Odyssey 10.194 · Book 10, lines 194–197
The smoke through the trees
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Odysseus — εἶδον γὰρ σκοπιὴν ἐς παιπαλόεσσαν ἀνελθὼν νῆσον, τὴν πέρι πόντος ἀπείριτος ἐστεφάνωται· αὐτὴ δὲ χθαμαλὴ κεῖται· καπνὸν δʼ ἐνὶ μέσσῃ ἔδρακον ὀφθαλμοῖσι διὰ δρυμὰ πυκνὰ καὶ ὕλην.
For I climbed a rugged lookout and saw an island, around which the boundless sea lies like a crown; it lies low, and in its midst I saw smoke with my eyes, through thick coppices and woodland.
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Still speaking to his men, Odysseus reports what he saw from a rocky lookout on the island.
A note on this passage
He gives them the one hard fact he has. From a rugged height he saw that they are on an island ringed by open sea, low-lying, with smoke rising from its wooded center.
The smoke means people, and people mean either rescue or another Cyclops. After the Laestrygonians the sight is not comforting. Homer lets the detail stand plainly, smoke through thick trees, and leaves the dread to the men, who already know what an island's inhabitants can be.
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