nor were there
any breakers to tell us. We were close in shore
(09:32):
before we found ourselves upon the land itself. When, however,
we had beached the ships, we took down the sails,
went ashore, and camped upon the beach till daybreak, when
the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared. We admired
the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs
(09:53):
Jove's daughters roused the wild goats that we might get
some meat for our dinner. On this we fetched our
spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and, dividing
ourselves into three bands, began to shoot the goats. Heaven
Center's excellent sport. I had twelve ships with me, and
(10:13):
each ship got nine goats, while my own ship had ten. Thus,
through the livelong day to the going down of the sun,
we ate and drank our fill, and we had plenty
of wine left for each one of us had taken
many jars full when we sacked the city of the Seakins,
and this had not yet run out. While we were feasting,
(10:37):
we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the Cyclops,
which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their
stubborn fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices
and the bleating of their sheep and goats. But when
the sun went down and it came on dark, we
camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called
(10:58):
a council. Stay here, my brave fellows, said I, all
the rest of you, while I go with my ship
and exploit these people myself. I want to see if
they are uncivilized savages or a hospitable and humane race.
I went on board, bidding my men to do so also,
(11:19):
and loose the horses. So they took their places and
smoked the gray sea with their oars. When we got
to the land, which was not far there, on the
face of a cliff near the sea, we saw a
great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for
a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was
(11:42):
a large yard with a high wall round. It made
of stones built into the ground, and of trees, both
pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge
monster who was then away from home shepherding his flocks.
He would have nothing to do with us other people,
but led the life of an outlaw. He was a
(12:04):
horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but
resembling rather some crag that stands out boldly against the
sky on the top of a high mountain. I told
my men to draw the ship ashore and stay where
they were, all but the twelve best among them, who
were to go along with myself. I also took a
(12:26):
goat skin of sweet black wine, which had been given
me by Maron, son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo,
the patron god of Ismarus, and lived within the wooded
preescings of the temple. When we were sacking the city.
We respected him and spared his life, as also his
(12:47):
wife and child. So he made me some presence of
great value, seven talents of fine gold and a bowl
of silver with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended and
of the most exquisite flavor. Not a man nor maid
in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife,
(13:10):
and one housekeeper. When he drank it, he mixed twenty
parts of water to one of wine, and yet the
fragrance from the mixing bowl was so exquisite that it
was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large
skin with this wine and took a wallet full of
provisions with me. From my mind, misgave me that I
(13:33):
might have to deal with some savage who would be
of great strength and would respect neither right nor law.
We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding,
so we went inside and took stock of all that
we could see. His cheese racks were loaded with cheeses,
(13:54):
and he had more lambs and kids than his pens
could hold. They were kept in separate flocks. First there
were the hoggits, then the oldest of the younger lambs,
and lastly the very young ones, all kept apart from
one another. As for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls,
(14:18):
and milk pails into which he milked were swimming with whey.
When they saw all this, my men begged me to
let them first steal some cheeses and make off with
them to the ship. They would then return drive down
the lambs and kids, put them on board, and sail
away with them. It would have been indeed better if
(14:40):
we had done so, but I would not listen to them,
for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the
hope that he might give me a present. When however,
we saw him, my poor men found him ill to
deal with. We lit a fire, offered some of the
cheeses inside, sacrifice eight others of them, and then sat
(15:03):
waiting till the sight clocks should come in with his sheep.
When he came, he bought in with him a huge
load of dry firewood to light the fire for his supper,
and this he flung with such a noise onto the
floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear
at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile, he drove
(15:25):
all the ewes inside, as well as the she goats
that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both
rams and he goats outside in the yards. Then he
rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave,
so huge that two and twenty strong four wheeled wagons
(15:46):
could not be enough to draw it from its place
against the doorway. When he had done so, he sat
down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due course,
and then he let each of them have her own
young He curdled half the milk and set it aside
in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into
(16:08):
bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When
he had got through with all his work, he lit
the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereupon he said, strangers,
who are you? Where do you sail from? Are you traders?
Or do you sail the sea as rovers? With your
(16:28):
hands against every man and every man's hand against you.
We were frightened out of our senses by his loud
voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, we
are Achaean's on our way home from Troy, and by
the will of Jove and stress of weather, we have
(16:49):
been driven far out of our course. We are the
people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite
renown throughout the whole world by sak so great a
city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray
you to show us some hospitality and otherwise make us
(17:09):
such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency,
fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants,
and Jove takes all respectable travelers under his protection, for
he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in distress.
To this he gave me but a pitiless answer. Stranger
(17:32):
said he you are a fool, or else you know
nothing of this country. Talk to me indeed about fearing
the gods or shunning their anger. We cyclops do not
care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for
we are ever so much stronger than they. I shall
(17:53):
not spare either yourself or your companions out of any
regard for Jove, unless I am in the humor for
doing so. And now tell me where you made your
ship fast when you came on shore. Was it round
the point? Or is she lying straight off the land?
(18:14):
He said this to draw me out, But I was
too cunning to be caught in that way, so I
answered with a lie. Neptune said, I send my ship
onto the rocks at the far end of your country
and wrecked it. We were driven onto them from the
open sea, but I and those who are with me
(18:34):
escaped the jaws of death. The cruel wretch vouchsafed me
not one word of answer, but with a sudden clutch,
he gripped up two of my men at once and
dashed them down upon the ground, as though they had
been puppies. Their brains were shed upon the ground, and
the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore
(18:56):
them limb from limb and sucked upon them, gobbled them
up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow,
and entrails, without leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we
wept and lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing
such a horrid sight, for we did not know what
(19:18):
else to do. But when the cyclops had filled his
huge paunch and had washed down his meal of human
flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched himself
full length upon the ground among his sheep and went
to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword,
draw it and drive it into his vitals, but I
(19:41):
reflected that if I did, we should all certainly be lost,
for we should never be able to shift the stone
which the monster had put in front of the door.
So we stayed, sobbing and sighing, where we were till
morning came. When the child of morning rose fingered dawn appeared.
(20:02):
He again lit his fire, milked his goats and ews
all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young.
As soon as he had got through with all his work,
he clutched up two more of my men and began
eating them for his morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease,
he rolled the stone away from the door and drove
(20:23):
out his sheep. But he at once put it back
again as easily as though he were merely clapping the
lid onto a quiver full of arrows. As soon as
he had done so, he shouted and cried, sho show
after his sheep to drive them onto the mountain. So
I was left to scheme some way of taking my
(20:45):
revenge and covering myself with glory. In the end I
deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows.
The sight CLOBs had a great club which was lying
near one of the sheep pens. It was of green
olive wood, and he had cut it, intending it to
(21:05):
use for a staff as soon as it should be dry.
It was so huge that we could only compare it
to the mast of a twenty odd merchant vessel of
large burden and able to venture out into open sea.
I went up to this club and cut off about
six feet of it. I then gave this piece to
(21:26):
the men and told them to find it evenly off
at one end, which they proceeded to do. And lastly
I brought it to a point, myself, charring the end
in the fire to make it harder. When I had
done this, I hid it under dung, which was lying
about all over the cave, and told the men to
(21:48):
cast lots which of them should venture, along with myself,
to lift it and bore it into the monster's eye
while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very
four whom I should have, and I myself made five.
In the evening, the wretch came back from shepherding and
drove his flocks into the cave, this time driving them
(22:11):
all inside and not leaving any in the yards. I
suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god
must have prompted him to do so. As soon as
he had put the stone back in its place against
the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his
goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her
own young. When he had got through with all this work,
(22:35):
he gripped up two more of my men and made
his supper of them. So I went up to him
with an ivy wood bowl of black wine in my hands.
Look here, Cyclops, said I, you have been eating a
great deal of man's flesh. So take this and drink
some wine, that you may see what kind of liquor
(22:56):
we had on board my ship. I was bringing it
to you as a drink offering, in the hope that
you would take compassion upon me and further me on
my way home. Whereas all you do is go on
ramping and raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed
of yourself. How can you expect people to come see
(23:17):
you anymore if you treat them in this way. He
then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted
with the taste of the wine that he begged me
for another bowlful. Be so kind, he said, as to
give me some more, and tell me your name at once.
I want to make you a present that you'll be
glad to have. We have wine even in this country,
(23:41):
for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them.
But this drinks like nectar and ambrosia, all in one.
I then gave him some more. Three times did I
fill the bowl for him, and three times did he
drain it without thought or heed. Then, when I saw
(24:01):
that the wine had got into his head, I said
to him as plausibly as I could, Cyclops, you ask
my name, and I will tell it to you. Give
me therefore the present you promised me. My name is
no man. This is what my father and mother and
my friends have always called me. But the cruel wretch
(24:25):
said that I will eat all no man's comrades before
no man himself, and will keep no man for the last.
This is the present that I will make him. As
he spoke, he reeled and fell, sprawling face upwards on
the ground. His great neck hung heavily backwards, and a
(24:46):
deep sleep told upon him. Presently he turned sick and
threw up both wine and the gobbets of human flesh
on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk.
Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the
embers to heat it, and encouraged my men lest any
(25:07):
of them should turn fainthearted. When the wood, green, though
it was, was about to blaze. I drew it out
of the fire, glowing with heat, and my men gathered
round me, for Heaven had filled their hearts with courage.
We drove the sharp end of the beam into the
monster's eye, and, bearing upon it with all my weight,
(25:31):
I kept turning it round and round, as though I
were boring a hole in a ship's plank with an auger,
which two men with a wheel and strap can keep
on turning as long as they choose. Even thus did
we bore the red hot beam into his eye, till
the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked
(25:52):
it round and round, so that the steam from the
burning eyeball scolded his eyelids and eyebrows, and the root
of the eye sputtered in the fire. As a blacksmith
plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it,
for it is this that gives strength to the iron,
and it makes a great hiss as he does so.
(26:16):
Even thus did the cyclop's eye hiss round the beam
of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave
ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he
plucked the beam, all besmirched with gore, from his eye
and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage
and pain, shouting as he did so to the other
(26:38):
cyclops who lived on the bleak headlands near him. So
they gathered from all quarters round his cave when they
heard him crying, and asked him what was the matter
with him? What ails you, Polyphemus said they, that you
make such a noise, breaking the stillness of the night
and preventing us from being able to sleep. Surely, no
(27:01):
man is carrying off your sheep. Surely no man is
trying to kill you, either by fraud or by force.
But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, No
man is killing me by fraud. No man is killing
me by force. Then said they, if no man is
(27:23):
attacking you, you must be ill. When Jove makes people ill,
there is no help for it, and you had better
pray to your father Neptune. Then they went away, and
I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever stratagem.
But the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain,
(27:45):
felt about with his hands till he found the stone
and took it from the door. Then he sat in
the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it
to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he
thought I might be foolish enough to attack. As for myself,
I kept on puzzling to think how I could best
(28:06):
save my own life and those of my companions. I
schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his life
depends on it, for the danger was very great. In
the end I deemed that this plan would be the best.
The male sheep were well grown and carried a heavy
(28:27):
black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes, together
with some of the withis on which the wicked monster
used to sleep. There was to be a man under
the middle sheep, and the two on either side were
to cover him, so that there were three sheep to
each man. As for myself, there was a ram finer
(28:49):
than any of the others. So I caught hold of
him by the back esconced myself in the thick wool
under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece,
face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time. Thus,
then did we wait in great fear of mind till
(29:10):
morning came. But when the child of morning rosy fingered
dawn appeared. The male sheep hurried out to feed, while
the ewes remained bleating at the pens, waiting to be milked,
for their udders were full to bursting. But their master,
in spite of all his pain, felt the backs of
(29:32):
all the sheep as they stood upright without being sharp
enough to find out that the men were underneath their bellies.
As the ram was going out last of all, heavy
with its fleeces and with the weight of my crafty self,
Polyphemus laid hold of it and said, my good Ram,
(29:53):
what is it that makes you the last to leave
my cave this morning? You are not wont to let
the u go before you, but lead the mob with
a run, whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and
are the first to come home again at night. But
now you lag last of all? Is it because you
(30:15):
know your master has lost his eye and are sorry
because that wicked no man and his horrid crew has
got him down on his drink and blinded him. But
I will have his life. Yet, if you could understand
and talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding,
and I would dash his brains upon the ground till
(30:37):
they flew all over the cave. I should thus have
some satisfaction for the harm this no good no man
has done me. As he spoke, he drove the ram outside.
But when we were a little way out from the
cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
(30:58):
and then freed my comrade. As for the sheep, which
were very fat, by constantly heading them in the right direction,
we managed to drive them down to the ship. The
crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had
escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops
had killed. However, I made signs to them by nodding
(31:23):
and frowning, that they were to hush their crying, and
told them to get all the sheep on board at
once and put out to sea. So they went aboard,
took their places, and smote the gray sea with their oars. Then,
when I had got as far out as my voice
would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops. Cyclops said, I,
(31:49):
you should have taken better measure of your man before
eating up his comrades in your cave, You wretch, eat
up your visitors in your own house. I have known
that your sin would find you out, and now Jove
and the other gods have punished you. He got more
and more furious as he heard me, so he tore
(32:11):
the top from off a high mountain and flung it
just in front of my ship, so that it was
within a little of hitting the end of the rudder.
The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and
the wash of the wave it rays carried us back
towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But
(32:32):
I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off,
making signs to my men by nodding my head that
they must row for their lives. Whereupon they laid out
with a will. When we had got twice as far
as we were before, I was for jeering at the
cyclops again, But the men begged and prayed of me
(32:53):
to hold my tongue. Do not, they exclaimed, be mad
enough to provoke this savage creature firm. He has thrown
one rock at us already, which drove us back again
to the mainland, and we made sure it had been
the death of us. If it had then heard any
further sound of voices, he would have pounded our heads
(33:13):
and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks.
He would have heaved at us, for he can throw
them a long way, but I would not listen to them,
and shouted out to him in my rage. Cyclops. If
anyone asks you who it was that put out your
eye and spoiled your beauty, say it was a valiant
(33:36):
warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca. On
this he groaned and cried out, alas, alas, that the
old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a
prophet here at one time, a man both brave and
(33:56):
of great stratture, Telamus, son of you Mus, who was
an excellent seer and did all the prophecying for the
Cyclops till he grew old. He told me that all
this would happen to me someday, and said I should
use my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have
(34:19):
been all along expecting someone of imposing presence and superhuman strength,
whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling
who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage
of me in my drink. Come here, then, Ulysses, that
(34:40):
I may make you presents to show my hospitality and
urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey. For
Neptune and I are father and son. He if he
so will, shall heal me, which no one else, neither
God nor man can do. Then I said, I wish
(35:04):
I could be as sure of killing you outright and
sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am,
that it will take more than Neptune to cure that
eye of yours. On this he lifted up his hands
to the ferment of heaven and prayed, saying, hear me,
Great Neptune, if I am indeed your own, true, bigotten son,
(35:27):
grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive, or
if he must get back to his friends at last,
let him do so late and in sore plight, after
losing all his men. Let him reach his home in
another man's ship, and find trouble in his house. Thus
(35:50):
did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he
picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung
it aloft, and hurled it with prodigious force. It fell
just short of the ship, but was within a little
of hitting the end of the rudder the sea quaked
(36:10):
as the rock fell into it, and the wash of
the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way
towards the shore of the island. When at last we
got to the island, where we had left the rest
of our ships, we found our comrades lamenting us and
anxiously awaiting our return. We ran our vessel upon the
(36:31):
sands and got out of her onto the sea shore.
We also landed the cyclop's sheep, and divided them equitably
amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain.
As for the ram, my companions agreed that I should
have it as an extra share, So I sacrificed it
on the seashore and burned its thigh bones to Jove,
(36:55):
who is the Lord of all. But he heeded not
my sacrifice, and only thought how he might destroy both
my ships and my comrades. Thus, through the livelong day
to the going down of the sun, we feasted our
fill on meat and drink. But when the sun went
down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach.
(37:19):
When the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn, appeared, I
bade my men on board and loosed the horses. Then
they took their places and smote the gray sea with
their oars. So we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts,
but glad to escaped death, though we had lost our comrades.
(37:43):
End of Book nine,
Book nine, Ulysses declares himself and begins his story. The
seacons the Tophagy and Cyclops, and Ulysses answered King Altinouse,
it is a good thing to hear a bard with
(00:20):
such a divine voice as this man has. There is
nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people
make merry together, with the guest sitting orderly to listen,
while the table is loaded with bread and meats, and
the cup bearer draws wine and fills his cup for
every man. This is indeed as fair a sight as
(00:43):
a man can see. Now. However, since you are inclined
to ask the story of my sorrows and rekindle my
own sad memories in respect of them, I do not
know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and
conclude my tail, for the hand of heaven has been
(01:03):
laid heavily upon me. Firstly, then I will tell you
my name, that you too may know it, and one day,
if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests.
Though I live so far away from all of you,
I am Ulysses, son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for
(01:26):
all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven.
I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain
called Neritum, covered with forests, and not far from it
there is a group of islands very near to one another,
the Lychium Samee and the wooded island of Zacinthus. It
(01:49):
lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea,
towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds
brave men, and my eyes know none that they better
love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me with
(02:09):
her in her cave and wanted me to marry her,
as did also the cunning and Ian goddess Circe. But
they could neither of them persuade me. For there is
nothing dearer to a man than his own country and
his parents. And however splendid a home he may have
in a foreign country, if it be far from father
(02:30):
or mother, he does not care about it. Now, however,
I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which,
by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
When I had set sail fence, the wind took me
first to Ismarus, which is the city of the Sekhins.
(02:52):
There I sacked the town and put the people to
the sword. We took their wives, and also much booty,
which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might
have reason to complain. I then said that we had
better make off at once, but my men, very foolishly
would not obey me. So they stayed there, drinking much
(03:15):
wine and killing great numbers of sheep and oxen on
the sea shore. Meanwhile, the Secins cried out for help
to other Sekins who lived in land. These were more
in number and stronger, and they were more skilled in
the art of war, for they could fight either from
chariots or on foot, as the occasion served. In the morning. Therefore,
(03:39):
they came as thick as leaves and bloom in summer,
and the hand of heaven was against us, so that
we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array
near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze shod
spears at one another. So long as the day waxed
and it was still mourning, we held our own against
them them, though they were more in number than we.
(04:03):
But as the sun went down towards the time when
men lose their oxen. The Seacans got the better of us,
and we lost half a dozen men from every ship
we had, so we got away with those that were left.
Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but
glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades.
(04:25):
Nor did we leave till we had thrice in vote
each one of the poor fellows who had perished by
the hands of the sekins. Then Jove raised the north
wind against us, till it blew a hurricane, so that
land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and knights
sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships
run before the gale, but the force of the wind
(04:47):
tore our sails to tatters, so we took them down
for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land.
There we lay two days and two nights, suffering much
alike from toil and distress of mind. But on the
morning of the third day we again raised our masts,
set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and
(05:09):
steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at
that time unharmed, had not the north wind and the
currents been against me as I was doubling Cape Malaya,
and set me off my course hard by the island
of Scyphia. I was driven hence by foul winds, for
a space of nine days upon the sea. But on
(05:32):
the tenth day we reached the land of the lotus eaters,
who live on a food that comes from a kind
of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water,
and our crews got their midday meal on the shore
near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk, I
sent two of my company to see what manner of
(05:52):
men the people of the place might be, and they
had a third man under them. They started at once
and went about among the lotus eaters, who did them
no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,
which was so delicious that those who ate of it
left off caring about home, and did not even want
(06:13):
to go back and say what had happened to them,
but were for staying and munching lotus with the lotus eaters,
without thinking further of their return. Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly,
I forced them back to the ships and made them
fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to
go on board at once, lest any of them should
(06:35):
taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to go home.
So they took their places and smoked the gray sea
with their oars. We sailed, hence always in much distress,
till we came to the land of the lawless and
inhuman cyclops. Now the cyclops neither plant nor plow, but
(06:56):
trust in providence, and live on such wheat grapes as
grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild
grapes yield them wine as the sun and the rain
may grow them. They have no laws nor assemblies of
the people, but live in caves on the tops of
high mountains. Each is lord and master in his family,
(07:20):
and they take no account of their neighbours. Now off
their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island, not
quite close to the land of the cyclops, but still
not far. It is overrun with wild goats that breed
there in great numbers, and are never disturbed by foot
of man. For sportsmen, who as a rule will suffer
(07:44):
so much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices, do
not go there. Nor yet again is it ever plowed
or fed down. But it lies a wilderness, untilled and
unsown from year to year, and has no living thing
upon it, but only goats. For the cyclops have no ships,
(08:06):
nor yet shipwrights who could make ships for them. They
cannot therefore go from city to city or sail over
the sea to one another's country, as people who have
ships can do. If they had had these, they would
have colonized the island, for it is a very good
one and would yield everything in due season. There are
(08:26):
meadows that in some places come right down to the seashore,
well watered and full of luscious grass. Grapes would do
there excellently. There is level land for plowing, and it
would always yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil
is deep. There is a good harbor where no cables
(08:48):
are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be moored.
That all one has to do is to beach one's
vessel and stay there till the wind becomes fair for
putting out to sea again. At the head of the harbor,
there was a spring of clear water coming out of
a cave, and there are poplars growing all round it.
(09:10):
Here we entered, But so dark was the night that
some god must have brought us in, for there was
nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist hung all
round our ships. The moon was hidden behind a mass
of clouds, so that no one could have seen the
island if he had looked for it, Nor were there
any breakers to tell us. We were close in shore
(09:32):
before we found ourselves upon the land itself. When, however,
we had beached the ships, we took down the sails,
went ashore, and camped upon the beach till daybreak, when
the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn appeared. We admired
the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs
(09:53):
Jove's daughters roused the wild goats that we might get
some meat for our dinner. On this we fetched our
spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and, dividing
ourselves into three bands, began to shoot the goats. Heaven
Center's excellent sport. I had twelve ships with me, and
(10:13):
each ship got nine goats, while my own ship had ten. Thus,
through the livelong day to the going down of the sun,
we ate and drank our fill, and we had plenty
of wine left for each one of us had taken
many jars full when we sacked the city of the Seakins,
and this had not yet run out. While we were feasting,
(10:37):
we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the Cyclops,
which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their
stubborn fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices
and the bleating of their sheep and goats. But when
the sun went down and it came on dark, we
camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called
(10:58):
a council. Stay here, my brave fellows, said I, all
the rest of you, while I go with my ship
and exploit these people myself. I want to see if
they are uncivilized savages or a hospitable and humane race.
I went on board, bidding my men to do so also,
(11:19):
and loose the horses. So they took their places and
smoked the gray sea with their oars. When we got
to the land, which was not far there, on the
face of a cliff near the sea, we saw a
great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for
a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was
(11:42):
a large yard with a high wall round. It made
of stones built into the ground, and of trees, both
pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge
monster who was then away from home shepherding his flocks.
He would have nothing to do with us other people,
but led the life of an outlaw. He was a
(12:04):
horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but
resembling rather some crag that stands out boldly against the
sky on the top of a high mountain. I told
my men to draw the ship ashore and stay where
they were, all but the twelve best among them, who
were to go along with myself. I also took a
(12:26):
goat skin of sweet black wine, which had been given
me by Maron, son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo,
the patron god of Ismarus, and lived within the wooded
preescings of the temple. When we were sacking the city.
We respected him and spared his life, as also his
(12:47):
wife and child. So he made me some presence of
great value, seven talents of fine gold and a bowl
of silver with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended and
of the most exquisite flavor. Not a man nor maid
in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife,
(13:10):
and one housekeeper. When he drank it, he mixed twenty
parts of water to one of wine, and yet the
fragrance from the mixing bowl was so exquisite that it
was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large
skin with this wine and took a wallet full of
provisions with me. From my mind, misgave me that I
(13:33):
might have to deal with some savage who would be
of great strength and would respect neither right nor law.
We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding,
so we went inside and took stock of all that
we could see. His cheese racks were loaded with cheeses,
(13:54):
and he had more lambs and kids than his pens
could hold. They were kept in separate flocks. First there
were the hoggits, then the oldest of the younger lambs,
and lastly the very young ones, all kept apart from
one another. As for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls,
(14:18):
and milk pails into which he milked were swimming with whey.
When they saw all this, my men begged me to
let them first steal some cheeses and make off with
them to the ship. They would then return drive down
the lambs and kids, put them on board, and sail
away with them. It would have been indeed better if
(14:40):
we had done so, but I would not listen to them,
for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the
hope that he might give me a present. When however,
we saw him, my poor men found him ill to
deal with. We lit a fire, offered some of the
cheeses inside, sacrifice eight others of them, and then sat
(15:03):
waiting till the sight clocks should come in with his sheep.
When he came, he bought in with him a huge
load of dry firewood to light the fire for his supper,
and this he flung with such a noise onto the
floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear
at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile, he drove
(15:25):
all the ewes inside, as well as the she goats
that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both
rams and he goats outside in the yards. Then he
rolled a huge stone to the mouth of the cave,
so huge that two and twenty strong four wheeled wagons
(15:46):
could not be enough to draw it from its place
against the doorway. When he had done so, he sat
down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due course,
and then he let each of them have her own
young He curdled half the milk and set it aside
in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into
(16:08):
bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When
he had got through with all his work, he lit
the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereupon he said, strangers,
who are you? Where do you sail from? Are you traders?
Or do you sail the sea as rovers? With your
(16:28):
hands against every man and every man's hand against you.
We were frightened out of our senses by his loud
voice and monstrous form, but I managed to say, we
are Achaean's on our way home from Troy, and by
the will of Jove and stress of weather, we have
(16:49):
been driven far out of our course. We are the
people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite
renown throughout the whole world by sak so great a
city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray
you to show us some hospitality and otherwise make us
(17:09):
such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency,
fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants,
and Jove takes all respectable travelers under his protection, for
he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in distress.
To this he gave me but a pitiless answer. Stranger
(17:32):
said he you are a fool, or else you know
nothing of this country. Talk to me indeed about fearing
the gods or shunning their anger. We cyclops do not
care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for
we are ever so much stronger than they. I shall
(17:53):
not spare either yourself or your companions out of any
regard for Jove, unless I am in the humor for
doing so. And now tell me where you made your
ship fast when you came on shore. Was it round
the point? Or is she lying straight off the land?
(18:14):
He said this to draw me out, But I was
too cunning to be caught in that way, so I
answered with a lie. Neptune said, I send my ship
onto the rocks at the far end of your country
and wrecked it. We were driven onto them from the
open sea, but I and those who are with me
(18:34):
escaped the jaws of death. The cruel wretch vouchsafed me
not one word of answer, but with a sudden clutch,
he gripped up two of my men at once and
dashed them down upon the ground, as though they had
been puppies. Their brains were shed upon the ground, and
the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore
(18:56):
them limb from limb and sucked upon them, gobbled them
up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow,
and entrails, without leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we
wept and lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing
such a horrid sight, for we did not know what
(19:18):
else to do. But when the cyclops had filled his
huge paunch and had washed down his meal of human
flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched himself
full length upon the ground among his sheep and went
to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword,
draw it and drive it into his vitals, but I
(19:41):
reflected that if I did, we should all certainly be lost,
for we should never be able to shift the stone
which the monster had put in front of the door.
So we stayed, sobbing and sighing, where we were till
morning came. When the child of morning rose fingered dawn appeared.
(20:02):
He again lit his fire, milked his goats and ews
all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young.
As soon as he had got through with all his work,
he clutched up two more of my men and began
eating them for his morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease,
he rolled the stone away from the door and drove
(20:23):
out his sheep. But he at once put it back
again as easily as though he were merely clapping the
lid onto a quiver full of arrows. As soon as
he had done so, he shouted and cried, sho show
after his sheep to drive them onto the mountain. So
I was left to scheme some way of taking my
(20:45):
revenge and covering myself with glory. In the end I
deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows.
The sight CLOBs had a great club which was lying
near one of the sheep pens. It was of green
olive wood, and he had cut it, intending it to
(21:05):
use for a staff as soon as it should be dry.
It was so huge that we could only compare it
to the mast of a twenty odd merchant vessel of
large burden and able to venture out into open sea.
I went up to this club and cut off about
six feet of it. I then gave this piece to
(21:26):
the men and told them to find it evenly off
at one end, which they proceeded to do. And lastly
I brought it to a point, myself, charring the end
in the fire to make it harder. When I had
done this, I hid it under dung, which was lying
about all over the cave, and told the men to
(21:48):
cast lots which of them should venture, along with myself,
to lift it and bore it into the monster's eye
while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very
four whom I should have, and I myself made five.
In the evening, the wretch came back from shepherding and
drove his flocks into the cave, this time driving them
(22:11):
all inside and not leaving any in the yards. I
suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god
must have prompted him to do so. As soon as
he had put the stone back in its place against
the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his
goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her
own young. When he had got through with all this work,
(22:35):
he gripped up two more of my men and made
his supper of them. So I went up to him
with an ivy wood bowl of black wine in my hands.
Look here, Cyclops, said I, you have been eating a
great deal of man's flesh. So take this and drink
some wine, that you may see what kind of liquor
(22:56):
we had on board my ship. I was bringing it
to you as a drink offering, in the hope that
you would take compassion upon me and further me on
my way home. Whereas all you do is go on
ramping and raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed
of yourself. How can you expect people to come see
(23:17):
you anymore if you treat them in this way. He
then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted
with the taste of the wine that he begged me
for another bowlful. Be so kind, he said, as to
give me some more, and tell me your name at once.
I want to make you a present that you'll be
glad to have. We have wine even in this country,
(23:41):
for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them.
But this drinks like nectar and ambrosia, all in one.
I then gave him some more. Three times did I
fill the bowl for him, and three times did he
drain it without thought or heed. Then, when I saw
(24:01):
that the wine had got into his head, I said
to him as plausibly as I could, Cyclops, you ask
my name, and I will tell it to you. Give
me therefore the present you promised me. My name is
no man. This is what my father and mother and
my friends have always called me. But the cruel wretch
(24:25):
said that I will eat all no man's comrades before
no man himself, and will keep no man for the last.
This is the present that I will make him. As
he spoke, he reeled and fell, sprawling face upwards on
the ground. His great neck hung heavily backwards, and a
(24:46):
deep sleep told upon him. Presently he turned sick and
threw up both wine and the gobbets of human flesh
on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk.
Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the
embers to heat it, and encouraged my men lest any
(25:07):
of them should turn fainthearted. When the wood, green, though
it was, was about to blaze. I drew it out
of the fire, glowing with heat, and my men gathered
round me, for Heaven had filled their hearts with courage.
We drove the sharp end of the beam into the
monster's eye, and, bearing upon it with all my weight,
(25:31):
I kept turning it round and round, as though I
were boring a hole in a ship's plank with an auger,
which two men with a wheel and strap can keep
on turning as long as they choose. Even thus did
we bore the red hot beam into his eye, till
the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked
(25:52):
it round and round, so that the steam from the
burning eyeball scolded his eyelids and eyebrows, and the root
of the eye sputtered in the fire. As a blacksmith
plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it,
for it is this that gives strength to the iron,
and it makes a great hiss as he does so.
(26:16):
Even thus did the cyclop's eye hiss round the beam
of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave
ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he
plucked the beam, all besmirched with gore, from his eye
and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage
and pain, shouting as he did so to the other
(26:38):
cyclops who lived on the bleak headlands near him. So
they gathered from all quarters round his cave when they
heard him crying, and asked him what was the matter
with him? What ails you, Polyphemus said they, that you
make such a noise, breaking the stillness of the night
and preventing us from being able to sleep. Surely, no
(27:01):
man is carrying off your sheep. Surely no man is
trying to kill you, either by fraud or by force.
But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, No
man is killing me by fraud. No man is killing
me by force. Then said they, if no man is
(27:23):
attacking you, you must be ill. When Jove makes people ill,
there is no help for it, and you had better
pray to your father Neptune. Then they went away, and
I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever stratagem.
But the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain,
(27:45):
felt about with his hands till he found the stone
and took it from the door. Then he sat in
the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it
to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he
thought I might be foolish enough to attack. As for myself,
I kept on puzzling to think how I could best
(28:06):
save my own life and those of my companions. I
schemed and schemed, as one who knows that his life
depends on it, for the danger was very great. In
the end I deemed that this plan would be the best.
The male sheep were well grown and carried a heavy
(28:27):
black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes, together
with some of the withis on which the wicked monster
used to sleep. There was to be a man under
the middle sheep, and the two on either side were
to cover him, so that there were three sheep to
each man. As for myself, there was a ram finer
(28:49):
than any of the others. So I caught hold of
him by the back esconced myself in the thick wool
under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece,
face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time. Thus,
then did we wait in great fear of mind till
(29:10):
morning came. But when the child of morning rosy fingered
dawn appeared. The male sheep hurried out to feed, while
the ewes remained bleating at the pens, waiting to be milked,
for their udders were full to bursting. But their master,
in spite of all his pain, felt the backs of
(29:32):
all the sheep as they stood upright without being sharp
enough to find out that the men were underneath their bellies.
As the ram was going out last of all, heavy
with its fleeces and with the weight of my crafty self,
Polyphemus laid hold of it and said, my good Ram,
(29:53):
what is it that makes you the last to leave
my cave this morning? You are not wont to let
the u go before you, but lead the mob with
a run, whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and
are the first to come home again at night. But
now you lag last of all? Is it because you
(30:15):
know your master has lost his eye and are sorry
because that wicked no man and his horrid crew has
got him down on his drink and blinded him. But
I will have his life. Yet, if you could understand
and talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding,
and I would dash his brains upon the ground till
(30:37):
they flew all over the cave. I should thus have
some satisfaction for the harm this no good no man
has done me. As he spoke, he drove the ram outside.
But when we were a little way out from the
cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
(30:58):
and then freed my comrade. As for the sheep, which
were very fat, by constantly heading them in the right direction,
we managed to drive them down to the ship. The
crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had
escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops
had killed. However, I made signs to them by nodding
(31:23):
and frowning, that they were to hush their crying, and
told them to get all the sheep on board at
once and put out to sea. So they went aboard,
took their places, and smote the gray sea with their oars. Then,
when I had got as far out as my voice
would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops. Cyclops said, I,
(31:49):
you should have taken better measure of your man before
eating up his comrades in your cave, You wretch, eat
up your visitors in your own house. I have known
that your sin would find you out, and now Jove
and the other gods have punished you. He got more
and more furious as he heard me, so he tore
(32:11):
the top from off a high mountain and flung it
just in front of my ship, so that it was
within a little of hitting the end of the rudder.
The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and
the wash of the wave it rays carried us back
towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But
(32:32):
I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off,
making signs to my men by nodding my head that
they must row for their lives. Whereupon they laid out
with a will. When we had got twice as far
as we were before, I was for jeering at the
cyclops again, But the men begged and prayed of me
(32:53):
to hold my tongue. Do not, they exclaimed, be mad
enough to provoke this savage creature firm. He has thrown
one rock at us already, which drove us back again
to the mainland, and we made sure it had been
the death of us. If it had then heard any
further sound of voices, he would have pounded our heads
(33:13):
and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks.
He would have heaved at us, for he can throw
them a long way, but I would not listen to them,
and shouted out to him in my rage. Cyclops. If
anyone asks you who it was that put out your
eye and spoiled your beauty, say it was a valiant
(33:36):
warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca. On
this he groaned and cried out, alas, alas, that the
old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a
prophet here at one time, a man both brave and
(33:56):
of great stratture, Telamus, son of you Mus, who was
an excellent seer and did all the prophecying for the
Cyclops till he grew old. He told me that all
this would happen to me someday, and said I should
use my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have
(34:19):
been all along expecting someone of imposing presence and superhuman strength,
whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling
who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage
of me in my drink. Come here, then, Ulysses, that
(34:40):
I may make you presents to show my hospitality and
urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey. For
Neptune and I are father and son. He if he
so will, shall heal me, which no one else, neither
God nor man can do. Then I said, I wish
(35:04):
I could be as sure of killing you outright and
sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am,
that it will take more than Neptune to cure that
eye of yours. On this he lifted up his hands
to the ferment of heaven and prayed, saying, hear me,
Great Neptune, if I am indeed your own, true, bigotten son,
(35:27):
grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive, or
if he must get back to his friends at last,
let him do so late and in sore plight, after
losing all his men. Let him reach his home in
another man's ship, and find trouble in his house. Thus
(35:50):
did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he
picked up a rock much larger than the first, swung
it aloft, and hurled it with prodigious force. It fell
just short of the ship, but was within a little
of hitting the end of the rudder the sea quaked
(36:10):
as the rock fell into it, and the wash of
the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way
towards the shore of the island. When at last we
got to the island, where we had left the rest
of our ships, we found our comrades lamenting us and
anxiously awaiting our return. We ran our vessel upon the
(36:31):
sands and got out of her onto the sea shore.
We also landed the cyclop's sheep, and divided them equitably
amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain.
As for the ram, my companions agreed that I should
have it as an extra share, So I sacrificed it
on the seashore and burned its thigh bones to Jove,
(36:55):
who is the Lord of all. But he heeded not
my sacrifice, and only thought how he might destroy both
my ships and my comrades. Thus, through the livelong day
to the going down of the sun, we feasted our
fill on meat and drink. But when the sun went
down and it came on dark, we camped upon the beach.
(37:19):
When the child of morning, rosy fingered dawn, appeared, I
bade my men on board and loosed the horses. Then
they took their places and smote the gray sea with
their oars. So we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts,
but glad to escaped death, though we had lost our comrades.
(37:43):
End of Book nine,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.