THE CYCLOPS
than Rhadamanthus himself. And I say
that he's right. But I want to question you.
Where have you come from, strangers? where to? 275
And tell me in what city you grew up.
Odysseus
We are from Ithaca. After we sacked
the city of Troy, sea-winds drove us here,
safe and sound, to your country, Cyclops.
Cyclops
Was it you who sacked Troy-on-Scamander 280
because that foul Helen was carried off?
Odysseus
We did. Our terrible task is done.
Cyclops
You ought to die for shame: to go to war
with the Phrygians for a single woman!
Odysseus
A god was responsible; don't blame men. 285
But we ask as free men, we implore you,
do not, O noble son of the sea-god,
murder men who come to your cave as friends.
Do not profane your mouth by eating us.
(He waxes rhetorical?)
For it is we, my lord, who everywhere
in Hellas preserved your father Poseidon 290
in the tenure of his temples. Thanks to us,
Taenarus' sacred harbor is inviolate;
the peak of Sunium with its silver-lodes
sacred to Athena, is still untouched;
and safe, the sanctuaries of Geraestus! 295
We did not betray Greece—perish the thought!—
to Phrygians. And you have a share in this:
267