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"On this he lifted up his hands
to the firmament of heaven and prayed, saying, ‘Hear me, great
Poseidon; if I am indeed your own true-begotten son, grant that
Odysseus 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 did he pray, and Poseidon
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 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 sands and got out of her on to the sea shore; we also landed
the Cyclops’ 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 sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to Zeus,
who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only
thought how he might destroy 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.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I bade my
men on board and loose the hawsers. 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 have escaped death though we had lost our
comrades.
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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