Odyssey 10.229 · Book 10, lines 229–232
All follow in — but one hangs back
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ὣς ἄρʼ ἐφώνησεν, τοὶ δὲ φθέγγοντο καλεῦντες. ἡ δʼ αἶψʼ ἐξελθοῦσα θύρας ὤιξε φαεινὰς καὶ κάλει· οἱ δʼ ἅμα πάντες ἀιδρείῃσιν ἕποντο· Εὐρύλοχος δʼ ὑπέμεινεν, ὀισάμενος δόλον εἶναι.
So then he spoke, and they called out, shouting aloud. And she at once came forth, opened the shining doors, and called them in; and they all together followed in their folly — but Eurylochus stayed behind, suspecting it was a trap.
Word by word
The setting
Polites has urged the scouts to call out. They do, and Circe comes to the door.
A note on this passage
At the word the men shout; Circe throws open her bright doors and invites them in, and in they all go together — all but Eurylochus, who holds back, sure it is a trap.
One word carries the poet's verdict: ἀιδρείῃσιν, in their ignorance. The welcome is a trap and the reader knows it while the men do not. And the one who reads it right is Eurylochus — later a near-mutineer and a coward — whose suspicion here alone keeps a man free to warn Odysseus and save them all. The doubter becomes the accidental savior.
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