THE CYCLOPS

SCENE: An enormous cove at the foot of Mt Etna. In the
foreground, a slope of pasture; on the right, a small
• brook. Silenus comes out of the cave to speak the
prologue. He is old, fat7 and bald. A horse's tail hangs
down his legs. He 'wears a filthy tunic and carries a
rake.
Silenus
0 Bromios,
thanks to you, my troubles are as many now
as in my youth when my body still was strong!
First I remember when Hera drove you mad
and you left your nurses, the mountain nymphs.
And then there was that war with the Giants: 5
there I stood, on your right, covering your flank
with my spear. And I hit Enceladus
square on the button of his shield and killed him.
Or wait: was that in a dream? No, by Zeus,
for I showed the very spoils to Bacchus.
And now I must bail against a wilder wave 10
of trouble. For when I heard that Hera
had pricked on those Lydian pirates to sell you
as a slave abroad, I hoisted sail with my sons
to search for you. Right on the stern I stood,
the tiller in my hands, steering the ship. 15
And my boys strained at the oars, churning white
the green sea in our search for you, my king!
And then we had almost made Malea
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