Odyssey 10.287 · Book 10, lines 287–289
Take this good drug
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Hermes — τῆ, τόδε φάρμακον ἐσθλὸν ἔχων ἐς δώματα Κίρκης ἔρχευ, ὅ κέν τοι κρατὸς ἀλάλκῃσιν κακὸν ἦμαρ. πάντα δέ τοι ἐρέω ὀλοφώια δήνεα Κίρκης.
Here, take this good potent drug, and holding it, go into the halls of Circe; it will ward the evil day from your head. And I will tell you all the deadly wiles of Circe.
Word by word
The setting
Hermes hands Odysseus a protective herb and promises to lay out, one by one, all of Circe's deadly schemes so he can meet them.
A note on this passage
The god gives the counter-charm and the plan in one breath. The drug is the physical defence; the promised account of Circe's ‘deadly wiles’ is the tactical one. Odysseus is to walk in armed with both the herb and full knowledge of the trap.
The hinge word is φάρμακον, the same noun that will name Circe's own potion. The witch's drug and the god's antidote are called by one word, because in Greek a φάρμακον is neither cure nor poison in itself — it is raw power over the body, and everything turns on who wields it. Hermes' ‘good’ drug and Circe's transforming one are the same kind of thing bent to opposite ends.
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