Odyssey 10.293 · Book 10, lines 293–295
Draw your sword on her
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Hermes — ὁππότε κεν Κίρκη σʼ ἐλάσῃ περιμήκεϊ ῥάβδῳ, δὴ τότε σὺ ξίφος ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ Κίρκῃ ἐπαῖξαι, ὥς τε κτάμεναι μενεαίνων.
When Circe strikes you with her long wand, then you, drawing your sharp sword from your thigh, rush upon Circe, as if eager to kill her.
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The setting
The heart of Hermes' instruction. When the drug fails and Circe strikes Odysseus with her wand to herd him, he must not cower — he must draw his sword and rush at her as though to kill.
A note on this passage
The god turns from defence to attack. The wand-blow is the moment Circe expects her victim to break; instead Odysseus is to pull his sword and charge her as if in earnest. The whole encounter hinges on this reversal of the role she is used to.
Hermes is careful that the threat be convincing — μενεαίνων, ‘raging to kill.’ Circe's power depends on the man being helpless before her; a mortal who answers her spell with a drawn blade breaks the premise of her magic. The order is not really to kill her but to prove he cannot be mastered, which is the one thing that will make the goddess yield.
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