Odyssey 9.236 · Book 9, lines 236–240

The door-stone

ἡμεῖς δὲ δείσαντες ἀπεσσύμεθʼ ἐς μυχὸν ἄντρου. αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ εἰς εὐρὺ σπέος ἤλασε πίονα μῆλα πάντα μάλʼ ὅσσʼ ἤμελγε, τὰ δʼ ἄρσενα λεῖπε θύρηφιν, ἀρνειούς τε τράγους τε, βαθείης ἔκτοθεν αὐλῆς. αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ ἐπέθηκε θυρεὸν μέγαν ὑψόσʼ ἀείρας,

But we, in terror, shrank away into a corner of the cave. Then he drove his fat flocks into the wide cavern — all those he milked — but the males he left outside, the rams and he-goats, outside in the deep yard. And then he set in place a great door-stone, lifting it aloft,

Word by word

ἡμεῖςhēmeîsweδὲdè(and)δείσαντεςdeísantesin terrorἀπεσσύμεθʼapessýmeth’shrank awayἐςesintoμυχὸνmychòna cornerἄντρουántrouof the cave.αὐτὰρautàrbutὅhóheγʼg’(indeed)εἰςeisintoεὐρὺeurỳthe wideσπέοςspéoscavernἤλασεḗlasedroveπίοναpíonafatμῆλαmêlaflocksπάνταpántaallμάλʼmál’indeedὅσσʼhóss’as many asἤμελγεḗmelgehe milked,τὰtàthoseδʼd’(but)ἄρσεναársenamalesλεῖπεleîpehe leftθύρηφινthýrēphinoutside,ἀρνειούςarneioústhe ramsτεte(both)τράγουςtrágousand he-goatsτεte(and),βαθείηςbatheíēsof the deepἔκτοθενéktothenoutsideαὐλῆςaulêsyard.αὐτὰρautàrandἔπειτʼépeit’thenἐπέθηκεepéthēkehe set in placeθυρεὸνthyreòna door-stoneμέγανmégangreatὑψόσʼhypsós’aloftἀείραςaeíraslifting it,

The setting

At the giant's approach the men bolt to the back of the cave. The Cyclops drives his milking-flock inside, leaves the males in the yard, and then seals the entrance with a boulder no ordinary team could move.

A note on this passage

Fear and routine, side by side. The men shrink into the dark while the Cyclops does his ordinary evening work — the females in to be milked, the rams left in the yard. Then comes the act that turns the cave into a trap: he lifts a vast stone across the mouth as casually as a man shuts a door.

The undercurrent is the single word θυρεός, 'door-stone.' It is built from θύρα, 'door,' so what the giant handles as household furniture is, for the men behind it, the lid of a tomb — the next line says no twenty-two wagons could have shifted it. The scale of the creature is measured not by his body but by his door. The trap closes without malice or even notice; the men are simply on the wrong side of the giant's night.

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Odyssey 9.236 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/9.236/