Odyssey 10.266 · Book 10, lines 266–269
‘Leave me here’
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Eurylochus — μή μʼ ἄγε κεῖσʼ ἀέκοντα, διοτρεφές, ἀλλὰ λίπʼ αὐτοῦ. οἶδα γάρ, ὡς οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἐλεύσεαι οὔτε τινʼ ἄλλον ἄξεις σῶν ἑτάρων. ἀλλὰ ξὺν τοίσδεσι θᾶσσον φεύγωμεν· ἔτι γάρ κεν ἀλύξαιμεν κακὸν ἦμαρ.
Do not lead me there against my will, Zeus-nurtured one, but leave me here. For I know that you will neither come back yourself nor bring any other of your comrades. No — with these men here let us flee, and more quickly; for we might still escape the evil day.
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The setting
Eurylochus makes his plea: do not force him back to Circe's, for he is sure no one who goes will return — better to flee at once with the men still left.
A note on this passage
The plea is blunt and practical: don't drag me there unwilling; leave me. He is certain Odysseus will bring back neither himself nor any of the crew, and urges instead a quick escape with the survivors while escape is still possible.
Eurylochus argues from the arithmetic of loss — cut the losses, save the remainder, sail. It is the sensible voice, and the poem gives it real force. But it is also the counsel that would abandon the penned men to Circe forever; the ‘evil day’ he wants to dodge is the very rescue Odysseus is about to attempt. Prudence here is another name for desertion.
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