Odyssey 4.414 · Book 4, lines 414–416
Then seize him with all your strength
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τὸν μὲν ἐπὴν δὴ πρῶτα κατευνηθέντα ἴδησθε, καὶ τότʼ ἔπειθʼ ὑμῖν μελέτω κάρτος τε βίη τε, αὖθι δʼ ἔχειν μεμαῶτα καὶ ἐσσύμενόν περ ἀλύξαι.
As soon as you see him first bedded down, then let it be your care — strength and force — and hold him there, struggling hard, though he strains to escape.
Word by word
The setting
Eidothea gives the command for the moment of the ambush: the instant Proteus lies down to sleep, the men must grab him and hold on with brute force while he fights to break free.
A note on this passage
The signal and the order. The moment the men see Proteus settle to sleep, everything becomes physical: strength and force, and a grip that holds him on the spot no matter how he fights. The waiting is over; now it is a wrestling match with a god.
The paradox is that this scene is about knowledge won by muscle. Proteus is an oracle, yet you do not persuade him or pray to him — you pin him down until he yields. The doubled words for might, 'strength and force,' framed by the balancing τε…τε, insist that cunning alone will not finish the job: here the truth has to be physically overpowered and made to speak.
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