Odyssey 10.290 · Book 10, lines 290–292
Her drug will fail
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Hermes — τεύξει τοι κυκεῶ, βαλέει δʼ ἐν φάρμακα σίτῳ. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὣς θέλξαι σε δυνήσεται· οὐ γὰρ ἐάσει φάρμακον ἐσθλόν, ὅ τοι δώσω, ἐρέω δὲ ἕκαστα.
She will make you a potion, and cast drugs in the food; but not even so will she be able to bewitch you, for the potent drug which I will give you will not allow it. And I will tell each thing.
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The setting
Hermes describes Circe's method — a spiced drink with a drug stirred into the food — and promises that his own herb will make her charm powerless.
A note on this passage
The god spells out the mechanics of the trap: she mixes the kykeon, slips the drug into the food, and waits for the drinker to change. Against all of it he sets a single guarantee — ‘not even so’ will she be able to touch you.
The tension here is one of foreknowledge. Odysseus will drink the very cup that ruined his men, knowing it cannot harm him. The scene loses none of its danger for that: he must play the victim in full, take the poisoned draught, and wait for a magic he alone knows will fail. Hermes closes by promising the rest — ‘I will tell each thing.’
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