Odyssey 10.428 · Book 10, lines 428–430
Only Eurylochus holds back
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ὣς ἐφάμην, οἱ δʼ ὦκα ἐμοῖς ἐπέεσσι πίθοντο. Εὐρύλοχος δέ μοι οἶος ἐρύκανε πάντας ἑταίρους· καί σφεας φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
So I spoke, and they quickly obeyed my words. But Eurylochus alone tried to hold back all my comrades, and, lifting his voice, he addressed them with winged words:
Word by word
The setting
Odysseus has told the crew to beach the ship and follow him to Circe's house. All obey at once — except Eurylochus, the officer who earlier fled that house when his scouting party was drugged into swine.
A note on this passage
The crew obey without hesitation; one man does not. Eurylochus, alone, tries to hold the whole company back, and stands up to speak against the plan with winged words of his own.
Homer sets one word against another: Eurylochus “alone” against the crew who follow as one. His caution is not cowardice — he is the single man who has seen the inside of Circe's house and what it does. The poem lines up his memory against the crew's trust in their captain.
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