When the Cyclops lights his evening fire, he spots Odysseus and his Ithacans. In the fraught exchanges which follow, it rapidly becomes clear that they cannot rely on the monster observing the ancient world’s sacred code of hospitality, and Odysseus realises that, even if he kills the monster, he and his comrades are trapped in the cave. But the resourceful Odysseus thinks of a plan.
Hear Homer’s Greek and follow in Samuel Butler’s English here.
The image, by Francisco de Goya, is of Saturn devouring one of his children.
