Odyssey 10.434 · Book 10, lines 434–437
Blaming the captain to his face
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Eurylochus — οἵ κέν οἱ μέγα δῶμα φυλάσσοιμεν καὶ ἀνάγκῃ, ὥς περ Κύκλωψ ἔρξʼ, ὅτε οἱ μέσσαυλον ἵκοντο ἡμέτεροι ἕταροι, σὺν δʼ ὁ θρασὺς εἵπετʼ Ὀδυσσεύς· τούτου γὰρ καὶ κεῖνοι ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὄλοντο.
we who would guard her great house even under compulsion — just as the Cyclops did, when our comrades came to his fold, and bold Odysseus the one who went along; for through this man's recklessness they too perished.
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The setting
Eurylochus finishes his warning to the crew. He reaches back to the Cyclops's cave, where comrades who followed Odysseus were trapped and eaten, and lays the blame on his captain.
A note on this passage
Enter that hall, he says, and they will be slaves guarding Circe's house under compulsion — beasts held by force. He drives it home with a memory: the Cyclops's cave, where their comrades followed Odysseus in and were destroyed.
The sharp thing is the last line: “through this man's recklessness they too perished.” Eurylochus names Odysseus to his crew as the cause of six dead men. The scout's warning has become an open charge against the captain, spoken to the whole company.
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